Backpacking Aug 2009
Wow! Where to begin with a mind so full of incredible memories. Among other things forgotten was the necessary notebook so most of this will be from memory. Also this will be an extremely edited 'public' version but should give a good gist of the trip without incriminating any of us (not that we did anything incriminating).
I was a little nervous about the trip since I hadn't seen many of these friends in over 20 years and hadn't done any 'true' backpacking in quite awhile. Even though I had worked on trails with the CCC and spent a lot of time in the backcountry, having all your gear packed in by mules is a far cry from packing it all in. The trip actually began Friday night with Gordon Metz picking me up at my house and we had about a 7 hour drive ahead of us. It was like I had seen Gordy just yesterday and no time had passed. What an awesome drive and catch up time.
We got to Sonora Pass about 1:00 am and spent the next hour looking for Shawn and Paul even though they were right in front of our faces. So at 2:00 am we found them, woke their asses up, passed the Tequila around and had some great fun until about 5:00 am. This time also summed up the 'no time had passed' and I felt like true friends for life were back on the menu. Even newly met Paul was like someone I had known my whole life. I don't remember when we woke up and hit the trail but it wasn't too late and we didn't have far to go.
Before I start the trip a word on my gear. I was the lightest of the packs mostly because I hadn't been with this group and also because of my ignorance in some things I should've brought. I only had a pair of shorts, 1 cotton tshirt, a jacket, and 3 pairs of cotton tube socks (and thank you Gordy for some rain pants which came in so helpful). I actually survived comfortably but only cus the weather was somewhat cooperative. Had a cheap tent, stove, water filter and other goodies. The other goodies is where I came up short and could have brought a lot more of these. The goodies included food and drink. I had the basics of both but not the quantities to make things luxurious around the camp fire.
Day 1 was a short jaunt to Wolf Creek Lake and about 4 miles but all up hill. This was a good wake-up for me being a 25 year smoker and out of shape. We were met in the meadow of the lake by a light drizzle which thankfully quickly left. It was replaced with a very cold wind which never seemed to leave the lake. No fire here since we were above 9000'. Meals, drinks, and stories made for a good 1st night out.
Day 2 was off to the Carson River trail which was just off the PCT. The hike was about 5-6 miles with the beginning (like every morning of this trip) all up hill to start. Level or downhill hiking I was loving and could handle with the step of a seasoned hiker. Uphill, however, was really beating my smoking lungs to a pulp. I quickly took the far rear of the crew. I think our first fire was here and my years of a wood stove at home made fire making a breeze. I was amazed at the incredibly delicious drink concoctions and again stories involving 350 pound mexican hookers hookers made the rounds.
Day 3 I awoke early. Its worth note here that my body's graveyard time schedule was still in effect the beginning of this trip with 4:30 am wake up and than 5:30 am wake ups until I finally settled in. So I decided to head out on the trail early by myself. I hooked back up with the PCT and took off with the usual morning up hill climb. Upon reaching the Boulder Lake post, I took off downhill and reached Boulder Lake. I took off my pack and did a loop around the lake searching for good camp sites (thinking we were staying here which was about 7-8 miles). The rest of the crew arrived and I learned we were going for Adam's Camp. The next 4 miles of this 12 mile day was brutal uphill and lots of searching. "Where the fuck is the camp?!!!" was escaping my mouth untethered at this point. We reached Adam's camp finally and were all exhausted. I had requested personal punishment on this trip and was being rewarded nicely.
Day 4 was off to Carson Falls and ended up being in the 8-9 mile range since we went a lot further than the falls to find our layover spot. It was worth the extra miles as we found a beautiful spot. We had a great creek next to camp complete with swimming and fishing hole, log over the hole, sandy spot on the creek, plenty of wood, and the awesomeness list went on. Gordon caught and ate his fish. I caught and ate a fish. Everyone had luck fishing though most were too small to keep. I probably would have let mine go if I hadn't mangled his jaw trying to get the hook out. He was oh-so-delicious though. Trout cooked over a fire is the best in the world. The water was so clear we had a couple of us who just sat on the rocks for hours watching the fish in our pool either swimming around or chasing lures.
This spot was also Day 5, our layover day and we spent all day doing the things above. This was also the day my smokes ran out. I had already mentally committed to many things during this trip and after punishing my lungs, was hoping quitting smoking would be one of those strong commitments. Well as of this writing and 5 days later so far so good and I don't plan on giving up the quitage for any reason. We explored and just had a great time at this spot it was sad we had to continue on.
Day 6 was off to Asa Lake where we were to meet John Gilbert and his friend Joe as well as Gordon's cousin Michael. The morning greeted us with a storm rolling in and we started the 7 mile hike to Asa Lake uphill and in a light drizzle. Ascending the canyon (all of these trails were off the well-maintained PCT and, in the eyes of a trail builder, some of the worst excuses for a trail; only adding to their difficulty) the drizzle turned to rain, turned to hail with howling winds, blasting thunder, and finally to some snow at the top. We were all wet and cold when we finally got to Asa Lake and a little disappointed that none of the people we were expecting were not there. We quickly set up camp and a warming fire and rode out the cold, finally finding another hiker approach who turned out to be Gilbert and crew. Hurrah! Got to meet Joe and catch up with John and the added friends seemed to warm things up considerably.
Day 7 we took off to Wolf Creek, I think about 6-7 miles and had a beautiful huge spot among the trees with Wolf Creek making a nice sweep around the entire camp. Fishing was nice, if not small fish and I think we all got a couple more fish under our belts. Great times here as well though I think by this time everyone had home on their minds, I know I did.
Day 8 we split up the team. Gordon, Paul, and I were heading back to the parking lot via Bull Canyon while Shawn, John, and Joe were to continue down Wolf Creek. Our car shuttle got a little mixed up during the trip so we had to adjust our strategy. Bull Canyon was another 3 mile hike straight up hill on crap-4-trail, some downhill, than ended with another uphill to the cars. 8 miles total for last day.
After some (way long!) car shuttling everyone but Paul met at the Wolf Creek Bar & Grill in Markleeville. Great little place where we quickly ordered pitchers of beer and some food. I had a huge plate of fries complete with cheese, bacon, and chives. Also had a cup of clam chowder and a huge plate of spinach salad with bacon cheese and other delicious stuff in it. Gordon and I took off not long after for our long drive back home while Shawn, John, and Joe rocked the bar until 2:00 am.
I got home relieved but greatly saddened at the thought of leaving great friends and coming back to reality. The trip was a great point in my life in terms of things I will be changing due to this trip. Smoking is gone and exercise will be weekly. As for friends, well the feelings I had during this trip will remain mostly inside my head (mostly cus I could probably write a whole other blog about it). Basically, I've rejoined and made anew friends for life, like they never left my life. These are the Trail Machines and will always be close at heart. For those who missed this years trip (not to mention the last couple of years)..get off your ASS and you'd better be there next year. I plan on making every year from here till I die. Thank you Trail Machines for making this trip the highlight of this period of my life but also possibly the most personally transforming in my life.
I was a little nervous about the trip since I hadn't seen many of these friends in over 20 years and hadn't done any 'true' backpacking in quite awhile. Even though I had worked on trails with the CCC and spent a lot of time in the backcountry, having all your gear packed in by mules is a far cry from packing it all in. The trip actually began Friday night with Gordon Metz picking me up at my house and we had about a 7 hour drive ahead of us. It was like I had seen Gordy just yesterday and no time had passed. What an awesome drive and catch up time.
We got to Sonora Pass about 1:00 am and spent the next hour looking for Shawn and Paul even though they were right in front of our faces. So at 2:00 am we found them, woke their asses up, passed the Tequila around and had some great fun until about 5:00 am. This time also summed up the 'no time had passed' and I felt like true friends for life were back on the menu. Even newly met Paul was like someone I had known my whole life. I don't remember when we woke up and hit the trail but it wasn't too late and we didn't have far to go.
Before I start the trip a word on my gear. I was the lightest of the packs mostly because I hadn't been with this group and also because of my ignorance in some things I should've brought. I only had a pair of shorts, 1 cotton tshirt, a jacket, and 3 pairs of cotton tube socks (and thank you Gordy for some rain pants which came in so helpful). I actually survived comfortably but only cus the weather was somewhat cooperative. Had a cheap tent, stove, water filter and other goodies. The other goodies is where I came up short and could have brought a lot more of these. The goodies included food and drink. I had the basics of both but not the quantities to make things luxurious around the camp fire.
Day 1 was a short jaunt to Wolf Creek Lake and about 4 miles but all up hill. This was a good wake-up for me being a 25 year smoker and out of shape. We were met in the meadow of the lake by a light drizzle which thankfully quickly left. It was replaced with a very cold wind which never seemed to leave the lake. No fire here since we were above 9000'. Meals, drinks, and stories made for a good 1st night out.
Day 2 was off to the Carson River trail which was just off the PCT. The hike was about 5-6 miles with the beginning (like every morning of this trip) all up hill to start. Level or downhill hiking I was loving and could handle with the step of a seasoned hiker. Uphill, however, was really beating my smoking lungs to a pulp. I quickly took the far rear of the crew. I think our first fire was here and my years of a wood stove at home made fire making a breeze. I was amazed at the incredibly delicious drink concoctions and again stories involving 350 pound mexican hookers hookers made the rounds.
Day 3 I awoke early. Its worth note here that my body's graveyard time schedule was still in effect the beginning of this trip with 4:30 am wake up and than 5:30 am wake ups until I finally settled in. So I decided to head out on the trail early by myself. I hooked back up with the PCT and took off with the usual morning up hill climb. Upon reaching the Boulder Lake post, I took off downhill and reached Boulder Lake. I took off my pack and did a loop around the lake searching for good camp sites (thinking we were staying here which was about 7-8 miles). The rest of the crew arrived and I learned we were going for Adam's Camp. The next 4 miles of this 12 mile day was brutal uphill and lots of searching. "Where the fuck is the camp?!!!" was escaping my mouth untethered at this point. We reached Adam's camp finally and were all exhausted. I had requested personal punishment on this trip and was being rewarded nicely.
Day 4 was off to Carson Falls and ended up being in the 8-9 mile range since we went a lot further than the falls to find our layover spot. It was worth the extra miles as we found a beautiful spot. We had a great creek next to camp complete with swimming and fishing hole, log over the hole, sandy spot on the creek, plenty of wood, and the awesomeness list went on. Gordon caught and ate his fish. I caught and ate a fish. Everyone had luck fishing though most were too small to keep. I probably would have let mine go if I hadn't mangled his jaw trying to get the hook out. He was oh-so-delicious though. Trout cooked over a fire is the best in the world. The water was so clear we had a couple of us who just sat on the rocks for hours watching the fish in our pool either swimming around or chasing lures.
This spot was also Day 5, our layover day and we spent all day doing the things above. This was also the day my smokes ran out. I had already mentally committed to many things during this trip and after punishing my lungs, was hoping quitting smoking would be one of those strong commitments. Well as of this writing and 5 days later so far so good and I don't plan on giving up the quitage for any reason. We explored and just had a great time at this spot it was sad we had to continue on.
Day 6 was off to Asa Lake where we were to meet John Gilbert and his friend Joe as well as Gordon's cousin Michael. The morning greeted us with a storm rolling in and we started the 7 mile hike to Asa Lake uphill and in a light drizzle. Ascending the canyon (all of these trails were off the well-maintained PCT and, in the eyes of a trail builder, some of the worst excuses for a trail; only adding to their difficulty) the drizzle turned to rain, turned to hail with howling winds, blasting thunder, and finally to some snow at the top. We were all wet and cold when we finally got to Asa Lake and a little disappointed that none of the people we were expecting were not there. We quickly set up camp and a warming fire and rode out the cold, finally finding another hiker approach who turned out to be Gilbert and crew. Hurrah! Got to meet Joe and catch up with John and the added friends seemed to warm things up considerably.
Day 7 we took off to Wolf Creek, I think about 6-7 miles and had a beautiful huge spot among the trees with Wolf Creek making a nice sweep around the entire camp. Fishing was nice, if not small fish and I think we all got a couple more fish under our belts. Great times here as well though I think by this time everyone had home on their minds, I know I did.
Day 8 we split up the team. Gordon, Paul, and I were heading back to the parking lot via Bull Canyon while Shawn, John, and Joe were to continue down Wolf Creek. Our car shuttle got a little mixed up during the trip so we had to adjust our strategy. Bull Canyon was another 3 mile hike straight up hill on crap-4-trail, some downhill, than ended with another uphill to the cars. 8 miles total for last day.
After some (way long!) car shuttling everyone but Paul met at the Wolf Creek Bar & Grill in Markleeville. Great little place where we quickly ordered pitchers of beer and some food. I had a huge plate of fries complete with cheese, bacon, and chives. Also had a cup of clam chowder and a huge plate of spinach salad with bacon cheese and other delicious stuff in it. Gordon and I took off not long after for our long drive back home while Shawn, John, and Joe rocked the bar until 2:00 am.
I got home relieved but greatly saddened at the thought of leaving great friends and coming back to reality. The trip was a great point in my life in terms of things I will be changing due to this trip. Smoking is gone and exercise will be weekly. As for friends, well the feelings I had during this trip will remain mostly inside my head (mostly cus I could probably write a whole other blog about it). Basically, I've rejoined and made anew friends for life, like they never left my life. These are the Trail Machines and will always be close at heart. For those who missed this years trip (not to mention the last couple of years)..get off your ASS and you'd better be there next year. I plan on making every year from here till I die. Thank you Trail Machines for making this trip the highlight of this period of my life but also possibly the most personally transforming in my life.
Nice job Tom. I enjoyed reading this. Accurate, concise and captured the feeling without getting bogged down in too much detail. Congratulations on giving cigs the ol' heave ho. Keep it up.
ReplyDelete