High Sierra Day

Sprinted off last night for a quick trip up to the High Sierras to look over the snowmelt, check on the fishing -- and snoop out some deer sightings. We saw six or eight deer (6), four or five outhouses and caught very few (0) fish and hiked more miles than I would have liked.

We camped at Hermit Valley under a full moon and fished this morning on the Mokelumne river. The water was pretty high and it was difficult fishing. Things that were normally out of the water were submerged and pocket water was transformed to something else all together. I thnk have managed a strike on a beadhead ... let's just say, there are no bragging rights.

Later in the day, we tried to drive out to Highland Lakes on the Stanislaus river drainage and check out some deer spots for the fall. The road had quite a bit of snow on it so we decided to walk. We never did quite make it out to Highland Lakes, but it was a pretty good hike. I did take this one picture though. Does anyone know what this plant is?

Camp 4, Yosemite Valley, Day 1

Yosemite Falls,
It started innocently enough -- Jim Fitzgerald and I decided to meet during the trip last week to Joshua Tree to meet in Yosemite Valley and stay at Camp 4 for the weekend. Reports of snow seemed exaggerated, and the price for Camp 4 makes it attractive.

Bear Danger!
Camp 4 is quite famous and historically famous, both for myself and for the outdoor humanity. "On February 21, 2003, Camp 4 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significant association with the growth and development of rock climbing in the Yosemite Valley during the 'golden years' of pioneer mountaineering".[1] In the spring of 1974 I was drenched in a plastic tent just before the snowfall dropped below the valley floor, and was forced to abandon my spring break trip due to risk of hypothermia. This represents one of my early failures at camping, of which I was reminded for years by my family.

At Camp 4 on Valentine's Day
The weather on Saturday was pleasant with drifting clouds warning of an upcoming storm. We wandered around the valley in the afternoon, taking stock of the place and looking for good photo opportunities.

Storm Warning
Later we hiked up to Lower Yosemite Falls and Jim set up his 11" x 14" to capture an oak tree. The Yosemite black oak is currently starring in a recovery effort on the valley floor, which I managed to avoid reading about. Jim's interest is merely photographic, I suspect, he's looking for an increase in value range to help his carbon printing effort.
The Valley Loop trail and the hike to Lower Yosemite Falls are populated by a few hundred thousand (not really) mule deer, so we saw a few.

Two Bucks

Lookin' Up

Lower Yosemite Falls

Near the Falls

Jim with Homemade 11 by 14 View Camera

Yosemite Creek
At the end of the day we found this sight, which seems really cliché. In February it's commonly understood that El Capitan will light up in a blaze of orange at about 4:00 P.M. But not on Saturday.

A Small Amount of Fog

Lessons in Grace ...

In The Charcoal Cathedral

4 days in the charred remains of an ancient wilderness. 26 miles on foot. 2 Black Bears, one Bald Eagle, 3 Mule Deer, a Western Tanager, the sound of an Owl. One river, three springs, two dogs, two friends. I think I might have heard the sound of a Woodpecker. 4 days in the charred remains of an ancient wilderness.

Humility sanctified. Lessons in grace.

There was hope. The trip was defined simply enough. Hike from Chinaman Hat to the Illinois River at Collier Bar via the 1161 (or 2) and 1174 trails in the Kalmiopsis wilderness. By way of Bald Mountain Spring, Polar Spring, and the spring at the Pup's Camp. Around 13 miles each way.

The trail was rough and hard at the beginning and end, with a 3000 ft. descent from Bald Mountain into the Illinois River canyon representing the most formidible feature. It was a difficult and challenging hike. The first day we hiked to Bald Mountain Spring and then to Polar Spring and broke off to make camp at the Pup's Camp, totalling 9 miles or so for the day. The climb from our parking spot to Bald Mountain spring barely served to warm us (my friend Jim and I, the dogs Josie and Lily) up, and as the day progressed it seemed clear that our pace was not going to bring us to the IllinoisRiver by the end of the day. We shot photos and videos and looked for cougar (0), or as the local teen trail cleaner girls called them, "Screamers," which was followed with a bit of giggling. And bears (2), or Elk (0) or Deer (3). We lally-gagged at the springs, drinking deeply, and growing used to the wilderness. Jet fighters flew through a cloudy sky to help minimize the culture shock.

We fought our way down the trail. There was a lot of debris, since the forest was burned to a crisp in the 2002 Biscuit fire. Some areas were also burned in the 1987 Silver Complex Fire. There were many fallen trees and branches blocking the trail. Sometimes it is so much easier to walk around and step over the obstacles. It appeared the no one had been down the trail since last summer. We were alone. There was very little life and no bird song. It was ominous and severely quiet.

Charred giants. Entire hilltops rendered treeless. Sticks remaining. Large sticks. A forest destroyed, charred beyond comprehension. I was there in 2003 or 2004, and although the carnage was obvious, I just saw the edge of it. The Biscuit fire was the largest fire in Oregon's history. That forest was torched, totalled.

It is still inherently beautiful.

There is no way to describe in words or pictures the awesome power whose force is evident before me. And how insanely gorgeous I found this forest to be.

Part of the reason for stopping at the Pup's Camp was my concern about my knee and going downhill. We spent the night there and in the morning we hiked the 4 miles and 2000 ft down into the steep Illinois River Canyon and set up camp. This was a bit hard on my knee. But not as bad as the poison oak. I have poison oak. I got it 3 or four different times on this trip. The trail was overgrown with Poison Oak. The Elder Brother says that "it used to be called the poison oak forest ... ." Jim insisted that I eat tablespoons of Certa™ and I put Gold Bond™ cream on it. It disappeared. Like a badge of honor that vanished. I swam and bathed in the Illinois River. We hardly moved from the camp at Collier Bar until Monday when we packed up and bailed out with a bit less than a days food left, to hike the 13 miles out. We did discover this hornet's nest hanging in a tree almost in camp.



Oh -- The mushroom girl might enjoy this.

Lily at the first bath in the Illinois River.

Jim the videographer.

Josephine in the river cooling down.

The hillside across the Illinois River from our camp.

Jim on the QRP (low power) radio checking in from Collier Bar.

Remember these.

And there was hope everywhere.

On the way back down the trail we met a party of 12 of Oregon's youth clearing the trail. Their leader told us that while we were out the fire level had risen to 2, meaning no open campfires, and that they were to spend a week clearing the trail to Silver Creek. They were a sign of hope in a stale climate of preserving, rather than enjoying the wilderness. 12 young people learning early lessons of work and joy in the wilderness. So there is hope, we saw other signs of hope.

Like the Black Capped Rasberries and Hungarian Blackberries that compensated for the fact that we had run out of food. I think we may have eaten several pounds of rasberries each.

Those are rasberries there in the foreground. Despite the dead trees everywhere, the understory had sprung to life with layers of Madrone and Douglas fir, oaks, rasberries and poison oak. There was a carpet of a youthful forest before us, promising to return to a past glory. There were places with a hundred fir trees per meter. It was stunning; brilliant in both the vibrance and urgency of the new growth.

Coming down the last hill, I hammered my toe, and I will probably lose the toenail. My knee was fine during this descent, and I am hoping that the pounding I took over 4 days has finally convinced my body to behave.

There was hope everywhere. Hope for me, in my 4 day marathon in charcoal, and hope for the forest. The two represent personal bests for me. Longest trip at 25+ miles, and longest single day at 13 miles.

End of the trail.