Gary-Summer: July 20, 2024 - Backpacking to Lower Twin Lakes

Saturday, July 20, 2024

July 20, 2024 - Backpacking to Lower Twin Lakes

Title: July 20, 2024 - Backpacking to Lower Twin Lakes

Hike Info : Description : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Backpacking

Trail head: Potter Pass

Trail: 24E03 - California Riding and Hiking Trail

Destination: Upper Twin Lakes

Actual Destination: Lower Twin Lakes

Distance: 3.3 miles ¹

Elevation Rise: 1.138 '

Descent: 807‘

Maximum Elevation: 8,984'

¹The GPS turned itself off. The above information is based upon a plot on Google Earth. The mileage is close to what I anticipated.

Description:

Gary at the start

Am I ready to go on my first backpacking trip in two years? I think I have the equipment ready, but is my body ready? I am cognizant that my body is older and that there have been some things which has weakened the body. If I sound like I do not want to go, you would be wrong, I am just aware that I am not as young and strong as I used to be.

Now that I got that out of the way, here is how the day went. Last night I did the lightning report for today, so that meant I had the morning free to get things ready to go. I still get up at 5:30. I just did a few things until the others got up at 7. We still take until after 9 before we leave. Some of this is that Rachel got in late last night and she needed to get repacked after some equipment failure. A little slow start but we do not have a long hike today.

We stopped at Prather to pick up our wilderness permit-I had gotten a reservation and just needed to pick up the actual permit. But if you know me, I can stretch things. Recently I had been in communications with BC42 and I checked to see if he was in-he is! He came out and talked with me for a little while. It is good to see somebody face to face.

Mountain Meadow

Off we go with Steven continuing to drive. It takes close to an hour to get to the trail head. We passed by Shaver and Huntington Lakes, then went up Kaiser Pass Road. The trail head is called Potter Pass, not to be confused with the Potter Pass Cutoff, which is a bit lower. The parking lot is full, but we are able to find parking about 200’ up the road at an auxiliary parking area.

View from Potter Pass

It is a bit after 11:00 when our boots hit the dirt. My pack is starting out as the heaviest, about 35 pounds. The reason is I am trying to carry the weight as if Sherri and I are going along. I will use Steven and Rachel to offload if I feel like I am going to have trouble carrying this,

Round Meadow

The first two miles is up to Potter Pass. It is a 900’ climb. Because of our late start, it is a bit warm. But we work our way up. I am going OK, keeping a steady pace up. Not terribly fast. While the landscape is not terrible, the flowers which are in bloom kept me inspired as we walked along, And there are many flowers in bloom-see the pictures below.

Korra and Steven at Lower Twin

About half way to Potter Pass we stop for lunch. It feels good to rest for about half an hour. As we get ready to leave, we hear a familiar voice. Our hiking friend, Jerry J comes down the trail and stops with his friend Emma. We chatted for a while and then each went our separate ways.

We still have a bit to go up, which we do, It is a hot, exposed section. I concentrate on making steady progress towards the Pass. Steven and I get to the top and there are several groups already there. We find a spot off the trail in the shade and wait for Rachel and Sherri. We see more people come through, some on horses. Korra eyeballs them, but does not seem to be too interested in giving chase. Maybe she is hot.

Sherri and Rachel come up and rest as well. Even though I have been laying down for awhile, I still feel like the rest I am going. I feel good that I made it up to the top, since most of the rest of the trail is downhill. Unfortunately, there is a fair amount of haze today. The mountains to the north are only a faint outline of when we have seen them before. To the east are some clouds and before we take off, we hear a couple booms of thunder. I guess this means it is time to move on.

Place of rest

The trail down is steep and dusty and exposed. This equals not a whole bunch of fun since I know we will be climbing out of it again tomorrow. Eventually we get into a tree covered area which makes this part of the trail a bit more pleasant. Rachel and Steven go on ahead while Sherri and I pick our way down through the stones on the path. At our age, we are a bit more cautious of what happens when we roll on one of these rocks.

Upper Twin Lake

We get to the junction to Twin Lakes. And now the trail goes more even. We pass by a nice meadow, Round Meadow. And we continue on with the two “kids” in front. I stop and talk with a couple backpackers who are coming out. They advocate stopping at Lower Twin Lake to camp. They say that there are some large groups at Upper. I keep this in mind for when we arrive at Lower.

That is only about ten minutes away. When we discuss our plans among the four of us-Korra has a tendency to do whatever the rest of us wants to do, Rachel goes off to find if there is a suitable camp spot. She finds one at the northwest end of the Lower Twin Lake, across the trail from the lake. It is back aways, not hidden, but obscure. There is a fire pit, not that we are going to use it, and places for a tent and a couple hammocks. We decided to stop here.

Reflection in Lower Twin Lake

The kids put up their hammocks. I just lay around for about 20 minutes. I guess the hike, even though it is about 3½ miles, tuckered me out. I laid around some more and eventually put up the tent. Steven and Rachel went over to Upper Twin for a swim. That gives me about an hour more to read and rest. When they came back, it is time for dinner. It is freeze dried stuff. Pretty good and filling, or maybe it is that I am not all that hungry.

After dinner, Sherri and I walk over to Upper Twin and enjoy a sunset. Then we walked back to Lower and enjoyed some more of the evening, before heading back to camp. Rachel and Steven have cleaned up camp. There is a little bit of smelly stuff left over which will not fit into a bear cannister. So we will do one of my favorite camp tasks-hanging the food. Rachel tries several times and either the cord comes off of the rock or the rock does not go up high enough. She turns over the task to me. I somehow do it in one toss. Is this experience or luck? I am leaning towards the latter.

Since it is dark, we all head to bed, around 9pm. I read for a while and then turn over and go to sleep-Sherri does go to sleep a bit after me.