Tom Grundy's July 2014 Sierra Hike Page

We planned to start some time the 8th, but by the time Jana had arrived and we got all our food and gear together it was past 6 pm. Our packs ranged from 20 to 40 pounds or so, not too bad for 5 nights out. We started hiking from North Lake around 7 and went up the Piute Pass trail a few hours stopping just about when it got dark. Willow wanted to climb a mountain that night. Jana thought it was a crazy idea, but with a nearly full moon I was game. We headed up Mt Emerson and only got a little off route requiring a bit of exciting scrambling up and around the ridge to the summit. We were up there for midnight. I didn't get tired until the descent. I think that we actually passed within a hundred feet or so of the tents on the way back but had to hike up and down the trail a few times to find them. That was a fun little jaunt, but pretty much destroyed getting up for the sunrise for a while.

Willow hiking in the evening

On the 9th we had a fairly slow start before plodding our way up over Piute Pass. We missed the trail cutting left but the cross country travel is so mellow that it didn't matter. Things were a little cloudy and cool at one lake, but we jumped in anyway. Then on towards Wahoo Lakes and Snowtongue Col. First we had a good bit of talus to travel over, then a tiny bit of snow. The steep loose slope up to the col was not particularly pleasant, especially for Jana who isn't as used to this sort of madness. I was off to the left to avoid kicking stuff down on the others, so Willow got to provide emotional support. The other side was a lot more mellow and we headed down through some wildflowers and past small lakes to a nice campsite in between a large lake and a smaller swampy one - perfect for reflection pictures. There we were treated to a small rainstorm which was almost worth putting on the raingear. The upside was a most excellent rainbow over the mountains to the east. There was also a nearly full moon rising... it was most scenic and only slightly marred by a few mosquitos.

Willow and Jana hiking towards Snowtongue

Snowtongue Col is the low spot in the middle of the ridge

Willow and Jana getting into the mess that is Snowtongue

Willow at the top of Snowtongue Col

rainbow reflected in lake

Willow and Jana prepare dinner

rainbow panorama

a waxing gibbous moon rises after the rainbow

Willow in high bird

On the 10th we headed down off the bench to the PCT/JMT and Evolution Creek. I wasn't sure exactly where we would be able to do this, but it was no problem weaving our way through the short cliff bands. We saw a fair number of people on this popular trail as we headed downhill to the west. We stopped for lunch just below a nice waterfall shortly after wading across the creek. As we got back moving a horse packer passed and asked if we had seen a single man hiking -just one guy but he didn't meet the description. After we dropped out of the hanging valley we met some SAR guys trail blocking at the bridge over the South Fork of the San Joaquin River. Evidently there was a hiker that was 3 days overdue who probably headed up towards Goddard Peak. We headed up the trail along the S Fork. The rock here was metamorphic and broke along near vertical planes so the river was in a steep canyon incised into the U shaped valley. It also tended to make a lot of waterfalls.

Willow and Jana wading across Evolution Creek

Evolution Creek waterfall

Western Juniper

lily wildflower

Later that afternoon we left the trail, waded (or hopped) across the river and headed cross country towards the Davis Lake valley. There was a bit of a trail for a while, but then we lost it and headed up a very scenic ramp that unfortunately took us higher than we needed to go. We opted to continue a bit higher to try to follow a lower angle bench into our destination valley rather than traversing in and out of a number of steep canyons to get there. At this point we could see some helicopters flying about looking for the guy. As we got more tired and the sun was going down we saw a pleasant looking little lake and decided we had found home for the night. There was a nice sunset here and we cooked up dinner and experimented with roasting mini-marshmallows on straws over the stove.

SAR helicopter going by

camp

Willow and Jana roasting mini marshmallows

sunset that night was nice

Willow enjoys the morning

it was a pretty lake and morning

Sierra Shooting Star flowers

The 11th we dropped down into the Davis Lake valley, crossed the N fork of Goddard Creek above a waterfall, and traversed around Davis Lake. We stopped on a most excellent nap/jumping rock for a cold but refreshing swim and lunch. Then we saw a helicopter dropping and picking up people across the lake. The way up over a low pass to Wanda Lake was rocky but not particularly difficult. Wanda Lake was impossibly blue - it didn't look real. We hiked down and crossed the outlet stream and joined the PCT/JMT and headed north. Originally we had planned to cut back into the McGee Lake valley, but we were going a bit slower and wanted to be out early the last day, so we cut that detour out. Evolution Basin is a truly beautiful area and despite the increasingly cloudy weather it was very scenic. We searched around for a while before we found a good spot to camp (that wasn't already taken) on a peninsula near the north end of Evolution Lake. Unfortunately the clouds completelydissipated before sunset, but the full moon rising over the Evolution Peaks was very nice.

Willow above a waterfall in N fork Goddard Creek

jumping in Davis Lake

Wanda Lake - black Giant is over Muir Pass in the center

Willow watching the start of the sunset

Evolution Lake

The 12th we jumped into Evolution Lake and then investigated the waterfall dropping down into Evolution Valley before leaving the trail and cutting up and across the slope towards Darwin Bench. This was another beautiful valley and we spent a good amount of time sitting by a lake watching the fish, talking, and eating lunch before we headed on up the valley. Amazingly Jana ran into people she knew catching fish in one of the lakes. She stayed to talk while Willow and I hiked up to the next lake and swam there. After Jana caught up we all took another dip, shared a Snickers bar, and headed up the slog to Lamarck Col. This was merely tedious compared to the frustratingly loose and scary Snowtongue Col. On the far side the temperature plummeted and we got to hike on a bit of snow and then headed down down down to camp near upper Lamarck Lake just as it got really dark. Once again the nearly full moon rose for our entertainment.

Darwin Basin lakes and Mt Stephen J Gould. Lamarck pass is to the left

Willow by a lake in Darwin Basin

the water was very cold

Jana retrieves a Snickers bar that was chilling in the lake

Willow about to head up Lamark Pass from the Darwin Basin

Willow and Jana on the snow (sunscreen in Jana's eye)

The 13th we got up early to get out quickly. The moon was setting just as the first light hit the peaks. I got a bunch of early morning photos and then we headed down the trail back to North Lake. Once in town we headed to the Petit Pantry for a proper post-hike calorie deficit reducing brunch. Then we had to sort and separate our gear and Jana and Willow headed off towards Sacramento. It was a hike into some very scenic mountain terrain and increased my appreciation for jumping into cold mountain lakes.

the moon set just as the sun was coming up

sunrise on the rocks reflected in a pool near camp

Upper Lamarck Lake Panorama

larkspur wildflowers

cropped in on the larkspur wildflowers

I later learned the missing hiker had summited Goddard and then fell down a steep snow slope on the descent and badly injured his leg. The SAR saw his name in the summit register and were dropping off people to search when they landed within 50 feet of him. He managed to attract their attention by throwing rocks and was airlifted out the evening of the 10th (quite likely one of the helicopters that flew past our campsite). The helicopters and people we saw the next day were just unwinding the search. It was originally thought he would lose his leg, but then appeared that there would be a better outcome.

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