Aug 19, 2015 - Lost Bear Trailhead

Title: Aug 19, 2015 - Lost Bear Trailhead

Trail head: Ostrander Lake

Hike Info:

Type:  Backpacking

Trail: Ostrander Lake

Destination: Lost Bear Meadow Trailhead

Distance: 6.46

Start Time: 9:13

End Time:  12:34

Travel Time: 3:20 (1.94 mph)

Moving Time: 2:43 (2.38 mph)

Elevation Rise: 365'

Maximum Elevation: 8,571'

Description:
I got up a little before 7 after having a fitful night's sleep. There was a rock in my back all night which was uncomfortable, no matter how I lay. Oh well, worth the suffering for the woman I love. I had my quiet time. Breakfast was a slow and unhurried affair of our standard oatmeal and goodies. We will be leaving this morning rather than waiting for the afternoon because of two things. First, to avoid the heat and the second so Sherri can go to her bicycling meeting.

We left at 9:15, but not after taking a picture of us at the lake-see below. As we go down the trail, we look for a patch of the trail we saw yesterday, but cannot identify it. It would have been good because then we could have seen where we had lunch yesterday.

The pleasure you have for doing a trail well worn from your feet is that you know many spots you want to visit. We do this right from the beginning of our trip down. After going up a little ridge, we drop down. From there we take a little social trail to look over the Illilouette Creek and beyond. For my money, this is one of the best views in Yosemite. We see many of the major Yosemite peaks such as Half Dome, Mt Hoffman, Mt Starr King, the Clark Range and many more. Well worth the 100' of being off the trail.

Half Dome

Mt Starr King

Us and the Merced Drainage

Sherri on her way down Horizon Ridge

We continue our trek along Horizon Ridge making a lot better time than we did Monday. Does going downhill have something to do with it? The day is still young and we are enjoying the trek. We stop again at our favorite log, now half disintegrated from age. I wander off wondering if the patch we saw yesterday is down this way-no. In the meantime another backpacker from Ostrander comes down the trail. We never saw her, only another group of four young men a few camps over.

Fungi of sorts

We make it down-no bear cubs today, only some mushrooms which Sherri goes gaga over.  By now we are a bit hungry. What do we want? Pizza in Oakhurst, a little over an hour away. We find the Pizza Factory there and had a filling lunch-dinner. A good way to end a hike.

Us at the Lake

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers	Pizza Factory in Oakhurst	Clif Bar, Scratch, GORP,

Aug 18, 2015 - Ostrander Lake

Title: Aug 18, 2015 - Ostrander Lake

Trail head: Ostrander Lake

Hike Info:

Type:  Hiking-Cross Country

Trail: None

Destination:Wandering on west side of Horse Ridge

Distance: 1.36  miles ¹

Start Time:  9:48

End Time:   1:36

Travel Time: 3:47 (0.36 mph)

Moving Time: 1:54 (0.72 mph)

Elevation Rise:  401'

Maximum Elevation: 8,568'

 ¹While the mileage is small, remember this is cross country.

Description:

Stars were just beaming last night. It is amazing what happens to them when there is no moon and no smog and we are up 8,000'. Sort of wish I would stay awake more to see them and get friendlier with them.

I did get up at 6:40, which is late for me in the mountains. Maybe yesterday's tiredness was real. I did sleep well and comfortably. I had my quiet time by Ostrander Lake. Gives you a small taste of heaven. That will be so much more, but this is not even one of those little spoons you taste ice cream with at a store. It is glorious in its own right, but only a seeing though a smoky glass into heaven.

Breakfast

I also went for a walk along the ridge we are on and then over to the boulder field west of the ridge. Nice vista looking down the Bridalveil Creek drainage. Wonder if I can convince Sherri to cross the field? There is also a good view of where we walked up yesterday. When I return, Sherri was up and shortly afterwards she fixed our oatmeal. It is a slow morning, but that does not mean a bad one. Just we are not in a rush to do anything. Sherri even decided to do a clothes washing-it was that kind of a morning.

One thing which is not slow is charging up my phone. With a battery pack, the phone quit charging after bumping up 1-2%. But if I charged directly from the solar charger in the direct sun, I was able to charge 30% of the phone in an hour. Pretty impressive.

Gary on the boulders

Sherri wondering about them rocks

We did decide to go west and not to Hart Lake. So we retrace much of the same steps as I took this morning until we got to the boulder field. There, we took our time and went on a south-west decline across this gully of about a quarter mile. It is such harder to go down boulders than up them, but to get to a bench on the western part of Horse Ridge, down we must go.  After much navigation, we get to our bench and what do we find? Two ski trails labeled the Merced Crest, trails 16 and 17. Later on I talk with Andrea and she tells me that she wanted to go on one of these trails-they are considered advanced. But she was warned off of them at the time because of avalanche danger.

View from Boulder Field

Merced Crest Ski Trail

We were right in heading for this bench. It is nice walking and we get to look down on Bridalveil Creek. There is a perfect spot for lunch (N37° 37.426' W119° 33.557'). It has the view of Bridalveil, along with the west end of Horse Ridge and the ridge separating Bridalveil from Highway 41. Pretty nice. Not sure if we could see Henness Ridge or not-may be just below the horizon. As an added one time bonus, we spot a woodpecker in a dead tree close-by. This guy entertained us for at least 20 minutes.

Our lunch buddy, the woodpecker

Lunchtime view

After lunch lunch we went a bit further until we got to the ski signs showing a split-one going up the ridge; the other down. And why you might ask? At least we did. When I peered over the embankment, there was a pretty good drop. So I considered the wisdom of the ski trail makers. The next ridge to get around was a ways away and required us to descend into another bowl-probably more boulder hopping. After discussing the situation with Sherri, we decided to turn around. Now in distance, we had not traveled that far, maybe a mile at the most, but it took us 2+ hours to do so-lunch was maybe a half an hour.

At rest before re-crossing the boulder field

When we came to the boulder field to re-cross it, we decided to go lower. but before crossing it, we took a few minutes to rest and get ready. This time the crossing was easier and quicker. Once across it, we were just left with a 150' scramble up a slope to get to our campsite. A nice little trip.

Gary after his dip

Sherri reading

For the rest of the afternoon, we mostly rested and read. Rested from what you might ask? Well for whatever reason, we both felt a lack of energy. So feeding the mind was good: Sherri with All the Light We Cannot See and I a book about the Inklings called The Fellowship.  Around 3, I decided I wanted a bit of refreshment, so I went for a dip. Surprised I did not see a layer of dirt and sweat on the lake water. Even more surprised that the water was not freezing like a good mountain lake should be. It did feel good floating on the lake and even better being bathed by the warm sun on a rock.

After my swim and upon returning to camp, I found Sherri pondering her sleeping pad-deflated. Why?  After close examination, she finds the source There is a hole in the rubber seam near the valve, creaking a slow leak. We tried to patch up it up with Tenacious Tape. But the release of air was only slowed, but not stop the leak. What to do?

There are three options: 1) Sherri can live with it; 2) Gary can live with it; 3) we can return tonight. We decided to have our dinner first and decide. By the time dinner was completed, one option was eliminated-we were not going back. So Sherri says she is resigned to a bad night of sleep.

Ostrander Lake looking west

The nice thing is we get to experience the beauty of the lake. After dinner, we walk about two-thirds of the way around the lake. AT that point, Sherri had enough of boulder hopping without an evening of more. So we turn around and return to camp where Sherri cooks up some hot cocoa, schnapps and oreos. 

But the sun is still up-just a little low in the sky. So I go back to the lake and take a few pictures. Sheri meditates on the surroundings.  Around 8:30, we turn in. But not before Sherri takes the option of getting a good night sleep.

Ostrander Lake at Sunset

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers	Mountain House freeze dried dinner-Chicken Terriyaki	Clif Bar, Scratch, GORP

Pictures:

Sherri Rocks!

Ostrander Ski Hut

Ostrander Lake

Ostrander Lake

Ostrander Lake at Sunset

Ostrander Lake at Sunset

Aug 17, 2015 - Ostrander Lake

Title: Aug 17, 2015 - Ostrander Lake

Trail head: Lost Bear Meadows 

Hike Info:

Type:  Backpacking

Trail: Ostrander Lake

Destination: Ostrander Lake

Distance: 6.41 miles ¹

Start Time: 12:09

End Time:    5:44

Travel Time: 5:35(1.15 mph)

Moving Time: 3:42 (1.73 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,816'

Maximum Elevation: 8,609'

 ¹When I laid out the tracks upon the map I noticed that around the time we saw the cub, the GPS jumped about a mile. It did not affect the mileages reported above.

Description:

Today is a day of change and frustration. I got up 6:20. We did not need to be on the trail early so sort of enjoyed a leisurely morning, including having my normal quiet time. Even took a shower, shouldn't every backpack trip start with a person being clean? Would not want to be a dirty old man in the outdoors. I weighed myself and my pack-243.2 and 37 lbs respectively.  Breakfast was done at home and we hit the road by 8:30,  We stopped in Oakhurst, as planned, to pick up sandwiches for lunch and dinner at Pete's Place.  I got a ham and cheese while Sherri a turkey sandwich

Now for the exercise in frustration. Oakhurst has a Forest Service office alongside the Oakhurst Visitor Information and Yosemite NPS desks-all in the same suite. Most of our trip will be in Yosemite. But the trail head is in the National Forest. So the Forest Service needs to issue it. Here is the catch, the Forest Service office is open Tuesday-Sunday. What is today? Monday, so the Forest Service is not open. But we can go 25 miles (turns out it is about 18 miles and 25 minutes one way)  back to North Fork to the other Forest Service office, even though there is a Yosemite ranger not 10' away from this, trying to be helpful. But rules are rules, so we would need to travel to North Fork if we want this permit.

So we considered this, and decided that with the day getting hotter, we would not be on the trail until 2:00pm. So we decided to go up to Wawona and see what was open there. Ranger Anton waited on us and after discussing options, including the water situation, we decided to do the old stand by, Ostrander Lake. We got to the Lost Bear Meadow Trailhead at 12:10 and were on the trail by 12:30.

Before we left there was a group of young men who were in the parking lot. Sherri talked with them and they said they were heading to Ostrander as well. We start a head of them and talked about when, not if, they would pass us.One thing we notice as we start our hike-it is hot! Forecast says 108 in Fresno. Can only imagine what it will be here. But we resolve to have our return trip earlier than later.

Lost Cub at Lost Bear Meadow

 At the 1.09 mile mark(N37° 39.127' W119° 36.094'), excitement reigned! Sherri is in the lead and there is a pretty large object being startled and climbing a tree. She, that is Sherri, hurriedly backs away. I have pretty much backed away after recognizing what this object is: a young cub. We wait awhile and the cub decides it must be safe. So what does he do? He comes down the tree-which is pretty awesome, and starts to meander down the trail-towards us. Noise is made and he turns around and exits the trail for parts unknown. After waiting around a few minutes, we decide it is safe to continue on. The one question remaining is, where is momma?

On the trail

What happens after all that excitement? You want to eat, of course! But where. In about 10 minutes we come to the Bridalveil Campground trail junction and have half of the sandwich from Pete's Place. Pretty good-but I thought the ones we had before was a bit more filling, but plenty of meat.  We continue down our familiar trail and come across the other trail junction, this one to Deer Camp. Being a traditionalist, and me being tired on the easy part of the trail, we stop for a gorp break. Checking my cheap thermometer, it is 92 degrees. Fairly warm.

Gary, the tired hiker

Now comes the part which I usually do ok and Sherri struggles with. But today, the roles are reversed. I am struggling.  The young men from the parking lot pass us up here-sort of surprises us since we figure it would be a lot sooner-maybe we are not doing too bad. We stop several times to rest, and I nap a couple of times. My confession is that I do not take in the beauty around me like I should, But we make it to the top of Horizon Ridge. Now only about a mile and a half more and 600' up.

Automated Snow Depth Gauge

On top of the ridge, we first see a white wash cloth, then a 100' later we see a blue jacket. We pick up the blue jacket, thinking it is one of the you men who passed us up. At one of our stops, Sherri goes off to heed nature's calling. When she comes back, a bit concerned. She had a beautiful view of the Illilouette drainage only to find out she was within sight of a contraption which she thinks has a web cam. How embarrassing! But I happen to know about this contraption-it is a snow measurement device and I reassure her it does not have a web cam-I think.

We meet Linda and her husband going down. Linda is a Yosemite range on patrol. She has been a ranger for 80 days and this is her first trip up to Ostrander. A bit long of a hike, but she is enjoying it. She takes the blue jacket as it was there before our young men.

Pondering the tent

We get to the lake and we and the young men are the only ones up there. So we have our choice of spots to camp at and we select one close to the outlet of Ostrander Lake, which is the beginning of Bridalveil Creek. Later another couple will come in and they will camp closer to the ski hut.  My tiredness continues and Sherri takes pity on me. She even puts up the tent and gets dinner ready-not much to get ready, just the remainder of the Pete's Place sandwiches. This is definitely role reversal. Sherri is finding her own sense of camp efficiency.

Ostrander Lake is always a place to enjoy. Tonight is no exception. We go over and enjoy the sunset and the coming darkness before turning in.

Ostrander Lake close to Sunset

Gary Contemplating the Day

Last of the Light

Goodnight Moon

Trail Lesson:

Have a fall back plan and know your area.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
At home	Pet's Place sandwiches	Pet's Place sandwiches	Clif Bar, Scratch GORP,