Category: Backpacking
Backpacking Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass; PCT Section J, Alpine Lakes Wilderness
I lingered here for over an hour.
It poured on the second half of my hike. Thankfully, I was prepared after having accounted for the weather forecast. Pack cover, pack liner, dry bags for everything, ziplocks, a floorless tarp, good rain gear, a rain skirt and an umbrella. Instead of being a downer, the rain was a fun bonus.
This section of the PCT is one of the trail’s most scenic. It’s high, jagged, and beautiful. Traveling at far less than my thru-hike’s pace, I had time to sleep, stare, ponder and play. I also chose my night’s destination based largely on it’s beauty. Picking those gems made for a more special trip. I jumped in lakes three times between the deluges.
While I had the time and intention to do some side trips. I didn’t. They were all either too much work, or too stuck in the clouds.
Through the most dramatic areas, the clouds only made the mountains more interesting. I watched at they moved up and over ridges, screamed past summits and blew across lakes. Luckily, the heavy weather came during the less stunning stretches.
Chased by the rain and moving with Waterman, a distance hiker from New Zealand, I moved out of the backcountry a day early. The two nights at the Dinsmore’s were plain old fun. Getting to know Jerry and Andrea better was a big bonus to this hike. The thru-hikers passing by were all happy, fun and jazzed. The first bearded face in the dorm was my good friend Gehaz. We met hiking in Nepal in 2009 and it was great to reconnect with him in such an unexpected place.
The last day, Hot Sister, a friend from PCT ’06, picked me up, put me up and toured me around Seattle. We went to somewhere north of 25 separate places and now I know for sure that it’s a really great city.
Thanks also to Magic Man for the very kind airport pickup, conversation and ride to the crest. I found some hikers after you left and they gobbled the donuts.
The Baker Trail
Just heard about a new long trail. Who’s going to be the first to thru-hike it?
The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail is supposed to open in 2014 and will run 350 miles from South Sudan to Uganda.
They’ve got some work cut out for them. Land mines, former war zone, fleshing out their website (it currently copies content from another blog).
It’s not clear to me whether the intention is to build and maintain single track. The vision comes from Julian Fisher. He hopes that it will eventually be open to 4x4s. So it’ll be a road? Is it a road? Someone go find out.
Take a look down in my comments section, Julian Monroe Fisher was kind enough to chime in!
Backpacking Emigrant Wilderness: Ridge, Lewis, Sardella and Iceland lakes
My uncle and I have been due for a trip for a long time. Our last one was Cedar Mesa.
We drove out Friday afternoon to make a campfire and cook some lentils. Uncle Bill is heading to the JMT later this month for a thru-hike that has been on his list for fifty years. Besides hiking and lounging, this weekend was filled with talk of backpacking technique and trail gossip.
Hiking cross country was a joy. The opportunity to navigate, relative solitude, large number of lakes, alpine plants and sub-alpine trees; it was a great loop. We made camp in the early afternoon, swam, napped and hardly moved ten feet from our warm granite slab.
Yesterday, we leisurely visited the various other lakes in the area, explored other cross country access routes to the region and stared at the view. Around noon we donned packs and found our route down. While there were a few other parties up there, I saw no evidence of travel on the route we took down and hardly any on our route up. I’m pretty sure that people go other ways.
Once we reached tread, the miles went quickly, but we still didn’t get back to the car until after five. It was a nice change from the rush to the car that Sunday often is.
A particularly large pussypaw (?) mat.
Backpacking the Circle of Solitude
We hiked about 75 miles and climbed about 16,000 feet.
Up, up, and away.
Charlie, Dani and I huffed and puffed around the Circle of Solitude in five days. It was hard, beautiful and a lot of fun.
Avalanche Pass kicked my butt. Cloud Canyon felt like an achievement unlocked. Colby Pass, crossed at six pm, was a highlight. We’d pushed hard and the view was worth it. Standing up high on the Great Western Divide, looking down towards the Kern Trench, and across towards the Kaweahs, ready to drop down another five thousand feet.. it was a very physical trip.
We pushed up to the headwaters of the Kern, a basin I was thrilled to return to and can’t wait to visit again. Clouds joined us at Lake South America, but they felt more like the edge of a system rather than a growing cumulonimbus.
Day four brought us cross country to Harrison Pass. Being early July, we didn’t know if the chute would be covered in snow and ice. It wasn’t. We still turned around. Dang, that descent looked dangerous.
I don’t have a very high tolerance for risk. Harrison is your typical avalanche chute. Steep, featureless, loose. Below the top, there was no evidence of prints. No indication of a safe way. It looked like as soon as you were on the face you could slip. I can only guess that winter slides have changed the route since the guidebook recommended it. We turned around and started a long day over Forester instead.
I’ve wanted to do this loop for a dozen years and I’m very glad that my best buddies huffed along.
Falling on the first 40 feet seemed probable.
Backpacking Island Lake and Mount Price in Desolation
Joined some friends for a birthday trip to the high country. Slept near the crest of the Crystal Range, really not very far from my home in the valley.
Three of us tried to summit in the late afternoon but turned around at the crux. It was six o’clock.
I’m not sure what to make of the route description. The “gentle sandy slope” from the saddle is a stout ridge. Didn’t have time to downclimb the other side and explore. The boot skiing was pretty perfect though.
Highlight of the trip was a “five wow” shooting star. It was low and slow and I had time to say “wow” that many times as it crossed the entire sky.
Also, the supermoon and the company made for a memorable camp in the alpine cirque.
Happy birthday Dimples!
I'm Jack Haskel 