Sharon's log

Just got back from our annual horsepack trip. This year we went west of the Mammoth Lakes area. There were twelve of us, sometimes… A few of us arrived in Mammoth early to acclimatize, and Chris, Rich, Ricardo, Rob, Jim and I Took a day hike to the red (cinder) cones. You start from Horseshoe Lake which is surrounded by trees that have died because of the increased CO2 levels in the area. It is a volcanic vent area and you are not allowed in there when snow is present. Half of our group was staying at Rob’s Mammoth house, and we were all supposed to meet for dinner at Rich and Tami’s house after running our assorted errands. When Ricardo and Rob showed up, Rob had thrown his back out and was all hunched over. Tami and Rich pulled out their massage pad and we tried to work the kinks out. Unfortunately, before dinner was over, Rob had stiffened up again, so the massage pad was packed up to go to his place and he had to spend the weekend there instead of hiking in.

The morning dawned rainy, but we kept reassuring ourselves that it was supposed to stop in the afternoon. Hiking in the rain was only mildly annoying. There was a certain amount of trying to climb out of rain ponchos when the rain would let up, and taking off extra layers was more difficult.  The real discomfort came when we got there and had to put up the tents in the rain. Several of us were starting to get hypothermia before the ordeal was over, but after several false starts and attempts to trench to divert water, the tents were up and we could settle down to setting up the kitchen and starting a fire. Then Nicole came up to announce that she and Eduardo would have to hike back out because both their sleeping bags were wet. There was much discussion, but eventually they set out with the keys to Rich and Tami’s. They would hike back in if the weather cleared and try to get us packed out a day early if it didn’t. The rain finally stopped and we had an enjoyable if short evening around the fire.

The wind blew a lot the first night. I was very happy to have that old down mummy bag to pull up around my face, and the rain/shade/mosquito tent blew over exposing the kitchen, there was ice on the water bucket, but the day was sunny and clear.

The new “bear barrels” turned out to be a bigger nuisance that hanging the food from the trees did. No matter what was needed, it was on the bottom of the barrel and a thousand small pieces of food had to be removed and put somewhere while you searched for it. The local ground squirrels enjoyed our visit, and we probably made great progress on that bushel of dirt that dad used to say you ate before you died.

Those that left camp the second day went to Thousand Island Lake, a large lake with great views of the mountains. Mt Banner and the Ritter Range rise from the one shore. There was a new dusting of snow on the mountains and it was sunny and mild, and Nicole and Eduardo appeared just before we headed down to the camp.

On day three, the younger crowd fished, and some of the rest of us climbed up to the Clark Lakes. This day was sunny and warmer. We enjoyed a pleasant picnic and fantastic views from Summit Lake. Afternoon, was spent sunning, reading, and bathing.

Monday we hiked out in the best weather of all. It was pleasantly warm, and we went out by the “high trail” which yielded wonderful 180 degree views of the Sierra Summit. I hope someday soon someone invents a virtual reality home “movie”” camera” , because I would love to be able to record what I saw, smelled, and felt, and be able to share it with others.