Today started with a 6 am wake up call. Technically it looked like we had a big day in front of us - 10+ miles with almost 4000 feet of…
Today was a planned half-day of hiking, about seven miles down down down into Kern Canyon towards the Kern Hot Spring. The Kern river is a nice place to relax and fish, so we were looking forward to our afternoon off and started off the morning at a leisurely pace. I think we were the last ones to leave Moraine Lake. The one big concern about the day was rattlesnakes. It’s not common to find rattlers up high, but the trail would take us down to about 6500 feet while passing through a rattlesnake’s paradise. Several years ago the area burned, and now the trail is lined and overgrown with shady ferns that a rattlesnake would just love to nap under.
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We took our time packing up and getting moving this morning, wanting to hang around to see the colors in Precipice pop with the mid-morning sun. There was another group…
Ah, the big day. I woke up both excited and anxious about the hike in front of me today since it was both one of the most scenic and hardest…
We had an easy day ahead of us on Day 3, so we took our time packing up in the morning. Pavla went for a swim, I wandered around with my camera looking for wildflowers, and David fished a bit. I think we hit the trail around 10 am and headed south along the JMT towards Shadow Creek. When I went through here in 2007 I was flying and barely noticed how amazing this stretch is. Ruby lake is a stunning deep turquoise color, Garnet Lake has a million little things that make it unique and different, and the wildflowers were just popping.
Once at Shadow Creek we left the JMT and headed up the Lake Ediza trail. The plan was to find a campsite somewhere in the area and stay for two nights, dayhiking some of the less popular lakes in the area. We found a nice legal site just before Lake Ediza where we could have campfires (so we could cook any fish we caught!), and set up.
After setting up, resting, and eating, we decided to dayhike up to Cabin Lake, which is a bit off the beaten track. It was stocked with golden trout in 2000 and David wanted to see if there were any left. Rumor had it there was an unmarked trail heading up to the lake, but we couldn’t find it on the way up. A bit of bushwhacking, scrambling around rock, and persistence finally got us to Cabin Lake. Of course, once we were there we saw the use trail. Figures.
Donohue Pass is the first pass you have to climb when going the north to south direction along the JMT, so it has the reputation of being a tough one.…
Falls by Buck Island Lake
After spending 30+ hours of the last month on a plane, I wanted to do an overnight backpack trip with minimal fuss and maximum relaxation. I wanted to go somewhere with a relatively easy hike, nice scenery, fishing, campfires, and swimming. I also wanted flexibility in the number of people and time, so I didn’t want to go anywhere requiring a complicated permit.
The destination was Buck Island Lake in El Dorado National Forest. Buck Island Lake sits along the trail just outside the Desolation Wilderness boundary, keeping it free from the Wilderness’s permit and other restrictions. The downside is that the Rubicon 4×4 trail runs along the other side of the lake. To be honest, that is one of the reasons I chose this lake – we had a potentially large group of people going on this trip, and I didn’t want to be ‘that group’ that disturbs the wilderness experience of others. I figured that no one camped at the same lake as the Rubicon folks would be expecting a peaceful night in the wilderness and I wouldn’t feel guilty if we stayed up a bit late chatting and laughing around the campfire.
The hike to Buck Island Lake is very easy – about 6 miles with 600 ft of elevation gain. The second half is on an exposed old road and covered in ankle-rolling rock, so I spent more time watching my feet than the view. It was a hot weekend, too, so the exposure was a bit annoying. When we got to the lake I was eager to jump in, and thankfully it was a perfect temperature for a swim.
Once a year, Henry Coe State Park opens up the gate to the remote and less-traveled east side of the park, including Orestimba Wilderness. This Backcountry Weekend allows people to…
Over Labor Day weekend we once again headed into the Sierra for a backpacking trip. This trip was built around my desire to see Benson Lake (the picture in this…