WoodChuck Country - 2016
From August 25, 2016 through August 29, 2016
Starting: Woodchuck Trail head outside of Wishon Reservoir
Ending: Woodchuck Trail head
The Hike : Our People : Trail People : Trail Lessons : Trail Log : References : Abbreviations
The Hike:
Rose, Sherri and I started the JMT. But after four days, we decided it was better to come off the Trail for an assortment of reasons. But it was not because we did not want to hike. So as soon as we got well enough to go again, we started thinking of another place to go. Rose suggested the Woodchuck Country area. This is an area I have not hiked in so I was all set to go.
We think we will try to make it to HalfMoon Lake, but after talking with some folks, we decide on an alternative of Woodchuck Lake. This is a good thing since we are in the last part of August and the area is pretty dry, except for the lakes and Woodchuck Creek.
We get a late start, which in retrospect is good. We stopped at the last water until Woodchuck Lake. That would have just about done us in I think. Instead it cut the mileage and elevation gain in almost half. The elevation gain is almost the same as what we did from Little Yosemite Valley to Sunrise Camp.
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| Our lunch view, near Moore Boys Camp |
Woodchuck Lake is a great place to camp. Lots of flat places with scenic views. It looked like anybody else who came up slept on the East or South side of the lake, giving us all of the north east side of the lake to ourselves.
We did go on a day hike to what we thought was Crown pass. We reached the right elevation, but did not get to the junction of Crown Lake, which is where the Pass actually is. Still we got great views.
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| Sunset Woodchuck Lake |
On the whole, the walk is not very memorable, but there are places which we all felt we needed to return to.
Our People:
There were three of us:
- Gary - myself, an old time backpacker with an old time Kelty backpack. First time in this area
- Sherri - my wife, also first time in the area
- Rose - our friend from the Central Valley Hiking Group. We started on the JMT together, but needed to come off because of feet problems. Rose is the one who has been in the area, but that was many years ago and on horseback.
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| Sherri Gary Rose |
Trail People:
We only were in conversation with two people throughout the trip: Jason and Adam. They are cousins from Southern California. They were introduced to backpacking via Jason's father. But the father cannot go anymore. We camped at Woodchuck Creek both on the 25th and 28th, but they were not really a presence. Also on the night of the 27th they were at Woodchuck Lake. In between they made it to HalfMoon Lake.
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| Woodchuck Lake |
Trail Lessons:
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| Crown Lake |
Trail Log:
Our journal is given by each day. Most mileages came from our GPS.
Date
|
Campsite
|
Miles
Walked |
Elevation
Gained |
Max
Elevation |
|
| Aug 25, 2016 | Woodchuck Creek | 5.72 | 1,806' | 8,076' | |
| Aug 26, 2016 | Woodchuck Lake | 4.92 | 2,039' | 9,909' | |
| Aug 27, 2016 | Woodchuck Lake | 4.90 | 744' | 10,306' | Day hike to Crown Pass |
| Aug 28, 2016 | Woodchuck Creek | 6.21 | 446' | 9,976' | |
| Aug 29, 2016 | Trail Head | 5.72 | 360' | 8,076' | |
| Total | 27.47 | 5,395' |
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| More Sunset |
Our total walking was 47.47 miles, Our "average: day was 5.5 miles with an ascent of 1,079'.
References:
For those of you who might be interested in hiking this hike, here are some references which you can consult:
- Sierra South by Kathy Morey and Mike White. See hikes 4, 5, and 6
Abbreviations:
- NPS - National Park Service
- NFS - National Forest Service
- DDG - Drop Dead Gorgeous, usually when we are looking at a view
- JDV - Jaw Dropping View
- JMT - John Muir Trail
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| Alpine Glow on Woodchuck lake |
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