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[Part 1, Climbing in the Sierra]
Marie, Andrew, and I drive the short distance to the Budd Creek trailhead and park the car. The first couple of miles are the same as the approach for Cathedral Pk.
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Then we bare off to the west and to Budd Lake. Already I'm hot enough to take a swim. We circle around the lake, climb up granite slabs, climb to a ridge, then follow that up, over, and into another basin. We circle south of Cockscomb, into the next valley, and start working our way out of it in a small side valley. The terrain so far has been spectacular, but this valley is beyond that and feels enchanted. A special, secret place given to us to discover. On the valley left are grassy slopes while on the right a steep rock wall (with many interesting climbing routes).
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The valley leads to a ridge top with a beautiful camp on soft gravel. The evening sun brings a nice warm glow.
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After dinner we attempt to hang our food. Figuring out how to protect our food from bears has not been easy. The park requires that you carry food in a bear-proof container. The only thing that qualifies are bear barrels. They are heavy, hard to pack, and even if we each carried one would not hold enough food for our trip. Hanging is no longer an option because many bears can get it, no matter how you hang it. But the rangers tell us that those bears mainly hang out near the popular campsites and that if we travel cross country we won't encounter them. So our solution has been to carry two barrels and hang the rest. Even with two barrels that's still a lot to try to hang in the scrawny alpine trees. We pull down one rotting branch in our first attempt and succeed on our second, but I'm not at all convinced that a bear couldn't reach up and grab the food.
(I've since learned about a new bear-proof stuff sack at www.ursack.com)
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We leave our beautiful camp and continue our eastward traverse through another basin. Down into that, past a Reymann
lake, then back over another ridge. On the far side of the ridge Emeric Creek valley opens up and across it we
can see Vogelsang camp, lake, and pass. We pick our way down the valley side, cross it, and hike into Vogelsang
camp. I've never been to a sierra camp, never even heard about one. It's large, has may tents for guest, and has a kitchen. Outside the kitchen is the dinner menu: baby greens salad, grilled chicken breast, fresh corn and vegetables, corn bread. Only second day of the trip and we are tempted to stay for dinner. We convince ourselves it is too early for that. From the camp we climb up to the lake, circle to the far side, and make camp on a high bench. After dinner we pull down a few more tree limbs. |
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| From Vogelsang pass we can see the rest of our day's route. We traverse around Lewis creek valley. The first two
basins are an easy day hike from Vogelsang camp and we see plenty of signs of people. From the second we traverse
a long talus field then descend a steep slope into Florence Creek. Signs of people disappear. In the valley we
come across some interesting bouldering problems, including a chimney. We camp in a small gully near lake at elv 10541.. |
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We circle around the lake and climb a steep chute on the far side to a ridge. From there we circle around Mt Florence until we are able to drop in to Hutchings Creek. The descent is tricky and we pick our way back and forth looking for easy connecting ledges.
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Descending into the basin we follow small streams past pools and small waterfalls. The terrain is, again, enchanted. In the basin floor are several lakes with beautiful, inviting, gem clear, turquoise lakes.
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We are so fortunate. |
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We camp near one and bake brownies for my birthday.
While Marie explores the basin Andrew and I take off to climb Lyell. This part of the basin is every bit as beautiful as what we have seen so far.
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On the way back down we come across a beautiful water slide. The water looks so inviting that we brave its coldness.
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When we get back to camp, we see smoke coming from the west. In a couple hours the distant mountains are gone and the nearby ridges are obscure. We discuss prospects of getting cut off by fires further down the valley. We decide that we are in a good position and could escape over Lyell Mountain if need be. Later a ranger tells us that the fires were 40 miles away.
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The next day we leave the basin by hiking down hill. Along the way we pass more lakes, falls, and pools and are again tempted into the water. A little farther Hutchings Creek joins the Lyell fork of Merced River. We come over a rise and look down into a valley of vast granite slopes. We drop to the valley floor and lunch near they Lyell Fork..
A little further on we pick up one of the park's trails and head north. I'm surprised by how under used the trail looks. Here we are in Yosemite backcountry, a backpacker's paradise. We are on one of the marked and maintained trails, we have just visited God's own country, and it looks like few people actually get back here.
Adults Making Decisions: At the Lewis creek juncion we arrive at a decision point. We could head down toward the Merced river, see new terrain, and take two more days. Or we could head back over Vogelsang pass and be out tomorrow. We talk back and forth for a while with out making any progress. One of us suggests casting ballots. We elaborate it to a two phase process. First, with out any further discussion we will vote. Each of us will put one pebble in our hand for Merced, or two for Vogelsang. In unison we will reveal our votes. The first vote will be non-binding, followed by discussion, followed by a second, binding vote. After 40 minutes we decide to go over Vogelsang.
Our last camp is down in the forest, at a site that has been often used. In contrast to
our alpine camps, we don't feel we have to be so careful to not scar the land. We build a fire and relax on the
plentiful camp .
This is a long slog over Vogelsang pass and out to the trail. I find that the balls of my feet ache in my new boots and have to stop every hour to take weight off for a while. Even as we approach the large campground I'm take by the beauty of the Tuolomie river. We are only half way through the camp when some folks offer us a ride in back to our car. Andrew jumps in to fetch the car while Marie and I head to the market.
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On the drive home we stop at the Ghost Town of Bodie. Marie's great grandfather was one of the last residents of Bodie. As a child, Marie's mother would spend a couple weeks each summer in Bodie with her grandfather. Years ago, before Bodie was a park, Marie's parents took their family to visit. Then, they could camp just outside the town site and roam at will. Now it's a park and regulated. We plan our time to show up just after it opens at 8:00 am. The morning light is beautiful. We all spread out to explore the town. Marie and I take photographs at our own pace.
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Soon, Marie's located her great grandfather's cabin. A ranger meets us and lets us into the cabin. Everything is faded and dust pail. Later Marie's mom will cry when she sees these photographs and how much the house has deteriorated.
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[Part 1, Climbing in the Sierra]
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Page last modified: Feb 18 16:43 2010 by Tom Unger
