Hardscrabble Lakes 9/8/04

After Last week's all day affair I was looking for something somewhat shorter. Justin joined me for this trip. I thought he might get a kick out of the Middle Fork Rd, thankfully regraded up until Dingford Creek. We managed to bump or way to the parking area about .5 miles short of the end of the road. It is just past the huge tree that is down on the road. The weather was perfect but I knew it would change to rain showers later in the day. There is a fisherman's trail that tacks to the NE towards Hardscrabble Creek after joining a old logging road. The (trail) is quite overgrown but was suprisingly easier to follow than I expected. The trail,slash old road, peters out in a huge rockslide that is cairned enough to follow without too much of a problem. Most descriptions of this route have you cross the creek about 2/3 of the way to the lake. I chose not to do this and found fairly easy going all the way to the lake. I managed to catch some nice rainbows in the short time I fished. We debated on what to do next. I had hoped for a summit try of Big Snow Mt via Upper Hardscrabble Lake, but with the impending rain I thought wiser. We decided to just to go to the upper lake. There is small pool above the lower lake if you follow the stream about 100 yards upstream from the start of the pool you will find a good fisherman's trail that will take you to the upper lake. I did a little more fishing until I noticed a gully on the south shore that looked that would take me towards point 5598 which I have seen referred to as Hardscrabble Dome. I zigzagged my way up the heather slopes for about 30 minutes to reach the summit. The views are quite amazing well worth the extra 1000ft of climb. The downclimb went much faster than expected and soon I was back to pick up Justin who had stayed at the lake to catch a nap. I didn't want to linger too long because it was quite apparent the it would rain soon. We hightailed it to the lower lake and just passed the big rockslide when it began to rain in earnest. I was relieved to make it through the hardest part of the descent without rain, however the lower stretches became unpleasant due to the rain on all the brush. We both became quite wet and were most happy when we finally returned to the truck.

Enchantment Lakes Loop 9/1/04

With one dog out of commission and not wanting to be unfair and bring his brother along I was solo for the first time in a long time. Since dogs are not allowed in the Enchantments I thought this would be a great time to explore one of the crown jewels of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. I managed to get my self out of bed and the unseemly hour of 4 am. I was pleased to make it the Snow Lakes trailhead by 7. I started off rather depressed, it just wasn't the same without the company of my hiking partners. As I started to get used to the fact that they weren't there I rounded a corner and was shocked to see a mountain goat eating grass in the middle of the trail. I have never seen a goat and wasn't sure what to do. I waited a bit but since the goat was content to eat his grass less than ten feet away I was forced to press the issue. The goat neither seemed afraid or agitated by my presence. As I slowly moved towards the goat he merely moved the same distance forward. Soon I had a new hiking partner as I followed ten feet behind for a quarter mile. I was sure this would have gone on longer but the goat was spooked as we passed some people. I was impressed with the goats physical stature, I have never seen anything with so much leg defintion as well as overall bulk. It was quite an amazing specimen. My goal for the day was to go over Prusik Pass and summit Cannon Mt. This is quite a long ways so I knew I had to keep a good pace. Once I passed Upper Snow Lake the trail became a bit harder to follow, but there are Cairns that easily show the way. I broke out the fly rod when I reached Leprechaun Lake, catching a few smaller cutts. I was quite amazed with the sheer amount of people in the area. I think over the entire day I must have seen 40+ people. That is more people than I usually see in a year of hiking. I fished my way along the trail until I reached the junction for Prusik Pass. This is when my plans changed, I really wanted to see the upper Enchanment basin and I always wanted to see Aasgard Pass. The problem was if I came out the Stuart Lake trail how was I going to get back to my car? I decided that I would risk having to walk the road back to my car if I couldn't get a ride. As it turns out I am quite glad I decided to do this loop. The views from Aasgard Pass are quite stunning, I was taken aback by the view of Colchuck Lake 2200ft below. I was quite worried about the descent but it is well marked and if you take your time it is much easier than want you might expect. Once reaching Lake level I picked my way to the outlet and made the drop to the Stuart Lake trailhead. It was now nearing dusk and my hopes for catching a ride were becoming quite small. I reached the parking lot at 8pm 13 hours after I started. It was now dark and there was no one to give me a ride. I donned my headlamp and sandles and started running the road. After about 3 miles a car came and I managed to squeeze into the back seat. I was so very thankful that I didn't have to walk the remaining 5 or so miles. This was my most productive day ever I passed 12 lakes and did nearly 7000ft of climb spread over 23+ miles. It surely was a day I will never forget.

Bare Mt, Bare Lake

I was hoping for a nice bit of climbing in an area that holds many special memories. I climbed to the saddle just east of Bare Mt. at approx. 4900ft. I climbed to the north side high above Paradise Lakes. The first part is somewhat steep traversing descent but moderates quickly to some rolling rock gardens. I aimed for the saddle that is above Bear Lakes and quickly dropped to the lakes. I set up camp on the south shore. I than began scouting for my next days objectives of Canoe Peak (pt 5706) Coney Lake and Lennox Mt. I had used the saddle between Pt 5449 and Canoe Pk. on a previous trip to Lake Kanim so I knew that that would be no problem. I turned my attention to the gap just to the NW of Pt. 5616. I climbed to the uppermost Bear Pond and found a easy gully that would give me easy access. As I was dropping to the pond when my attention was drawn to my dog Tanner dropping the last 15ft to the lake much more quickly than He or I would like. He came up lame instantly. He has already blown one ACL and the vet said it would only be a matter to time until he did the other one. Why here? Why now? I hastily retreated to camp and with 5 hours of daylight left I was marooned in the tent. I wanted to keep Tanner off his leg and I knew that Tanner goes where I go. I had faint hope that maybe he just tweaked it and all would be well in the morning, although I knew all to well that would not be the case. I spent a less than restfull night debating on what to do the next day. My options were not good. I knew that there was no way that Tanner would make it throught the boulder fields on three legs much less the climb up the saddle to even get to the fields. I also knew that carrying a hundred plus pound dog would be a massive undertaking. I could just go straight down the outlet to the miner's trail that I knew was below me in the basin. But I couldn't find the beginning to the trail and I knew the end where it meets with the Bare Mt trail is quite overgrown and brushy. I decided that down it was to be. I was much relieved to find the trail almost instanly (didn't I just look in the same place yesterday?). Tanners seemed to be doing well enough as I dropped elevation quickly. The trail is not too bad to follow, I lost it at the open mine but I angled to the piece of heavy machinery in the boulderfield and refound the trail there. I continued on to a junction and headed right downstream. The trail now became much more defined and I even allowed myself to relax a bit. I still had to go through the brushy area just before it rejoins the Bare Mt trail. I lost the trail and bashed my way through a couple hundred yards of some cascade brush at it's best. I broke out into a boulder field I sensed that I was below the trail and climbed about 50ft up to meet the trail just a mere 20ft before it junctions with the Bare Mt trail. I was so happy I was nearly home free. Neither I nor Tanner had any problem with the rest. I now play the waiting game until Tuesday when I find out the extent of his injuries.

Pratt Mt 8.3.04

I had planned a try for Garfield Mt Lakes via the Green Ridge Miner's trail. I however, didn't feel up to this very steep climb. I switched gears and chose to do a much less taxing climb. I chose to climb Pratt Mt. using the Pratt Lake trail as an approach. This route spreads the 3300ft climb over 5.5+ miles, Although it would be quicker and involve less climbing by using the Talapus Lake trailhead. Since this climb is not overly difficult I opted to just wear my sandles and carry a light day pack. I was suprised to find quite a bit of water still running providing the dogs with plenty of water. The temps were quite pleasant so water wouldn't have been much of an issue anyway. Since I was travelling so light I made my jump of point in 90 minutes. I left the trail just below 4600ft and followed the rockslide to just SE of the summit and followed the ridge to the open summit. Just before reaching the ridgetop I spotted 2 deer and their fawn not more than 200 yrds away. I was suprised that it went unnoticed by the dogs. I always enjoy the sight of deer running. After a short stay I downclimbed and rejoined the trail. This route is very pleasant and I am sure provides some beautiful views. However today with the low cloud cover I was only able to see as far as Bandera and Granite Mts. I ran portions of the way out making a quick car to car 4 hour roundtrip. I only saw 2 other people, one man was quite suprised that I would consider doing a climb in sandles. He was quite sure I would ""stub my toe or something"", to be quite honest I much prefer climbing in a good pair of sandles.