June 18, 2018 - Vanderburg Lake to Lillian Lake

Title: June 18, 2018 - Vanderburg Lake to Lillian Lake
Hike Info : Description :  Background : Menu : Extra Photo's : Animals : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Vanderburg Lake

Hike Info:

Type:  Backpacking

Trail: Lillian Lake Loop

Destination: Lillian Lake

Distance:  4.01  miles ¹

Start Time: 11:05

End Time:     4:53

Travel Time:   5:47 (0.69 mph)

Moving Time:  3:21  (1.20 mph)

Elevation Rise:  777'

Descent: 756‘

Maximum Elevation: 9,030'

GPS Tracks

 ¹We lost the trail-see below. I went looking for it. 
The data below includes my wanders when we were off the trail.

Distance:  4.38  miles

Travel Time:   5:47 (0.76 mph)

Moving Time:  3:41  (1.19 mph)

Elevation Rise:  879'

Descent: 808‘

Vanderburg Lake

Description:

I woke up at 6:30 and got up by 7:00. It seems a bit warmer with no wind, but there is a lot of moisture on the inside of the tent’s rain fly. Guess we sweat a lot when we sleep.

After doing my morning business, I went for a wander. The wander took me to the inlet of the lake, on the northern shore. This is part of Madera Creek which comes from Lady Lake. There is a nice big campsite there-probably a packers site. I had my quiet time there, continuing in Psalm 119. A place to meditate and think.

Madera Creek

Vanderburg Lake

When I got back to camp, Rose is up by the lake and Sherri is getting up. No rush to get going. We have decided to do a day hike to Lillian Lake.

Mt Ritter

We get out of camp around 11:15. We head up the same trail we did yesterday, towards Lady Lake, but instead of turning, we go straight at the junction. Now about 30 yards from the junction, we head up what looks like a sandy trail. After awhile it peters out and we start following false leads. I finally head out, scouting for the trail. After covering much ground, I do not find the trail, but get an idea where it is going. So I get Sherri and Rose and we set out across some granite slabs. It actually is pretty nice walking, at least I think so. We climb up, taking our time. Shortly after getting to the spot where I had previously been, we spot the trail.

Clouds to the east

Little Dam at Lillian Lake

Shortly afterwards,we go over a saddle and drop into Staniford Lakes. I was calling it Stanford, but discovered the error while researching the name. The trail meanders around some of the lakes, making for some pleasant walking, if it was not for the winged, blood sucking, swamp inhabitants. When we clear the lakes, and most of the mosquitos, we stop for lunch out on a small point, and in the shade. A late lunch, but when you start as late as we did, a late lunch is what we get.

The trail starts up a ridge of about ¾ of a mile. While an exposed trail and we are in the afternoon sun, there is compensation-the views. That is we are able to see across to Mt Ritter and up the San Joaquin River. But we do not spend much time view chasing, at present.

After topping the ridge, we descend into the outlet creek for Lillian. Soon we get to the lake itself. Rose notes a small retaining wall, probably a small dam to raise the lake level. Was there mining around here? So easy to only see what is here now and not the past. I need these reminders that everyplace has its own history, even if it is not in book form.

Lillian Lake

One of the Staniford Lakes

Lillian Lake is pleasant enough to look at. I would not mind camping here. But yesterday's lakes were more pleasant and refreshing to me. We stay around for about half an hour, relaxing. Sherri thinks this is where she, Andrea and Steven put out a fire several years back. 

 

Coming back, we mostly retrace our steps, with the exception of our little cross country excursion. Those views which we did a cursory glance at before? We now spend the time examining. We can see where the JMT goes and the Red Cones by Red’s Meadow. To the south, one of the small knobs in the distance may be Mt Goddard, a point I look for whenever possible. Many pictures are taken, which do not capture the grandness of what we are seeing.

Which way would you go?

We do see a couple people before returning to camp. I also intentionally lag behind-unlike my normal slowness of late. I am interested in seeing where I went on the wrong trail this morning. I cannot say I wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

Once back at camp, we do not disturb a whole lot. Water is drawn, mosquitoes are swatted and relaxing begins. A group or two pass us by. Dinner of Beef Stew is cooked and devoured. Rose, Sherri and I talk for awhile before heading to our tents for another night of restful sleep.

Background
Andrea says the fire really was at Staniford Lakes.
It was a single tree,which probably had been struck by lightning two weeks before.

Also as a fire note, the Lion's Point fire had been burning since the start of June. This was pretty much in line of sight with the Red Cones area. But looking at the pictures, there was not a sign of smoke. Shortly after we were there, the fire exploded into a multi-thousand acre fire.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang. .	Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter, Nutella	Mountain House Beef Stew	Clif Bar, GORP, Scratch, Coffee Candy

Extra Photo's

Sierra Crest

Southeast along the Crest

Rose and Gary in his Angle of Repose

Lillian Lake

East looking. As a note: The Lion's Point fire happened in the center left of the picture

Lillian Lake

Gary and the Mountains

East towards the Sierra Crest

East towards the Crest

Animals

Pine Grosbeak

Pine Grosbeak

 
Flowers and Plants

Penstonmon

July 5, 2013 - Bear Creek

Title: July 5, 2013 - Bear Creek

Hike Info:

Trail:

Starting location: Vermillion Valley Resort

Destination: Bear Creek

Actual Destination:  Jct with Gables Creek  And JMT, at Bear Creek

Distance:  10.0 miles  ¹

Start Time: 9:15

End Time:  6:20

Travel Time:  9:05( mph)

Moving Time: 5:33 ( mph)

Elevation Rise:  2,580'   ¹

Maximum Elevation:  9,888

Description:

I am looking forward to is day, both with a certain amount of fear of the climb with a heavy pack, but also a sense of testing my boundaries. Knowing what I can do and what I should back away from. What is necessary to tolerate for a great deal of pleasure and where the pleasure ends and wondering why I am doing it. Sherri has offered me an alternative of going up a different trail. While easier, I am not sure I want to do it that way.  These were words written a couple of days ago.

----

As it turned out, we decided yesterday that with walking so far on the other side after the ferry, about 3/4 of a mile in a hot morning sun, we would go up Bear Ridge Trail. It still reaches the top of the ridge at 9,888', but it takes longer to do it, as in miles, so it is a bit more gradual. 

Looking up Bear Creek

I lay awake for awhile in Fritz and Ethel's cabin, until the power goes on at 6:45. We have breakfast at VVR-Sherri and I sharing a couple monster size pancakes. By the time we leave VVR, it is 9:45.Then Fritz takes us to the trail head and says goodbye. it will be interesting to see how and if this relationship  with Fritz and Ethel develop.  ²

The trail is in pretty good shape, but it still is a pretty good trudge. We do try to see if we can get cell reception, but not successful. Despite the heavy packs and the incessant upward climb, Sherri and I do surprising well. Sherri's pack is weighing in around 35 pounds, while mine is over 60.

My GPS shows varying amounts of elevation, so while I think I know approximately our altitude, it is a it disheartening to be working so hard only to show a drop in elevation. but whatever the altimeter shows, we still need to go up to 9,888'. We cross one pretty good flowing of water. The map shows we cross it again, above, but it is dry there. So we decide to munch on things like Clif Bars for lunch instead of our usual of peanut butter and Nutella.

Around 2, we reach the top of the ridge, and the junction with the JMT. There we meet Mike and Anna. She works for the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control Board in Fresno. We will see them off and on for the next couple of days. It is pleasant to chat with them.

Sherri and an Incense Cedar

The 2,000+' we ascended during the last several hours, we now lose about a thousand of it. There are many places where there are  small swamps. Along this way, we see Mike, Gene, Hannah and Noble from yesterday. We pass them up, but they will pass us in a few minutes. We finally stop around 3 for lunch at a place where there is a good flow of water. Mike and Anna join us in a few minutes. It is good to sit and talk for awhile. They are out for two weeks, enjoying the time. If they make Whitney, so much the better.

Bear Creek

We finally make it down to Bear Creek. It is much larger than I expected, and has a beauty similar to the upper part of Illilouette Creek, but not with the narrowness of gorge. It is enjoyable to follow this picturesque water. We pass by one campsite, even though we are a bit tired.

We get up to the junction of the Lake Italy Trail, then cross its creek. That would be a bit misleading since there are actually four separate crossings. We manage to do it without taking off our shoes. But we do this by meandering up and down these water flows looking for a good spot. Sherri is a bit annoyed by the multiple crossing; I am more annoyed by the mosquitoes and being scraped by the bushes. We decided to go on for twenty more minutes and then find a place to camp for the night.

Now we are looking for a good place to camp, but all we find are mosquitoes. Sherri is starting to lag, and I have found a good pace for me and am looking for a good place to camp. I management to miss a turn in the trail, by stepping over some logs, but quickly refine the trail. About half a mile later, out of most of the mosquitoes, I find a place to lay down the pack.

Gary's Aching Back

At this point,I go back looking for Sherri. I am almost back at the place were I lost the trail when I see a kid in the brush. I asked if he had seen Sherri? Yes! And he leads me to her. Evidently he, his Mom and Sherri had all taken the same missed place as me, but they had kept on going. They found each other while wandering around, trying to find where the trail went. So I lead them out and to the proper trail.

We invite Julie and Hayden to join our campsite close to Gables Creek and the Bear Creek crossing (37.33062N, 118.86656W). They gladly accept. We also look and find a better place to stay, close by. Julie and Hayden are from Chicago. They will be meeting her husband at Whitney in nine days. A daughter dropped out at Red's Meadow. 

Some PCT'rs come by-he is charting their course on an iPad mini. We compare notes about using an iPad on the trail. He uses the PCTA's half mile maps. They are free-I load the app after we get off the trail. Shortly afterwards a father-daughter comes by. They have been with Julie and Hayden before. So we invite them to stay with us as well. It turns out that the daughter is a friend of Andea's from college, Rachel M.  Ray and Rachel will be with us for much of the next week-a relationship we will enjoy.

Today's JMT Lesson:  Lord make me a blessing to those who are on the Trail.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Huge pancakes at VVR.	Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers	Rainer Spotted Dog	Clif Bar, Jelly Bellies, CytoMax, Propel, GORP

 ¹The supplied figures above come from either the book John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail by Elizabeth Wenk or from topo maps. There were no tracks for today in my GPS. Below is the readings from today's status on the GPS. I view it as only somewhat accurate.

Distance:  10.5 miles

Elevation Rise:  1,728'

Maximum Elevation:  9,888

 ²As it turns out, Fritz has friended Sherri on Facebook. Not only that, over Labor Day weekend we were up in Grant Grove. Looking through a window, we saw Fritz and Ethel celebrating their 14th anniversary up there. A wonderful world  full of coincidences.

July 1, 2013 - Deer Creek

Title: July 1, 2013 - Deer Creek

Hike Info:

Trail: John Muir Trail - Day Seven

Starting location: above Trinity Lakes

Destination: Upper Crater Meadow

Actual Destination:  Deer Creek

Distance:  10.9 miles  ¹

Start Time:  7:30

End Time:  5:00

Travel Time: 9:30 (1.15 mph)

Moving Time:  5:22 (2.03 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1,673' ¹

Maximum Elevation:  9,514'

Description:

Woke up to clouds in the sky. Is this the monsoon which is predicted for today? We shall see as by the time we have breakfast the sky's have cleared. We leave two hours after we get up, after a minor mishap with Sherri's Camelback. The top lid was not screwed down and leaked a little. Fortunately, nothing got soaked.

Gary at repose

It is all down hill to Red's Meadow. We make excellent time and take a short Clif Bar break before Johnston Meadow around 9. We whiz through the meadows area-in the past there has been a ton of hitting bugs there. Today we did meet a person who stayed there and did not have any problems. We continued on down the trail at the same pace.

San Joaquin River at the Devil's Postpile

Devil's Postpile

At 9:30 we get to the Devil's Postpile National Monument. We had hiked the JMT section around here twice before and could not think of any reason to recommend it. So we decided to go down into the Monument and walk by the Postpile. A much better  way to go. First, it is shaded. Then you get to see the Postpiles themselves. Lastly it is a little shorter. Even though today they were doing maintenance on the trail. Still, it was a good choice. For those of you keeping track, this is cheat #4.

Several pleasures awaited us at Red's Meadow Resort. First, there was cell phone reception, so we got to talk with family. Next, a real bathroom with running water. Then we had a cheeseburger and ice cream for lunch. Lastly our friend Nicole from Saturday came in. All enjoyable.

Forest  after the 1992 Rainbow Fire ²

We left Red's Meadow about 1, after a brief shower from above. When we went in for lunch, it was clear. But was dark after lunch. The rain only lasted a few minutes. But in the meantime Sherri's coat got stuck on a zipper in her backpack. After struggling with it for awhile, Sherri finally got it out, but there was a tear in the coat.

Pack Protection

Nicole joined us on our walk up to Upper Crater Meadow-our destination for today. It is about four plus miles and a twelve hundred foot gain. The first couple of miles is in a burnt out forest area. This can be a hot, exposed area. But with the clouds overhead , it is somewhat pleasant walking. But as the clouds darken again, we hurry to get out of the burnt section and under the cover of trees and the mountainside. The rain even waits until we are around trees, and it only rains for about ten minutes, enough to cool us down. The Forest Service has done a good job of grading the trail, even if the slope is steep. Once we hit more trees, the rains come for awhile. We put on our pack covers and continue on. The rain last about 20 minutes. It is a fortuitous rain as it cools us down during the steep part of the trail.

Red Cone

We pass the Red Cones, crossing Crater Creek and take a break. The pack covers come off then. Then we go up to Upper Crater Meadow, our destination for today. We meet up with Fritz and his dog Bambi. Nicole has met him before, as his wife and him offered the hospitality of there cabin last night. We all hike together.  Sherri and I decide to go on to Deer Creek (37.56362N, 119.03418W) with them. It is about two miles beyond where we intended to stop today. 

It was a bit long for Sherri, but I was surprised that when we felt a few more drops I could speed up my pace and hurry on ahead, to start setting up camp. The rains did not come. But the tents were set up pretty quickly. We enjoyed talking with Fritz and Nicole for most of the evening. Dinner for us was peanut butter, Nutella and crackers. We gave Nicole the rest of our Szechuan Veggie Noodles.

Bed time was 8:45.

Today's JMT Lesson:  Definition for Backpacking: eternal torture. (Supplied by a fellow hiker)

 

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola. Tang.	Burger, Fries and Ice Cream at Red's Meadow	Peanut Butter and Nutella on crackers	Clif Bar, Jelly Bellies, CytoMax, Propel, GORP

 ¹The supplied figures above come from either the book John Muir Trail: The essential guide to hiking America's most famous trail by Elizabeth Wenk or from topo maps. There were no tracks for today n my GPS. Below is the readings from today's status on the GPS. I view it as only somewhat accurate.

Distance:  12.8 miles

Start Time:  7:30

End Time:  5:00

Travel Time: 9:30 (1.35 mph)

Moving Time:  5:22 (2.39 mph)

Elevation Rise: 1138'

Maximum Elevation: 9,514'

²Thank you Fred and Barbara Richter for the correction from the original post where I had badly mis-dated the Rainbow fire.

Place: Red's Meadow

Red's Meadow (quad)
(Long, Lat)

Description:

“Red” Satcher, a stockman, so called from his red beard. From Place Names of the High Sierra (1926) by Francis P. Farquhar

Trips:

• July 1, 2013 - JMT. Stopped for a hamburger and ice cream.
• July 2012 - Very good hamburger
• July 2007

Pictures:

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References:

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