Tom Grundy's 2019 Sierra Challenge Day 1 Bergona Lake Peak

This hike was out of a new trailhead for me - Green Creek. The turn off to this trailhead is sort of near the turnoff to Bodie. I got stuck behind a very slow jeep on the drive up - to the point where I just waited in the shade for a few minutes at one point. I was also confused by the trailhead and the campground being switched on the map I used to navigate to the trailhead. There were a few mosquitoes at the trailhead with occasional pretty bad waves. Fortunately it was cold enough to close everything up in the back of my truck for the night.

people assembling for the group pic before we started

Some of the participants headed right up to the ridge from the trailhead to tag a few bonus peaks on the way to Bergona but most of us headed up the trail. This was a pretty pleasant hike up to West Lake where it sort of disappeared. Bob and some others headed up the slope and I decided to go for a quick swim. I was contemplating going for the aqua jersey and that would require that I swim a lot. If I went back via the ridge there might not be many more opportunities this day. Chris and Iris joined me in the dip and then we diagonalled up towards the ridge. It was somewhat tedious but not too loose and we were a bit refreshed from the dip. Soon we made it up to the saddle between Tamarack and Bergona and then on up to the peak. There were a number there already and soon we were joined by more. I was in no rush to leave but eventually headed back towards Tamarack with Renee, Chris, and Iris. After Tamarack Renee headed down a likely looking chute while the rest of us continued on towards a distant bump of a bonus peak. At least the travel was mostly quite mellow with some really nice fragrant fields of lupines.

a little lake just below West Lake - Bergona Peak is in the center, Tamarack to the right

West Lake and my first swim of the challenge (Renee took the pic)

looking back down at West Lake

some of the people on the summit

panorama to the northish - Bridgeport is in the upper right

panorama to the southish - Tamarack and the bonus peak are on the left side

Renee slips while Iris embraces the sitting glissade

view back to Bergona Lake Peak from Tamarack Peak

nice field of lupines on the way out to the last peak

detail of lupines

From the last bonus peak we angled down a likely slope with the hopes of getting to another little lake. This slope ended up in some relatively unpleasant brush and aspen trees before we made it to the valley. There we took another quick dip in a lake that was dammed by one of the largest in height and width beaver dams I have ever seen. Then we made it to the trail which we followed to the road and another quite nice dip in Green Creek. There were a number of people hanging out at the trailhead so we joined them as others came back. Then there was a stop at the Whoa Nellie Deli on the way to the next trailhead at the end of Lake Mary Campground by Mammoth.

Iris posing or doing ninja moves or dancing down the slope
the strip of blue in the upper right is Mono Lake

heading down off the ridge - we had already dropped a good distance
we swam in that lake/pond

not so fun bushwhacking

Chris swimming in the pond

Iris refreshes in Green Creek

people who's last name starts with B back at the trailhead (Burd, Becht, and Burd)

Total for the day 3 peaks and 3 swims (I potentially could have had one more swim per aqua jersey rules of total Sierra Challenge peaks +1). It probably would have made more sense for interesting peak bagging to do some of the peaks south of West Lake, but that didn't happen.

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