09/01/09
California Part 8
Day 10 – Today might have been the best day yet. We had a crazy adventure that was primarily cross-country, and it confirmed my feelings that aside from Yosemite Valley, the best scenery in the area is outside of Yosemite.
The day started early enough and cold of course. For breakfast we had oatmeal and crumpets. Then I got packed up with a much lighter pack, and I set out with 7 others on a search for the Lost Lakes. We followed the JMT back the way we came yesterday for about a mile, and then we cut east and followed a creek drainage off trail. From there our goal was about 1,000 feet above us. It was purely judgmental as we picked our way up rock shoots, past boulders, and around trees. After some steep stretches we reached a nice little flat area with the best views I’ve seen on the trip. Since it really can’t be described, I’ll simply say imagine being able to see every mountain peak for over 100 miles stretching out into the distance.
From there we did a little bouldering it the west up to a cirque that contained a quaint little lake. At this point we though we would be able to traverse our way back east at the same elevation around a ridge and hit The Lost Lakes. Well, we tried. Once we hit the ridge though, we were literally between a rock and a hard place. We had been hopping boulders and sliding through narrow seams in the rock until we reached a point that none of us felt comfortable going any further. The boulders were too big and the ravines were too steep. We looked for ways higher and lower, but it really seemed too technical for any of us to risk trying. So instead we traversed back to the first lake a different way than we had just come, because none of us could recall the exact path we had just taken. Upon arriving back at the first lake, we properly dubbed it “Found Lake.”
Exhausted form route finding and bouldering at 11,000 feet, we settled in for lunch. Crackers, summer sausage, Gouda, Kashi bars, and little chocolate almond snacks filled our bellies. Then we laid on the grass and rocks for about 20 minutes for a nice lakeside rest. At this point, all hilarity ensued. I know it probably wouldn’t be funny unless you were there, however let’s just say it started with me pretending to be the crocodile hunter as I tracked a duck from the shored by crawling on my stomach, to conversations about chicken wire being kinky, to numerous one-liners, to me trying to date the duck, to watching people trying to take pictures with their cameras pointing in the wrong direction. It was easily the hardest I’ve laughed on the whole trip.
After lunch, we decided not to pursue The Lost Lakes. Instead we took another steep route down off of the ridge requiring more scrambling and butt-sliding. We worked our way in a circle back to the JMT and then back to camp. What was to be a 14-mile hike turned into the best 10-mile hike of the trip. Looking back, we undershot the ridge. We needed to be about a mile further to the east before attempting to scramble up about 1,000 feet to The Lost Lakes. Instead we went somewhere that Cathy had never gone. The Lost Lakes were here idea as she had done it a few years earlier. It turns out that “Found Lake” was just as good of a hike.
Upon returning, I jumped out of my hiking boots as fast as possible. My feet hate me. Between the stress the backpack puts on the bottom of my feet, and the blisters on my heels and toes, I can’t wait to not have to put these boots on anymore. I also had to clean my tent out as somehow everything had become covered in sand. I know I’m dirty and so is my stuff, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Even though this valley is beautiful, the wind blows non-stop. I guess it found a way to blow sand past my rain fly and through the closed tent door. Oh well. I then proceeded to dunk my head in the steam, wash my shirt, and wash my upper body. It felt great. Dinner followed and the menu read: soup, some kind of carrot slaw, turkey, dressing, and cookies. That was a perfect way to top off a great day.
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