Gary-Summer: August 9, 2016 - Upper Sunrise Creek

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

August 9, 2016 - Upper Sunrise Creek

Title: August 9, 2016 - Upper Sunrise Creek
Hike Info : Description : Trail Lessons : Background : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Little Yosemite Valley

Hike Info:

Type: Backpacking

Trail: John Muir Trail

Destination: Upper Sunrise Creek
Actual Destination: Sunrise High Sierra Camp

Distance: 6.12 miles ¹

Start Time: 8:20

End Time: 3:55

Travel Time: 7:35 (0.81 mph)

Moving Time: 4:51 (1.26 mph)

Elevation Rise: 2,739'

Maximum Elevation: 8,555'

¹Usually I figure anything less than a half a mile an hour is GPS error. But because we were going uphill, I lowered that threshold down to two tenths of a mile per hour

Description:

Half Dome with its early morning line

I got around 6:15. We had our breakfast of oatmeal. I pack up and get ready to go while Sherri tends to her feet. Sherri leaves at 8:15 while Rose and I got off at 8:30. Sonya and Kate were early birds and they left maybe about 7:30 some 45 minutes before us.

Rose with Mt Starr King

The first mile and three quarters is just straight up: we rise up 1000 feet. I can really feel the weight on my shoulders, but it is a little bit lighter than yesterday. What is surprising to me is I'm hearing Sunrise Creek as we are climbing the Half Dome Trail-not that we are doing Half Dome. I have never heard Sunrise along this trail. So when we came to a rest stop, I celebrate this sound by dumping about a liter of water. I will not be needing it on the way until we pass Upper Sunrise Creek.

At another stop, a couple of hikes-Susan and Sarah-stop to help get my water bladder straight on my pack. We will be seeing them again.

When we got up to the Half Dome junction Sherri was waiting for us. This is the first milestone on our hike today. Two more to go. We stopped, snacked, moaned and groaned and felt a need rest for a while. Sherri got ahead of us again, but not for long.

Next stop is less than a mile away at the Clouds Rest Junction. Sherri has already arrived and is resting by a trickle of cool water-she put in her cool scarf and is enjoying the sensation on her neck. The water is flowing pretty good and we were pleased to be refreshed by this.

Bunnel Point and start of burnt forest

Now it is time to continue along our trail. Our climb follows Sunrise Creek up for a ways. When we start going up the creek, we encounter a burnt out forest. It may have been in connection with the Meadows Fire ² a couple years ago. We travel through this burnt out section for the next 4 miles.

Looking East

When we get to the top of Sunrise Creek at least as far as the trail goes, we take a break for lunch. We are getting pretty much drained after this morning's climb. Lunch is Sherri's and mine normal peanut butter, Nutttela and Ritz cracker fare. Having gotten ourselves somewhat rejuvenated-that is hard since we are still in the burn area and its ghost nature leaves very little shade. But we do manage to continue along the trail. There is a place which Andrea and I have camped before along an unnamed creek. The creek is still there, but the comfortable, secluded spot is no longer recognizable. On the other hand there is a lot of different places where water is draining from the soil. This has been observed in other places were springs have gotten unstopped after a fire³.

Shovels and Rake Remains

We come to the junction where the JMT the parts from the trail going up to Sunrise Lakes, not to be confused with the Sunrise Meadow Trail which is where the JMT goes. We take a break there. As we observe across from us, there is remnants of shovels and rakes, which I assume is from when the Meadow Fire.

Liberty Cap

We continue on and the climb isn't as bad but we are climb up over 600 feet in the next mile and a half or so. Being tired from yesterday's push and today's climb, we are drained. So far we have not are not advanced as far as what I was hoping to. But you can only do as much as what your body is going to let you do. So when we get to Upper Sunrise Creek we stopped and decide what we want to do. At this point, it is a unanimous decision that it's probably wiser to stay where we are now since it is around 5 o'clock. Also Sunrise Creek is still with us as a water source. I know that for the next two miles of up there really is not a good place for three people to camp-I am not sure there is a place for one person to camp.

Gary on the trail

Tomorrow we will need to get an early start since you have to do about ten miles and 2200 feet of elevation gain before we reach Tuolumne Meadows. Yesterday's short cut continues to have ramifications. Sort of like life. You screw up at a point in time and there is a ripple effect which reaches out for a long time.

We have an early dinner ours freeze dried chicken and something or another. I was informed that is it Chicken Teriyaki from Mountain House. It was a good meal. But even better was topping it off with two cookies each. I make myself busy around camp and by 7 o'clock we have all turned in even though there is still sunlight out.

Trail Lesson:
You can only do as much as what your body is going to let you do

Background

Our trail through the ghost forest

²The Meadow Fire happened in the late Summer of 2014. We happened to be there on two occasions. The first on Sept 2nd when there were two fires and there were only 4 acres. A week later it had exploded into a 4,000 acre burn, closing down the JMT and Half Dome trails. This was a lightening caused fire which the Park Service had allowed to burn. It illustrates the hazards of letting a fire burn. As a note, most of the lightening caused fires are a good thing to continue to let burn. It helps keep down large fires and removes a lot of burnable material. But caution needs to be had.

³A lot of times after a fire, old brush has been burnt away which allows for two things to happen with springs. The first is that the spring is visible. The second is the root systems of these plants no longer suck up all the water, allowing the water to flow. There may be other factors, but these are the ones which I know about.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Ritz Crackers, Tortillas, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki	Clif Bar, GORP, Propel, CytoMax, Scrytch, Coffee Candy, Jelly Belly