Highway 108 is one of the most gorgeous stretches
of road I've ever had the pleasure of speeding on. But at this point, it
was a twisting, winding road floating above the vast nothingness of the
pitch black night. I whipped around the blind corners completely unsympathetic
to my passengers gentle, sensitive equilibriums. Yo followed closely behind
also unfazed by the treacherous road. His passengers too were white knuckled
as we blasted over Sonora Pass in the dark of midnight. After Sonora Pass,
the highway descends steeply until we reach the Leavitt Meadows campgrounds.
Finally, after a 4 hour haul from San Jose over the historic pass we found
a spot to set up camp. Rauser counted his blessings that we arrived alive,
and felt free to criticize my driving attributes. He was adamant that I
was driving too fast. I laughed at his insinuation and wrote it off as his
own lack of driving skill, or fear as the case may be. I assured him that
none of us were in any danger with me behind the wheel. He wrote off my
comments as overconfidence.
After setting up our tents in the brisk early morning air,
I attemted to reach Ferd by cell phone, who was on his way to meet us. Amazingly,
my phone was able to reach him. He wasn't too far behind, and would be arriving
at our campsite at 4 a.m. Ferdie never ceases to amaze. I snapped a glow
stick and placed it on the campsite marker.
The duraflame we brought provided light, but no heat. We
sat around the fire pit at campsite #15 drinking the "2 Buck Chuck"
in the cold, talking loudly. Amy turned in almost immediately, Dana soon
after and Sudeep soon after that. As we pounded back the wine, Butz drinking
Cutty Sark from his new stainless steel flask, we told stupid jokes and
insulted each other to our delight. Among our group of friends, insults
are not only applauded, but encouraged, and we constantly take full advantage.
We inconsiderately laughed and yapped late into the night and just like
at Ferd's apartment, one of our neighbor's complained.
"QUIET!" a deep voice yelled out from across
the campground. Reluctantly, we made an effort to keep our voices to a whisper.
I realized at that moment; this was a damn good crew to be camping with,
and as the volume of our ridiculous conversations turned to whispers, our
energy began to wane, and soon we were all climbing into our respective
tents.
Amy woke early. VERY early. Ferd had arrived an hour after
we had hit the sack and was sleeping in the bed of his pickup. He made it!
No doubt he would. We woke slowly and we each ate breakfast and began the
slow process of packing up. The long drive had depleted all but an eighth
of a tank of gas for each of us, and Yo and I needed to get refueled before
we did anything else. Our original hiking plan was to drive up Leavitt Lake
Road, a road that would take us up to 10,000 feet to Leavitt Lake. We would
definitely need gas. Yo and I hopped into our cars and went on a search
for fuel. We found it 17 miles away in Walker, California, otherwise known
as "B.F.E." As we drove I couldn't believe the incredible beauty
of the mountains we were in. Vast ranges of snowcapped mountains, gorgeous,
lush green meadows, monstrous rock mountains shot straight up to the sky.
I was in awe. Yo and I stopped and snapped a couple shots of the mountains,
then continued to rendezvous with our group.
Yo walks along Highway 108.
The original plan to drive up Leavitt Lake Road to Leavitt
Lake at 10,000 was squashed. A call to Bridgeport Ranger District informed
us that the road was totally unpassable due to snow. We had to go on to
option B: Hike out of Leavitt Meadows (where we were) and hike to Roosevelt
and Lane Lakes a measley 3+ miles out. We had decided that if we were so
inclined (we were) we could always extend the day's hiking to the Fremont
Lake trailhead at 7.4 miles. We'd play it by ear as ususal.
We moved our cars to the backpacker's parking area and
headed to the trailhead. After getting a group shot on the bridge, we begin
the hike walking along the Walker River. We flowed beside the river through
the sprawling length of Leavitt Meadows. We hiked quickly leaving dust trails
behind as we blazed across the meadow toward the mountains. The landscape
is reminiscent of the old westerns. Brian and I talked loudly of wagon trains
being raided by Indians and Clint Eastwood riding through the river valley
killing everything in sight. Everything around us felt "old west."
Except for the infrequent rush of passing jets and our high-tech gear, I
felt as if transported back in time. The landscape was amazing. As we hiked
among the valley with the backdrop of snow spotted mountains, I was convinced
I am truly in love with the Sierras.
Rauser and Joe
The trail ascended and descended very gradually. Brian
called the trail up to this point "granny-hiking." Ahead a sliver
of blue radiated from behind the trees. As I approached the crisp blueness
of Roosevelt Lake shone before me. The spectacle mesmorized me momentarily
as I announced over the Talkabouts, "Water!" We decided that we
would go ahead and look for a good spot to camp. In our furious hiking pace,
Sudeep and Rauser were left behind. Unbeknownst to us in the front of the
pack, Sudeep had been experiencing intense dehydration symptoms and was
trying to keep up, we informed them over the radio, "We are following
around the right side of the lake, and looking for a lunch spot."10-4,"
he replied.
We passed several really nice occupied campsites, and headed
to Lane Lake directly pass Kennedy Lake connected by a small isthmus. We
found a nice spot to eat lunch and scout for a possible camp site. Rauser
and Sudeep located us soon afterward. Sudeep apologized for hiking slowly
and told us about her ill stomach. We ate lunch and tried to relax while
we considered our options.
Amy and I went to explore a ridge to our south hopefully
we'd see a dope spot. We talked about the short distance of our hike thusfar
and Amy expressed her disappointment. She is always eager to push physical
limitations and was determined to get a workout today. We decided to push
the idea of moving forward and looking for a spot further up the trail.
When we got back to our lunch spot, we took a quick vote and the concensus
was to keep moving.
We began to ascend. The deep sandy trail made me think
of beach hiking. It made me remember how much I hate it. As we hiked up
the hill, our feet giving way beneath with each step of soft sand, Brian
grumbled about the damn horsepackers and their trail ruining hooves. I agreed
with him as dust flew up into my nose and mouth. I passed him and soon the
tables were turned. "I love dust in the face." He said sarcastically.
I chuckled under my breath, kicking more dust in the air behind me. As we
crossed over a short ridge, and view of mountains suddenly appeared in front
of me. The trail began descending from here. Amy made an appropriate observation,
"The point of no return," as we descended lower into the river
valley. We stopped at the Hidden Lake trail intersection to wait for everyone.
A group of day hikers appeared. They informed us of the difficult river
crossing ahead and suggested using a log to cross the river about a mile
further from the Fremont trail junction. Ferd and Brian decided to move
ahead of the pack and scout the river crossing. Rauser and I decided to
wait for Sudeep and Yo who had been lagging quite far behind us. We radio'd
Yo.
"YO! where you at?"
"I'm back here,... but I'm worried about Sudeep...
I haven't seen her for a while." He replied. Rauser immediately dropped
his pack and headed back on the trail to look for Sudeep. Amy and Dana moved
on to meet Ferd and Brian. I waited for Yo to arrive. I waited some more.
And I waited more still. Finally I decided to go back and look for them.
I was getting bored sitting here on this log. I hiked back and eventually
found Yo hiking slowly toward us. He had just talked to two other backpackers
with their chocolate lab. They told him that they had seen a girl off the
trail a ways back. She looked sick they said. That's not good, I thought
to myself. I talked into the radio. "Rauser, let me know when you reach
Sudeep." He confirmed.
We headed forward toward the river crossing . The trail
skirts along the gorge of the tubulent raging river. Ferd radio'd in saying
that they couldn't locate the log crossing, and would opt to get their feet
wet. We arrived at the river crossing just as Amy was thigh deep in river.
I could hear her agonizing in the river. As I changed into my Chacos to
cross, I felt the dread of icy rushing water. This was not going to feel
good. Fresh snowy runoff is never fun to wade in. It proved not to be any
fun at all. The instant my legs entered the frigid water, the muscles began
to tighten. A strange familiar soreness rose from my feet, up my ankles,
up into my knees, and continuing to my buttocks, and up my spine. A mere
20 seconds of exposure was truly painful. We grunted across the river, limping
up to the other side. Dana, worried about the river crossing with her pack
and volunteered Brian to take up the cause. He heroically heaved her pack
above his head, and with his own pack on, trudged across the river. He received
applause for his noble deed from the women. The fellas called him a sucker
and laughed at him. Despite the name calling, Brian proved to be a generous
camping teammate.
Ferd crosses the river |
Brian after hauling Dana's pack across the river. |
Brian, Yo, Amy, Dana, Ferd, and I had made it to the other
side of the river, but Sudeep and Rauser had not appeared yet. We got on
the radios. "Rauser? we've just crossed the river, we need to know
how you guys are doing?" No reply. We had arrived at our initial destination
point. There were several good campsites along here, and we could stay here
if they were unable to continue. The other option was to keep hiking up
at least 600-700 feet in a mile or two, to Fremont Lake. We all wanted to
keep going. We had enough energy, and if we left soon we'd have plenty of
time. But with Rauser and Sudeep so far behind, we had to consider that
they wouldn't make it. I tried the radio again, "Rauser, what should
we do?... we've just crossed the river, do you want us to wait for you here?"
"Dude, I don't know, I have shit to work out over
here," He sounded annoyed with my question. Amy suggested that Ferd
ask him again, so we'd get a better response. The reasoning being that I
tended to get a more negative, less helpful response from Rauser than Ferd
would.
"Rauser, so, are you guys going to be able to make
it up to Fremont Lake?" Ferd asked into the radio. It worked.
"We'll make it." Rauser replied. Instantly we
all threw our packs on and began the steep climb to Fremont Lake. The climb
was tedious. It switched back and forth uphill. Ferd and Lutz took the lead
passing the two hikers with the lab. We panted upward until finally the
climbing stopped, and the trail flattened out. Ah! we've reached the top,
I assumed. I was wrong. We started climbing again, and after a bit more
climbing, Ferd's voice said over the radio, "I see the lake,... beautiful!"
I felt myself get excited, and my pace quickened. Finally we began a descent
and from between the trees, a lake came into view. It was quite spectacular.
A pristine lake glistened before us. Amy and I hugged each other and gathered
in the beauty of the scenery. Fremont Lake was more beautiful than I had
imagined, and it was well worth the climb. We followed the trail around
the left side and eventually found Brian and Ferd setting down their packs
at a very nice campsite. At last! We gave each other Hi-5's and began the
process of setting up camp. I took some time to photograph the area. I was
ecstatic. >>>>> |
