Trail head: Mosquito Creek
Type: Backpacking
Trail: Alder Creek
Destination: Trail Junction at Alder Creek and the Deer Camp Trail
Distance: 4.99 miles
Start Time: 11:15
End Time: 3:41
Travel Time: 4:25 (1.13 mph)
Moving Time: 2:36 (1.92 mph)
Elevation Rise: 1,467'
Maximum Elevation: 6,012'
Description:
There is something special when your daughter asks you if you want to go backpacking with her. That is what happened in April. So we figured out a weekend and then worked on what place to go into. We talked about
Paradise Valley in Kings Canyon or the High Sierra Trail-just an in and out for the weekend. But none of these felt right. Sherri and I love doing
Alder Creek each Spring, so this seemed like a good place, particularly since Rachel had not been there before. (For the record, I have two daughters and one son, and whenever any of them talk about going up to the Sierra's with me, I am a happy camper-literally.)
Rachel came up Friday night and we got our act together that evening about what to take. I want to carry most things since I am training for the JMT and this is the first backpacking of the season for me. Alder Creek is not a long hike, so I knew we did not need to get an early start. On the way up to Yosemite, we stopped in Oakhurst and got the traditional sandwich-both for lunch and dinner. I got a turkey sandwich from Pete's Place. Then off to Yosemite-excitement! That is until we got into a 45 minute line to enter into Yosemite. What a wait! But we got in and headed over to
Wawona and the Wilderness Office where Ranger Dave issued our permit.
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| Rachel going through the ghost forest |
By the time we got to
Mosquito Creek, our trailhead, it was starting to get warm, There were also several official looking vehicles parked there. So we just lined ours up and started hiking around 11:15.This a trail I know well. The first 3/4 of a mile is a pretty good haul up. When I walked it at the start of April, the buck brush was over-growing the trail. But today, it had been very nicely trimmed back, about 2 yards away from the trail. The trees are now part of a ghost forest from a prescribed burn about 8 years ago. It is nice walking. Just a good haul up. Rachel does not seem to be too taken back with the climb up. I on the other hand is sweating a bit and huffing and puffing.
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| Alder Falls |
Once we got to the Wawona junction, the trail leveled out some. But as we walked along, I could feel that my legs were not used to wearing boots-this was the first time with boots this year, as well as the first over-nighter this season. Someplace in this section, my loving daughter provides motivation to get the job done. How, you might ask? Well the story goes like this. Since I am preparing for the JMT, I thought I would carry a load to prepare me for it. Things like the tent, food, JetBoil, ... Rachel's loving comment was.
if you need to take some weight off, ... So what kind of response do you think that elicited? A sneer and determination to get the job done.
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| Top of the Falls |
Somehow, being older, the motivation gave out after a mile or so. So we took a Clif Bar break. Evidently at this point, one of my sandals dropped off my pack. Why didn't the pack feel lighter then? But it wasn't until we reach the old railroad bed before I noticed it. I thought, Oh Well, it should be there when we go back down this trail tomorrow.
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| Coiled Cable Snake |
The good part of the old Yosemite Lumber Railroad/Sugar Pine Railroad is the the trail is nearly flat. Even with my decreasing stamina, we made some pretty good time. I do need to warn Rachel about the dangers of cable snakes, particularly if they are coiled. When we round the corner, the Falls are there in full flow. It is a sight which does not fail to take my breath away. I thought we would be the only ones here, but the CCC crew is working close to the falls. So we stop and have lunch from my viewpoint.
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| Tail Crew from Greenwood CCC |
Lunch is the turkey sandwich I got from Pete's Place this morning. Just a pile of turkey and bread, with a ton of mayo. Tastes real good about now. After looking and relaxing with the falls, time to head on. Rachel experiences the trail hazard of walking with me: I stop and talk with people. This time it is with the Trail Crew. I always thank them for working on the trail I am walking on. In conversation with them, they say they are from
Greenwood, up near Auburn. They are around Yosemite for eight weeks, and then back at the camp for eight weeks. I tell them about my lost sandal. The women I am talking with says that she will keep an eye out for it.
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| Crossing our tiny creek |
We walk on. While the trail is not as level as the last mile along the railroad bed, we do continue to follow remanents of the bed for a ways. One question which keeps popping into my mind, where did the railroad cross Alder Creek? I have several thoughts, but nothing definitive. Maybe one of these days I will find some of the older maps and be able to tell.
After a ways, we cross a tiny creek. But the flow is enough that we use a log to help us across. Much more fun anyway than rock hopping across. I do my semi-wabble across; Rachel is a bit more cautious. We continue on and any semblance of a railroad is lost and a real trail takes us up the creek. Having boots on instead of trail runner shoes continue to take a toll on me. But I am still going ok. Just slowing down. But there is a section where the trail crosses Alder Creek. nothing dangerous, just need to take off our shoes for this crossing. I know what to expect: cold water. I cross with my one sandal which feels better than bare feet-still is cold, but the rocks do not hurt as much. Rachel, on the other hand does not have any clue on how cold it is. So her first step into the water is an exercise in eye and mouth opening. She is a bit more sensitive to the cold than I am. But we get across.
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| Alder Creek Crossing |
After resting a few minutes from the trauma of the crossing, we continue on. I do not have the heart to tell her that we will be crossing the creek again in 5 minutes. Which we do. But this time it is on logs. Our campsite is just across the creek-Sherri and I have camped here many a time.
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| Hot Chocolate |
Camp gets set up and dinner is eaten-same as lunch. One of those nice secrets we have learned: a sandwich is usually too much for lunch but can be split between lunch and dinner for a satisfactory meal. We then go on a two mile hike, round trip, towards
Deer Camp. Even spot a patch of snow-just a small patch. When we hit a creek about a quarter mile before Deer Camp, we decide we have had enough creek crossings for the day. Back at camp, it is time to retire to our sleeping bags, and then a "special" showing of
The Martian. The specialness is being able to see it out here with my daughter, on a Samsung Galaxy phone-talking about a small screen. With that we fall asleep.
| Breakfast |
Lunch |
Dinner |
Snacks |
| At Home |
Turkey sandwich from Pete's Place in Oakhurst |
Turkey sandwich from Pete's Place in Oakhurst |
Clif Bar, Jelly Bellies |
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