I wonder if I am the last blogger. If so, then maybe you are the last blog reader, so have fun with this.
I have a couple of kids that have enjoyed backpacking adventures with me to our local spot of Henry Coe State Park. We went in consecutive springs and those adventures are detailed here:
2023 with Ada: https://jrjohnsonyarb.blogspot.com/2023/05/coe-wada-2023.html
2024 with Seth: https://jrjohnsonyarb.blogspot.com/2024/04/coe-wseth.html
I guess we skipped trips in 2025, life getting busy.
This year there was a request to go backpacking in the big mountains. Late summer/early fall is the best season for an excursion to the Sierra and this left a pretty tight window to squeeze something in between our family's Kansas trip (which has to happen after basketball summer league) and school starting. So I put together some plans to see one of my favorite places, procured the required permits, and rented the extra gear for all three of us to do it.
We started from Rush Creek Trailhead on the eastern side of the Sierra.
As we climbed up from the valley we came across a rail built into the side of the mountain. Seth and I stared at this a while not thinking it was possible a train could go up and down that thing. Eventually a cart came along with some Rangers on it. They use a cable system to move the cart up and down the mountain to carry people and supplies. It was impressive.
This is a picture of our first rest stop as we climbed. The altitude was a factor and this was the kids' first experience with climbing with weight on their backs and less oxygen supplied to their muscles. It was slow going, but they kept trucking and we slowly crept our way toward the goal.
As you climb up from Rush Creek there are several lakes that flow into each other. They are not natural lakes, but instead there are some interesting dams that hold the water back in these reservoirs.
As we got farther up into the mountains we started seeing some of the beauty that makes this place special.
A couple of miles into our adventure I thought I heard some thunder. This is not normal for the trips that I have had in the Sierra and I got a little nervous. We began crossing paths with backpackers that were returning from their own trips into the hills and they were filling us in on what we might expect. One solo woman backpacker told us that the previous evening weather moved in on her at 4 p.m. when she set up her tent for cover. It stormed on her until 7. She claimed that it hailed on her for much of this time and she wondered whether her tent would hold up. She said it was looking like it might happen again this day, maybe even earlier and wanted to make sure we had the right gear. I said sure (knowing that we might actually be in a little bit of trouble). We proceeded keeping a close eye on the clouds, knowing that we would have to be quick with setup if things started getting bad. Fortunately, we were able to rack up some more miles while getting sprinkled on. Every once in a while we would spot lightning in the distance and count the seconds until the thunder hit - it was averaging 8-10 miles away. The worst of the weather seemed to keep away from us and there was a small window of OK weather that guided us up the mountains. That was a different hiking experience! I liked the cooler temps and some protection from the sun, but it was nerve-wracking to have to constantly scan the clouds and the direction of their movement, along with where we were going to judge if we needed to bed down for the night. The worst thing would be to get our sleeping stuff wet, in which case it would be a miserable and potentially dangerous night! We made it to Waugh Lake before the heavy stuff hit us. As it became apparent that this was going to be more than a light shower, we rushed to set up the tent. The rain hit us hard now and we struggled to keep our packs somewhat dry by covering them with my tarp while we staked out the tent and got the poles installed. That is when the hail hit us. We were just about to start getting the rain fly on top of the tent and the hail started coming down and bouncing off of the mosquito net. It was pretty intense because while this was all happening, the lighting started hitting the peaks surrounding us. Now the thunder hit one second later with deafening force - the sound reverberating off of the valley walls. Eventually we got the tent up, and then we rushed to get the kids sleeping equipment inside. We sent Seth in the tent to start setting stuff up and get into his sleeping bag as soon as possible. Ada and I found a somewhat protected spot in the trees to wait it out while Seth finished setup. Ada and I got a kick out of watching a previously dry streambed come to life - the water slowly and then more quickly pooling up above us and then flowing down slowly creeping around our campground. Seth finished setup, got in his bag and began to warm up. I had to convince Ada that she should get in there and do the same thing because we started getting really cold. She seemed to hesitate because she didn't want me to suffer alone out there - I said I had things to do to keep me warm and I wanted her to take care of herself, so eventually she relented and bedded down in the tent with Seth. By this time the rain started letting up and turned to a light sprinkle, which gave me permission to take the tarp off of the bags and begin construction of what I hoped to be a sleeping situation for myself that would protect me from the storm if such a thing were to hit us again.
I was proud of myself for this! Of course, the rain did not return, and then there was a beautiful clear night with no moon, which would have been perfect for star gazing, but instead I hunkered down under the tarp for fear of some other weather popping up on us.
The kids were perfectly comfortable in their mansion.
After the storm.
The next morning the sun came out and we had a beautiful day of clear skies and incredible views. Also saw plenty of fungus.
It seemed like we got a good night of rest, and the beautiful morning powered our hiking - I thought we did a lot better with our pace the second day. Here we can see Ada powering up the hill as we got into the high country - nearing in on 10000 ft.
Seth in his element!
Ada brought a new element to the backpacking excursion. She introduced us to the art of "poses and staging" for good pictures for the interwebs. In this scene she made sure that her braid was clearly featured along with the mountain.
And here she wore her special shades that she received on loan from her sister (with the understanding that there would be monetary compensation for the loss of or damaging of the equipment)
This was the big goal of the trip: Thousand Island Lake, a true gem of the Sierra. The mountain dominating these pictures is called Banner Peak.
Evidence that I was there.
I planned a loop that would bring us back to the car and let us see as much new terrain as possible. As we headed back to the car we missed a turn (I missed the turn, since I was the navigator). This resulted in a surprise climb that was really steep and exposed. The bonus was some really cool views and the discovery of some neat high alpine lakes that we would not have seen otherwise!
The route back to the car put us on top of a hill that gave us some pretty incredible vistas!
The route also brought us past some neat formations.
Here we are up a valley at around 9500 ft. If you look really closely, down at the bottom, you can see the road that leads to where we parked our car. I think if there was high enough resolution, you could even see the car. At this point we had a 2500 ft descent ahead of us to finish this trip off!
Done!
This was one of my favorite trips. It was special to share one of my favorite places with my backpacking partners, and they were really good company. The loop consisted of about 23 miles and 4700 ft of climbing and the kids did great. And now for the video montage:
No comments:
Post a Comment