Elizabeth Pass or Bust
Another great backpacking trip with Jamie has come to a
close. This trip took us from Lodgepole
in Sequoia National Park around Twin lakes, Ranger Lake, Seville Lake,Roaring River, up Deadman Canyon and down Elizabeth
Pass. That’s where despite the “heavenly”
environment the hell can be.
Let me start by stating that the journey began for Jamie
from Kansas to California and she had one problem after another with flights. The great worry was whether her
backpack would even make it to Fresno with her switched upgraded seats, delays
and canceled flights were only the beginning of drama. She finally arrived about 16-17 hours later
with her bag, thank god.
I had booked shuttle transit from the airport to Kings
Canyon via the Big Trees Transit where according to the website, “Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks — two of
the world’s most breathtaking outdoor destinations — right in our own backyard. So why don’t you
visit more often? Big Trees Transit is now here to make your next adventure
much more convenient. For just
$15 round-trip, we’ll take you directly to Grant Grove Village inside Kings
Canyon National Park. The fare includes your entry fee to the parks and unlimited internal shuttle service to a
number of awe-inspiring destinations.”
I highlighted the phrase “two of the world’s most breathtaking
outdoor destinations" and Parks in red for a reason. Pay attention here. Parks is not Park’s its
parks as in plural as was the use of the word two. Last time I checked two
means more than one and parks is plural, meaning more than one.
The
oddity of this journey begins here.
If
one goes to the FAQ section of their site it also answers the question about
internal shuttle within the park and that it’s available free. Just to be sure, I contacted the office and
spoke with the supervisor who also indicated that we could get from Kings Canyon
to Sequoia.
THIS
IS NOT THE CASE AT ALL. Do not take the
Big Trees transit if you have any intentions of trying to get to Sequoia.
Despite that the parks (plural) share a border and share an intersection on the
highway, they do not share or allow for any kind of transfer to the other
side. Sequoia must be accessed by riding
the Sequoia Shuttle. This shuttle runs out of Visalia and Three
Rivers only. It’s very disappointing that
despite both of these shuttles entering the same gate to the parks (plural) they do not
stop there and allow for transfer to the other system. We painfully found out this is symbolic of the rest of our government,
divided.
We arrived at Grant Grove visitor center around 9:30-10 and found out
there was no connection to the other park. Complete with backpacks and heat we
started walking/hitchhiking towards our destination. Concrete backpacking was not what we had in
mind. We marched on for about 6 miles
before a very nice German couple gave us a lift. I am forever grateful to them. They were true
trail angels.
Due to the lateness of our arrival to pick up our permit at
Lodgepole in Sequoia we chose to spend the night in the campground and head out
early in the morning. One day of backcountry
hiking lost.
We passed on camping at Twin Lakes due to the
crowds. I had heard from a father/son pair making their way out as we
were going up that they had a loud group of five who camped right in their
campsite with them and kept them up all evening. I guess the group didn’t
know they had left Lodgepole campground. It was either that or they were scared
and wanted the closeness of others. We opted for one of the lakes further
on the trail,Ranger Lake, and found peace and quiet.
My Steripen finally met its 7600
uses lifespan and died the first night. Usually I carry a few backup tablets for
water sterilization, however, this one trip decided not to take them since the
bottle has never been needed. I love the Steripen, it has never failed me until
now. Thank god Jamie had Aquamir and
plenty of it.
On the second night of our trip, at Seville Lake, the
zipper on my Big Agnes tent decided it had enough life span also and there was
no way to keep mosquitos and bees other than keeping the fly zipped up. I think all my gear is trying to tell me it’s
time for retirement, like me. Most of it
is 5-7 yrs. old and has been a thousand miles or more. I start dreaming of what I will replace them with. Can my gear get lighter?
The trail from our chosen lake to the
Roaring River Ranger Station was easy and we made great time despite the mileage. We followed bear and large cat prints most of
the way and passed great campsites some with bear boxes. The views in this area
are not photogenic but it’s a very nice wooded trail with subtle variations in
elevation. It made for a very nice day.
There are three
bear boxes there according to the camp map at the ranger station and after the
storm subsided we set about finding the other two.
One of the boxes is on a bluff on
the opposite side of the foot bridge and sits far above the water and away from
the ranger station past the Historic cabin. It appears to be used primarily for
pack crews and was not ideal in any way for backpackers. The other box was found in the opposite
direction about the same distance from the ranger station on the same side of
the river as we were camped and was occupied by what appeared to be trail
crew. If this isn’t occupied it would
make a fantastic campsite for the evening.
If you do not need a bear box for food storage, there are some
small areas for camping along the river however, due to the rocky nature of the
area those spots are scattered and far between.
I can safely say nothing broke down
here and nothing was “lost”. It was only
shortly after this camp that things take yet another turn.
The next morning we hiked up Deadman
Canyon to a ranger camp a few miles past the grave of Alfred Moniere, a
sheepherder who died in 1887 from either illness or according to some accounts
murder.
The camp was nicely situated off the trail in some trees and near the
river. We watched a group of about 20 march
on up the canyon just in time for another rainstorm. This was the only camp we stayed at that didn’t have
a Bear Box available, however, there was no difficulty in hanging food
appropriately in the trees.
We exited our camp about 5:30 in the
AM the next morning trying to beat the heat to the top of the pass. Due to the difference in our
hiking speeds, I made it to the crest before Jamie and just in time to meet up
with the group of 20 who had spent the evening among the rocks at the base of
the pass. The group was a high school class on an
adventure before the school season began.
This group was and their guardians were some of the nicest people I have
met on trail. I left them at the top while they were taking break. It was pleasure encountering them and sharing
a bit of the adventure that followed with them.
Elizabeth Pass is a very visible
trail up to the top and shortly down the back side if going the direction we
were headed. The problem is that the trail disappeared
in the bowl below before the major drop off /switchbacks. The trail vanishes and the cairns that were in
place must have been laid by someone trying to mark the way up for
someone in their party to follow because they led me astray completely.
After spending over 2 hours in the heat
zigzagging back and forth in the bowl attempting to locate some sign of a real
trail (not just one person’s tracks) I spotted the group of 20 again, completely on the other side of the bowl also
trying to find the true trail. We met
near the middle and spent about an hour comparing maps/gps and scouring the
edges of where we had each been to find the location of the path. Feat accomplished. Afterwords, one of the guardians advised he would
go back up and fix the cairn issue and mark the path better. Truly an amazing
person.
Unfortunately due to heat and my
waterproof boots, blisters were starting to form in the boots I had to purchase
for this trip due to my broken foot. I
had been drafting a raving review in my head the whole trip until this. The blisters made the next 7 miles horrible despite how beautiful it was.
To
top it off, I lost my glasses somewhere in the bowl and couldn’t read a map/gps without
them. Frustrating as it was, it was something I could live without once i reached where the High Sierra Trail meets the Elizabeth Pass Trail. It was familiar from another adventure Jamie and I had.
After passing Bearpaw Meadow, camp
was made at Buck River. Water is a bit
of a distance below the small camp area that only holds about 3-4 small tents
and a bear box.
No sooner than I had put
my food in the box and went for a swim to cool off did a mama bear and two
very tiny babies come trotting behind me heading up the same river. It was a second of “Oh #$@*&! In my head
before I realized she wasn’t going for the same little swimming hole as I was sitting in. The babies were adorable different colors. They were just bouncing down the
pat., I was just thrilled to see them and have an opportunity to watch them
march up the river in search of fish. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with
me.
Jamie came into camp a couple of
hours behind me and we commiserated over the condition of the miles we just completed. She had my glasses. Apparently one of the kids in the party of 20
had found them and gave them to her. Great kid. Unfortunately, she lost her map
somewhere along her route. Not that she
needed it, but it was something we both enjoyed looking over and using it to dream of
other routes.
Blisters are horrible when you have
an 11 mile day ahead of you. They were
all over my feet and I don’t usually get them at all. Putting on boots was not something I was
looking forward to at all. It was then I
realized my prized possession, my GPS, was missing! Gone.
I had seen it when I reached 1/4 mile before Buck creek, but it
was no longer clipped to my pack and no longer in the side pocket it has always
been in. This has been my history book
of sorts. I have been marking important waypoints along our route. There were many
other trips logged in there as well as some anomalies I have come across on other
journey’s.
Real frustration set in. I
know I had been suffering from advanced heat stroke when I finally reached camp
and that this played a huge part in why I couldn’t read the map and GPS correctly coming out of Elizabeth pass. It’s a valuable lesson. Dizziness, cramping, nausea and confusion are
not good and I know better. Foolish me. Now I was without my GPS because I probably didn’t
clip it in as I have always done in the past. I gained my glasses and lost my GPS.
Larry, from the Running Warehouse (my
favorite shoe store) just happened to camp next to us late that evening and I
had hoped he might come up on my device after we left in the AM as he was
headed in the opposite direction. It had
to be divine intervention what were the odds of his being right there and being so nice and friendly. After some pleasant conversation. Jamie
exchanged number and we decided to complete our journey a day early and camp
once again in Lodgepole campground, a shower sounded really nice.
We made the push to Lodgepole , eating blue berries along the way, sorry mams bear, and
arrived in the Crampground (it’s not misspelled), around 1:00, showered, washed
clothes and ate pizza and had a fine time watching all the human entertainment.
Exiting the campground we came upon a whole pile of discarded new gear left by
a dumpster. The find of the century! It made it home with us. We actually came home with more than we left
with.
It wasn’t until we made it back to my house
and we unpacked everything to be cleaned that I discovered my glasses that I once again lost (the night before)and my GPS! Both were in the lining
of a gear bag I had. The GPS was still on and glowing and had been in my tent the
night before without my noticing it. Unbelievable! I wasn't sure if I should feel lucky or stupid. Thats how this whole trip went, lost and found, heaven and hell...... I wonder
where Jamie’s Map went to?
 |
| Jamie exiting Buck Creek |
