MudNCrud Forums
Climbing and ... Climbing => Everywhere Else => Topic started by: Brad Young on August 05, 2014, 05:48:46 PM
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Tricia and I "ran" the 31.6 mile distance from Highway 108 to Highway 4 this last Saturday and Sunday. Well not really; we didn't actually run. But we did go very fast and very light (I started with 30 pounds and Tricia with just under 10). And we somehow missed (again) all of the precipitation that has been hitting the high country over the last several weeks.
We had a really great start on Saturday; a leisurely wake-up followed by a 55 minute drive to the pass (we were hiking by 9:00 a.m.):
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3865/14824620881_65b1c34e90_c.jpg)
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5551/14641058899_5fea64e1cb_c.jpg)
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5571/14824623871_c549edee27_c.jpg)
Vicki hiked the first mile with us before turning around:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3895/14824632301_2eb24a9d8f_c.jpg)
We reached and then traversed across the south side of Sonora Peak. This part of the trail is visible from the highway. Then the trail crosses the crest and heads north to the headwaters of the East Fork Carson River. It then follows the "river" first as a tiny rivulet and then as a stream until after five miles it might, maybe be called a small river. Here's Tricia just before the descent into the start of the canyon:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3910/14825370824_6d821b8e90_c.jpg)
And here's a view in the opposite direction, looking up canyon from five miles down (in the prior photo Tricia is standing in the obvious saddle that is in the middle of this shot):
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5595/14825377104_4c6fd4f030_c.jpg)
Nine miles into the hike the PCT leaves the river and moves up and to its west. Gentle uphill leads past pretty streams and, occasionally, really expansive views:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3882/14641191257_24b36de47e_c.jpg)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3922/14825375684_e224eeec8f_c.jpg)
Stanislaus Peak seemed to always be visible. Here it is (the closer one) along with Sonora Peak (slightly left) and a six mile stretch of the East Fork Carson River Canyon:
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/14824664891_0fb7c93f16_c.jpg)
We passed under Boulder Peak (a pretty but totally non-descript rubble pile that I climbed on one of Tricia's first backpacking trips in 2006):
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2910/14825385004_7407e90d7a_c.jpg)
By now we were 13 miles into the day and we were getting pretty weary. Slight uphill led to slight downhill. In spite of being tired however, we broke into smiles when we came to "Son of Hexentric." This volcanic rubble pile/peak had several faces that each looked like the Sonora Pass climbing route Hexentric. Here's one of them:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5554/14641123928_189797e91e_c.jpg)
(For some reason seeing this formation made me think immediately of Rob. Maybe because I think he'll ask me how far into the Wilderness it is?)
As the day wound down we started to too. We began looking for a flat place to sleep near water:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/14804755246_c71e667c14_c.jpg)
And we found one, a nice one:
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/14827400612_1469270d4b_c.jpg)
The photo of us in camp was taken by Elizabeth, one of only three other people we'd seen that entire day. She and her friend Don caught up near dark and we happily shared the area with them (they were doing the same hike as us, also in two days, and they were from Sonora - it was a real treat to meet them).
As Don and Elizabeth set up their camp and chatted with us, we all watched the evening light on the far side of the canyon. It was wonderful:
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2915/14824678011_55da572e2d_c.jpg)
We slept that night under the stars, and there actually were some (we had a tarp handy though just in case). But, true to predictions, we would wake up the next morning to overcast, to the possibility of rain, and to another 14.8 mile hike to Ebbett's Pass...
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How far in is that formation? ;)
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Yeah. It won't be that bad if we bike in, I mean ride a horse in.
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take it to the other thread.
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lol
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How far in is that formation? ;)
Alright, Tricia and I both got a good laugh out of that one.
Yeah. It won't be that bad if we bike in, I mean ride a horse in.
And I laughed at that one too.
But yeah, maybe do take that part to the other thread?
Hopefully I can get the second day's report done tonight (and thanks really to you guys for reading this crap - I mostly put it together for me to read a year from now and for my and Vicki's families to read so they'll understand what we're up to; the fact that some of you actually read the reports too is a very high compliment).
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Oh, and that formation is probably a nine or ten mile hike in if you go in from Clarks Fork Road and not from Sonora Pass ;D
Too far huh? But it was a pretty cool rock pile.
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We woke up at first light on the second day. This was partly because we'd gone to sleep at 8:30 and also because I expected rain later in the day and I wanted to be on our way by the time it hit (but it never did).
From the moment we started walking, Stanislaus Peak dominated the area (it was behind us though):
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5564/14641119039_0b9b9e0619_c.jpg)
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5590/14641143968_eaa127e2fa_c.jpg)
Temps were very cool and we had thick overcast:
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2920/14827412282_d03bcf980a_c.jpg)
After only a mile the views to the north started opening up:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3846/14824696831_c9bd174fb0_c.jpg)
Side canyons showed evidence of recent heavy washouts (so did the trail itself in places):
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/14641242987_1b09a5b882_c.jpg)
At eight miles for the day we hiked past Asa Lake. I found this small lake fascinating (it covered maybe three acres?). It's on a hillside, but there's a crater-like area that the lake fills on that hillside. It has a vigorous outflow stream, but no inflow stream. After we got home I read in the PCT guidebook that the lake is completely spring fed, that it does have a fish population and that beavers have been occasionally found in it:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5587/14825428994_70232e27ff_c.jpg)
From Asa the trail ascends to a saddle on the southeast shoulder of Tryon Peak:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5572/14827797565_7d79fa31d7_c.jpg)
Although I'd heard of the Highland Lakes, I'd never been there and I knew nothing about them. We saw them in the distance (and the dirt road leading in to them from Highway 4). These look like a wonderful place to car camp and day hike; very pretty:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5551/14641085660_f2515ddd90_c.jpg)
From the Tryon Peak saddle we could clearly see the Three Chimneys, a well known formation that is in the Emigrant Wilderness, which is south of Highway 108 (it's at least 25 miles away; the Three Chimneys are visible in this photo just to the right of the closer, pyramid-shaped peak):
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5568/14824712761_e14faff672_c.jpg)
We passed a talus field of unusually pink blocks. We took this photo for J.C., but the light wasn't good and the photo doesn't really show how very pink the rock was:
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2912/14641094230_62a6131270_c.jpg)
After some more miles we knew we had to be close to Highway 4; but we couldn't see it. Unlike the Sonora Pass Highway, we never saw any of the Ebbett's Pass Highway at all until we were right onto it:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3882/14824721941_1e38d813e6_c.jpg)
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/14804802166_cbcca51972_c.jpg)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3885/14827811985_d62bd470cb_c.jpg)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3890/14804805036_6b4d13dbce_c.jpg)
It's kinda surprising how narrow Highway 4 is, huh? I've only been over Ebbett's a few times before and had forgotten that it's a physically small road up there.
Anyway, we walked our customary 50 feet in to the next section and then turned to walk the quarter mile down to the PCT trailhead to find Vicki. And, no surprise (how does she do her magic?), Vicki had just left there to come look for us. We hopped in the car and headed home from another trip on "our" fantastic trail.
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Pink photo ain't showin' up - I'll try again tamale.
Thanks for the work and story tellin' :)
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TFPU, this TR is a saving grace... I'm still at work.
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Pink photo ain't showin' up - I'll try again tamale.
Thanks for the work and story tellin' :)
Fixed it as you were posting. I really wish you could have been there - it had the same pink color as does one of the rock layers one sees while descending into the Owens River Gorge.
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TFPU, this TR is a saving grace... I'm still at work.
Oh man, I am so sorry :-[
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Brad, you are the man. Tricia you are the woman. 31.6 miles in 2 days, that is really working it with gear. Congrats!
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Fixed it as you were posting. I really wish you could have been there - it had the same pink color as does one of the rock layers one sees while descending into the Owens River Gorge.
Most likely some form of rhyolite. I'd need a hand sample for a more in depth classification.
There is a lot of Bishop Tuff on the east side - it's all part of a thick ash/pyroclastic deposit from the Long Valley Caldera eruption 760,000 years ago - lithified/welded to various degrees. The thickness of the deposit in the actual caldera is on the order of a couple miles deep! Some day that whole area will go BOOM again :)
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Thanks, Clink.
It's funny, we don't feel like we're going very long distances when we do these hikes. But then we often see (and maybe unconsciously compare ourselves to) through-hikers who hike 25 to 30 miles of the trail almost every day. We've met through-hikers who've averaged over 30 miles each day for hundreds of miles.
Through-hikers usually train for their hikes for months before they start though. And most through-hikers aren't 12 year old girls! Considering everything, I am pretty pleased with the way my little 12 year old hauls ass. And I sure enjoy getting out there with her.
And J.C. Maybe you should join us on a hike so we've got ready answers to our geology questions ;)
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you guys haul arse!
My family maxes out at 9-10 a day usually. I max at 1 mile a day. :)
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I bet those 30+ mile a day hikers are not 50+ year old men with day jobs ;). That is if you can call your 3 day a week work schedule with 1 week off a month a job.
Looking forward to hiking the next leg with you and Tricia
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Brad, you are the man. Tricia you are the woman. 31.6 miles in 2 days, that is really working it with gear. Congrats!
I'm with Clink! You two are rolling! That Lake Asia is a strange one. Springs? It's doing okay, even this year?
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I'm with Clink! You two are rolling! That Lake Asia is a strange one. Springs? It's doing okay, even this year?
Yep, Asa Lake seemed full and the outlet stream was a stream.
More "rolling" coming up Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the Dawsons. And, if we're lucky two special guests are gonna join us for at least two of those three days. Then (depending on transportation and weather) maybe Katie for a three day trip in the middle of next week!!
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Well, we're off again this morning to walk from Ebbetts pass to Forest Road 3 (halfway up the west shore of Lake Tahoe). We'll be backpacking parts of it and day hiking other parts. This time the weather isn't perfect. Hopefully we can tough it out.
The Dawsons and also our two special (Mudn'Crud) guests are joining us for the first three days - to Carson Pass.
I think we'll have fun.
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The Dawsons and also our two special (Mudn'Crud) guests are joining us for the first three days - to Carson Pass.
Can't be the Muds...they only bike ;D
Clink, now is our chance to add bolts....U with me?
Then Brad has to guess which climb or climbs have added bolts.
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F4, I'm all in. I have a huge urge to do multiple desecrations. And I don't mean just mentally.
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Shhh, I think he's back....
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Shhh, I think he's back....
No, but we're off the trail for a rest/waiting for Katie day (it looks like she'll make it for our next three-day leg through the Desolation Wilderness - if her somewhat shaky ride comes through).
Meanwhile we finished three great, even fantastic days with Dawsons and Cooks (J.C. and K.C. day-hiked many miles with us and spent their non-hiking time hanging with Vicki). We went from Ebbetts to Carson Pass (Highway 4 to Highway 88). Then Tricia and I flat flew from Carson Pass to Echo Summit yesterday (she and I did the first 13.4 miles yesterday in exactly five hours).
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We've got an excellent summer PCT schedule penciled out now for the summer of 2015. It looks like we'll do one short, three-day trip two weekends from now and then three separate week-long trips during the rest of the summer. The rough idea is to get through Lassen National Park and then some (which then puts us in a perfect place to finish California in the summer of 2016).
Here's the plan (subject, of course, to fine tuning):
- June 6 through June 8, Highway 80 to Highway 49, 38.4 miles to Sierra City. The Dawsons are joining us for this trip;
- June 23 through June 30, Highway 49 to Highway 70, 91.7 miles. This will be a mix of backpacking and meeting Vicki at roads/campgrounds on the way. This trip will end at the town of Belden, the usually recognized halfway point of the PCT. Halfway;
- July 18 to around July 24, Highway 70 to Highway 44, 92.5 miles. Again, this will be a mix of backpacking and meeting Vicki to car camp since there are a fair number of roads that cross the PCT in the northern Sierra;
- August 2 to August 6, Highway 44 to around or north of the town of Burney Falls 41.8 miles (or more).
After that we'll see what happens. We'll be awfully far north by then for a Labor Day trip, but who knows how enthusiastic we'll be at that point? I suppose if we did do a trip in September it might get us as far as where the PCT crosses Interstate 5, near Castle Crags State Park.
And, as usual, any of you are welcome to join us for all or part of a leg. The people that did join us last year were a big part of the PCT season for us.
So, who's in? ;D
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I'm thinking we will join you guys for part of the June 23rd - June 30th trip. I'm on PTO starting Friday June 26th and will be going back to work on July 6th. :D
Looking forward to hiking with T-girl.
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I'm thinking we will join you guys for part of the June 23rd - June 30th trip. I'm on PTO starting Friday June 26th and will be going back to work on July 6th. :D
Looking forward to hiking with T-girl.
Fantastic, we'd really love your company.
I wish you were also looking forward to hiking with me ::)