It rained and blew all night and we waited until 7 to see if the rain would stop. It only stopped long enough to run out and get the bear cans. We each packed up inside our tent and ate breakfast inside too. We got on the trail at 8:30 with our packas on, it was 3 miles to the pass with rain spitting and wind blowing but we made it by 10am, seeing my first sky pilot flower on the way up! We took the time to salute the achievement with Gatorade and started down the other side.
This new valley is full of old blown volcanos that spewed lots of red rock, it tumbled down hillsides and is streaked and layered across the rocky crags. There are a string of lakes just begging to be explored, islands of bristlecone taking hold in the glacial plain, but our trail skirts above them all. Beautiful!
We stopped at a small stream to get water and rinse out socks for tomorrow but it began to rain again so we pushed off. We have 7.7 miles of downhill from the pass, a rock strewn trail where you must step on and over water bars. We stopped for another break near Mt. Perkins which is a bighorn sheep experimental area, we studied the craggy rock face but never saw any sign of sheep. This long valley gave way to pink and black flecked granite and more trees and brush, it seemed to get drier too with lizards darting around. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for rattlesnake which are always around where lizards are seen. Happily none showed up.
My feet are sore, the long down has been taxing and our lunches are getting scanty plus I need to drink more. I'm all around weary. Today I've slipped and fallen 3 times- a sure sign that I'm tired. We finally reached Woods Creek where there is a nice suspension bridge over the creek. A sterile campground is crowded with a big group of people and tents. One couple we've leapfrogged with from the pass are waiting overnight for a hired mule packer to resupply them. Peggy & I stopped, got water, ate a snack and fell asleep under a tree for about 30 minutes-a first for me and it felt so very good!
At 4:15 pm we put our snacks away and started up the trail again. After a mile or so we crossed a small stream, found a nice campsite on the other side above a large river at 9,000' and called it a day.
Clouds are hovering in the sky threatening rain but there has been none this afternoon. After dinner we played Farkle in the dirt for awhile before bed.
Our food is light now and we're feeling the need for resupply, the plan is to go out Kersarge Pass to Independence for a nice zero, shower, food, beds and conversation with family!!!
There have not been photos because my iPhone says it's full. Peggy knows how to transfer my pics to her camera and free up storage. That's something else we need to do if we can use the library in Independence.
8/1/15 Saturday day 11 & 11 miles
On our way by 7:40 we continued up trail to Dollar Lake where we wanted to camp last night if we could have made it. As it was we had a nicer quieter site where we stopped. We got water, had a rest and as I set up my solar power on a sunny rock a small animal only about 8 inches long appeared, very interested in the yellow battery. It jumped in and out of various cracks in the big rocks always getting closer to my battery pack. We were only feet away and could just stare in fascination as it popped in and out of the rock in front of us. After a short minute it ran off the rock and disappeared into the brush. It must have been a small weasel. Buff brown on the head and back, white on the belly, tiny black eyes and nose with tiny little mouselike ears. Magical! Rounding Dollar Lake we came to Arrowhead Lake and moved into the popular Rae Lakes Basin with a stunning granite fin hovering over the lakes.
We made our way around Rae Lakes coming down between 2 of them and over a connecting bit of land. We kept looking at a beautifully colored mountain towering over one of the lakes, it was called the Painted Lady.
Once around the lakes there was no other place to go but up and around the Painted Lady and beyond. It got pretty steep, very rocky and hard to keep going. At some point it was not too smart to stop if you had trouble with exposed steep places, keep your head down and climb!
The pass sits at 12,100 feet elevation. Altogether from this morning, we climbed 6 1/2 miles and over 2,000 feet. The really steep climb took awhile, I plodded up with many others. It ended up taking me 1 1/2 hrs to go 1 1/2 miles up. Thunder began growling as we kept an eye out for rain. Since there were so many of us climbing, Peggy planned to stop long enough for a photo and begin the climb down which had a few tight switchbacks descending steeply for the first few turns.
Once on top there was a narrow catwalk where hikers sat and stood to chat and take in views. At the top there was black granite and some light pink with black speckles. 
Once we started down I was enchanted by the pink granite bowl we were descending into. Below in the bowl of granite was a deep aqua and green pool of snowmelt or spring water. Either way it was just gorgeous.
I wanted to stay and take it all in but I knew we could be running into rain. I began descending into pink; dark, light & black flecked it looked like an ancient amphitheater but I could almost see the 3 sides left by the blown volcano. Pink rock must have been sent flying for miles in every direction. We dropped into the bowl for 2 miles as we began looking for the side trail to Onion Valley where we planned to make our way out of the mountains tomorrow through Kersarge Pass. Five miles later, on the Onion Valley Trail, we were looking for a stream for water and a campsite for the night. We located both as the trail began climbing toward the pass. We looked uphill to the granite ledges where we found many great spots to camp overlooking the valley. It began to sprinkle but held off raining on us. Tents went up quickly after we decided where to stay. This is a very cool spot, no one is near, we're off trail just enough with great views all around. After setting up I took a walk all over the ledges and found some very cool spots where one could set up camp. I kept hearing voices above our camp and finally I saw 2 guys with packs on come over the top of a scree field far up above us. They were slowly making their way down to the trail we'd come in on. Some people come in on a trailhead then use the known trail to go cross country, getting away from the crowds and finding solitude in the back country.
The sun broke through and we dried some damp gear, sat and watched the sun on the surrounding peaks, it's really beautiful here. After dinner among the granite rocks we stashed the bear cans, watching the clouds forming and moving in the peaks. We saw a group of 4 coming down a trail that we decided was Kersarge Pass, now we know exactly where it is, about 600' above us. I went to bed and Peggy stayed out until 8 pm when the sun went down to the music of thunder.
No comments:
Post a Comment