Sierra Mountain Crazies

[note: even if you don't read the whole thing, be sure to skim the pictures at the bottom - it was a gorgeous trip!]


Ever heard of the Mountain Crazies? Maybe not; I think it may be Javier's term for altitude sickness. Whenever any of us started acting strangely this past weekend, he was quick to diagnose us with this serious disease. He may not have been all that far off, actually. What, really, would convince six seemingly normal individuals to leave civilization and the comforts of home for three days in Sequoia National Park, hauling all the gear and food they'd need on their backs?

Tammy, Tom, Javier, and I left Wisconsin Thursday night and arrived without too much trouble at Justin and Michelle's in San Francisco. Friday we did a bit of sightseeing and grocery shopping in Berkeley, where Justin is a doctoral candidate on biomedical engineering (super cool stuff!). When Michelle finished teaching for the day, we all headed off to the Sierras, aiming for Stoney Creek campground as a place to stay before starting on the backpacking trip. It was a cold night, and we were greeted Saturday morning with four inches of snow on our tents. Weather forecasts had mentioned slight chances for snow, but four inches was well beyond even the highest estimates. The fresh snow on the majestic trees around us was beautiful but ominous. Did that stop us? I think we were already feeling the effects of the elevation change, for no one even suggested backing out. We packed up, drove to the trail head, got our permits, and set out - never mind the snow crunching beneath our feet.

Saturday's hike was one of silent, looming trees, plants and flowers weighed down with the unexpected snow, dense fog, and snowy beauty everywhere. We had a dim sense of a bigger world beyond our scope of vision, but the fog/rain/snow/sleet kept us boxed in and focused on the few visible feet in front of us. We arrived at our camp site after nine miles of hiking to find a huge group of high schoolers already entrenched there. In spite of being encouraged by one of their leaders to keep going (huh?!), we found space below their site and enough food space in the shared bear box to solidify our original intention to spend the night there. Our tired bodies were quite happy to call it a day so we wrapped up the evening with cocoa, quinoa, and nalgene bottles filled with hot water for our frozen feet (thank you Justin and Michelle!).

We awoke Sunday to the sound of rain on our tents. Nooo....! It didn't take long to figure out, though, that the "rain" was actually snow melt from the trees above us. We ventured from the warmth and dryness of our tents to find a cool but fabulously beautiful day all around us. That called for blueberry pancakes in the wilderness! Michelle proved to be a wilderness pancake master, and soon had Javier cooking them like a pro as well. With such a solid start to the day, we took off for further wilderness explorations. For this day we were able to pack lightly since we planned to stay in the same spot for two nights. Dodging the showers and occasional snowballs the trees tossed our way, we started to get a much better sense for what they meant when they named this "High Sierra Trail". The world yesterday's fog had hidden from us was now unveiled. And wow. Purple mountains majesty is right! We walked straight up into them, hopping rocks through snowmelt-laden streams, and pausing for breath and photos as the altitude demanded it. A mile before Hamilton Lakes, our days's destination, clouds started rolling in and we paused to reassess the situation. We didn't want to get into any trouble with unexpected weather conditions and some in our group were getting pretty tired. We discussed and decided to continue (more mountain crazies??), keeping a close eye on the situation as it developed. And it worked out! We made it to the furthest of the two lakes and gosh was it worth the climb. Still water reflecting the mountains and waterfalls that surrounded it - everything you'd expect from a pristine mountain lake. Tom celebrated the occasion by jumping INTO the frigid water, and a curious deer wandered by as we ate lunch on the shore. And then it was a rapid downward excursion as we sought to beat any potential weather trouble. Thankfully for all concerned, the skies cleared up and a tired but triumphant group arrived back to find at least some of our gear dry. We wolfed down some salmon chowder and were too tired after cleanup to do anything other than call it a night.

Monday was even more beautiful than Sunday had been. Since the trail was more down than up at this point, our main stops were to take off layers till we were all in short sleeves/tank tops and in danger of sunburn - such a contrast from Saturday's wintry weather! Some of us were getting pretty exhausted by this point, not too tired to appreciate the beautiful vistas we'd missed on our way up, but perhaps too tired to comment on it all as much as we might have otherwise. by 3 or so we found ourselves back at the trailhead and after a change of clothing were ready to stop by the world's biggest tree (by volume), a giant sequoia by the name of General Sherman. It was nearly a mile to walk down to the tree and back, which Javier thought rounded out the miles traveled by foot for the weekend nicely to 35. There was actually some debate on this point - the guidebook actually listed Hamilton Lakes as a 32 mile trip, but according to the park signs it was 34; most of us opted to believe the higher number based on muscle soreness alone!

Our trip back to civilization was fairly uneventful. Tom had been extolling the praises of In-n-Out Burgers on the trail enough that visions of hamburger patties had been dancing our heads for the last few hours - so we were all pretty happy to find one on our route back. The burgers lived up to the hype, and when combined with great fries and shakes, gave the entire trip a nice rounding out. And maybe we weren't all so crazy after all - I don't think any of us would decline the opportunity for another trip just like it if given the chance!


And, with no further ado, here are some of the best pictures of the trip. These are in no particular order, so enjoy at will!

ready to hit the trail?

Javier the pancake man

what we saw

Michelle the wilderness pancake master

no idea what these are, but aren't they beautiful?!

top of the waterfall

food prep for the surviving of the wilderness

recommendation: clear the snow before you set up your tent

breakfast in 4 inches of snow... are we really going to backpack today?

a man and a tree

beautiful trail - if you have boots!

Angela's favorite shot - thanks Justin!

feeding our faces - thanks Javier.

the stream crossings begin...

where exactly is Tom going?!

yellow-bellied marmot

still smiling on Sunday

top o' the waterfall

why we wonder whether to go on or go back...

the trail and the mountains

the second of the Hamilton Lakes

the largest tree (by volume) in the world!

the girlses!

lunch stop on the way down Monday

mountain men

last stop before the final descent - we should get points for the smiles!

the sign says: Hamilton Lakes, 17 miles. So a 34-mile trip?!

more pictures here (Tammy and Justin's cameras) and here (Angela's camera)