Grouse Lake Success

On my second try I made it to Grouse Lake. The first time I just wasn't feeling very good and even the easy, flat trail sections were hard. This time, although the steep climb was hard, we charged right up. Once the trail splits from the Twin Lakes trail there is a short, somewhat steep granite section. Then, there's a right turn up and there's a steeper forest section. Next, it levels off a bit, but still angling up and somewhat southeast. Just before the last bit, we ran into some hikers on the way down. The man said the lake was just at the base of the leftmost rounded "peak" as I faced the steep forest/granite wall ahead. The trail switches back to the left (northish?) and angles up the wall. This section is the steepest and reminded me of the trail to Loch Leven lakes or even Mt. Judah. There weren't many switchbacks though because there isn't really room for them.

We started to cross the stream that exits the lake but I couldn't see the trail on the other side. As it turns out, that's the trail. Instead we took some marked cairn "trails" up and did eventually reach the lake. We found a likely spot. Commando gobbled his trail meal down. I had my banana and some vitamin water placebo. I soaked my feet in the lake. Wow. It was cold. It was so cold my feet turned red and my toes started to ache with cold. The socks and boots went back on.

As we headed back we ran into a backpacker and his dog coming up over the granite ridge instead of from the trail. The backpacker asked what lake this was, and then asked how to get to Twin Lakes. Hmmm. I told him the general vicinity to head cross-country and said he could also backtrack on the trail. I hope he makes it.

I then stupidly decided to try and make it back cross-country. We angled along the ridge generally heading down, west, and south trying to find the path of least resistance. My theory was that there was a long, gradual ridge that led back to Wright's Lake. I don't think my theory was correct. If it was correct, I never found the ridge.

We headed down dry stream beds interspersed with granite slabs or large granite blocks. As we got lower, we got caught in a section of large granite blocks (some the size of houses) and dense manzanita. We had to climb rocks and push through dense flora. At one point I looked down and realized that the manzanita was hiding a 3-4 foot drop next to the boulder I was trying to go around. Commando had difficulty too. He can't see over the manzanita and he's not so agile over the big rocks. He needs some type of flat surface for his paws to grip.

At one point I realized that, although we'd been hiking for a while and were still descending, we weren't on the trail yet and the sun was starting to set. We headed straight down to get to the trail fastest. At first, we were helped by some deer trails. There were also fewer rocks. Then, it was back to thick manzanita. We just pushed through as carefully and as quickly as possible. At last we reached some flat space and soon discovered the trail, just inside the Desolation Wilderness boundary. I'm really not sure my "short cut" had saved us any distance.

The sun set before we got back, but we were almost to the flat section of the trail when it set. There was plenty of residual light to see. The moon was up and a little over half full so it's reflected light was enough to cast a faint shadow.

Both of us were exhausted when we got back to the car after about 7 hours of hiking. Commando is still sleeping on the bed, a sure sign that he's one tired doggy.

It was a great hike though!

Barrett Lake Jeep Trail Hike

I wasn't feeling very motivated so took an easy and somewhat boring hike up the Barrett Lake Jeep Trail.

We met a few rigs coming down the trail. I have to remember to park us uphill from the various vehicles because being on the downhill side was a little scary. There wasn't always a lot of room to stay out of the way and I kept worrying about the rigs rolling over on top of us.

The first vehicle that passed us made Commando quite nervous, but he calmed down with the next sets.

Like the grumpy people we met a few weekends ago at the Enchanted Pools I was grumpy when there were about 5 trucks parked at the Silver Creek crossing. Unlike most of the other vehicles, they weren't very friendly. I had wanted to stop there and soak my feet and eat my sandwich, but the large group, and not very friendly dog convinced me to keep going. Commando would have liked to have stayed to try to use his wiles, but I didn't get a good vibe from the other dog.

We climbed up to a "summit" and then then sat and ate. Commando was quite hungry and really tucked into his food. He was so tired he even laid down for about a minute. Wow!

When we got back to the creek crossing, no one was there. We relaxed for a bit and I ate part of my sandwich.

We didn't encounter anyone else until we were back at the car. Two hikers came down after us.

We stopped at the Best View in the Sierra Nevada so I could soak my feet and Commando could clean some of the mud from his paws. A great way to end what turned out to be a good hike.

Best view in the Sierra Nevada

Hiked part of the way to Grouse Lake. The original plan was to hike to the Enchanted Pools and then to Lake Umpa but I changed my mind on the trail. It was getting late and as I hadn't done any research on Grouse Lake I wasn't sure how much farther we had to go. It was climb, climb, climb and an allegedly REALLY steep bit at the end. I'm glad we turned back.

Water was everywhere from the rains. Two weeks ago the terrain was parched, now, it's wet. There were puddles everywhere and snow dusting above about 8000 feet.

We stopped at the Wright's Lake boat ramp and this is one of the best views in the Sierra Nevada. The Crystal Range seems to loom over the still lake. Today, they were wreathed in clouds with some faint pink from the setting sun. A bald eagle flew over our heads clutching an enormous trout in its talons. It landed on a tree snag and scolded our presence and then flew away, still clutching the trout. Wow.

Best View in the Sierra Nevada 2

Second day at Schneider Cow Camp

Hiked up the forest service road and then up the stock trail. It's marked on the map but has no particular sign. It does allow motorbikes and two of then passed us on our way up. We reached the possible crest of the trail and headed off trail straight up the ridge angling a bit south east to head toward Little Round Top. It's not too difficult other than the altitude. The ground varies from somewhat loose dirt to hard packed dirt with rocks. There are plenty of mule's ears. We had almost reached the crest when the threatening storm clouds started to release rain and a few tiny bits of hail. There was also some thunder an lightning so we decided to descend. We cut back heading slightly more south towards Caples Lake heading for a tree line.

I was glad we got to some trees because the spitting rain turned into a downpour and we were glad to take shelter and stay somewhat dry under some trees. Poor Commando got soaked and had difficulty seeing through the rain, he really did look pitiful. We kept heading down and finally intersected with the stream that intersected the forest service road.

I had dry clothes in the car which I was glad to change into!

I guess it will take one or two more trips for me to "summit" Little Round Top.