Saturday In usual fashion Joe and I are the first one's to wake up. Both of us had been awoken in the night to the sounds of pouring rain and we were afraid to look outside. Finally Joe decides to brave it. He unzips the tent door. He unzips the rain fly. "Wow, not a cloud in the sky," he says. A crystal blue sky appears before them with the rays of early morning sun hitting the freshly covered snow mountains. It is one of the most beautiful mornings they have ever seen. Joe immediately began snapping photos of the morning landscapes. An hour later Brian finally rolls out of his tent and it is time to drink coffee and eat breakfast. All three of us are so happy to see the sun : this morning is worth any cold or rain we have suffered through. After a leisurely breakfast and some lounge time we pack up our gear and head out for the day hike to Tilltil Valley. We leave a trail marker for Dave and Sudeep who are hiking in to meet us. The hike to Tilltil Valley begins easily enough until you reach the trail marker sign. The trail then turns its ugly head on us, as we begin to climb switchbacks carrying us up about 1000 feet in two miles. Thank goodness we donít have our packs and are only doing a day hike : now we know why people say it is a one-way trail. Joe and Brian did not eat a large enough breakfast and soon their energy level drops. We stop for a rest, which gives them an opportunity to eat some of their packed lunch. We carry on and finally reach the summit of the trail heading towards Tilltil Valley. None of us have ever been to Tilltil so we do not know what to expect : all we have been told is that it looks like a mini-Yosemite Valley. We reach a meadow area which is completely flooded. It looks like a small pond and is surrounded by steep granite walls, much like Yosemite Valley. We assume we are at the right place but are disappointed at the results. To our left is an easily climbable granite mountain so we decide to go and have a look. We climb upwards hoping to see something. Joe stops, "Oh wow, now that is Tilltil Valley." Looking below us we see a large valley surrounded by vast mountain ranges and rock formations. Off to the left of the valley there is a small waterfall. It is truly breathtaking and so exciting to see another vast scenery. We decide to perch ourselves on a rock outcropping and have lunch as we overlook the valley. We rest for about a half-hour but soon our curiosity and the cold breeze motivates us to go down and explore Tilltil Valley. We find our way back to the trail and then travel down a small series of switchbacks. As soon as we hit the valley floor, the trail is completely flooded with no way to pass. We decided to go back. After we get back up the switchbacks and onto the trail the trip back is much easier. The switchbacks going back down to our campsite are touch on the knees and legs, but definitely better than going up them. We count about 22 switchbacks all together. We decide to check out the area designated as the Rancheria Campsite which is above the upper Rancheria Falls. Far inferior to the smaller campsites located just south of the falls, we decided to travel down over the granite walls that follow the falls back to our campsite. At the top of the Rancheria Falls we truly experience the power of water, as it flows down the smooth granite rock into the river below. Looking down along the river we see our campsite : there is movement! I was worried it was a bear, but happily it was Dave and Sudeep, they has made it! We whistle to get their attention and they walk over to greet us at the bottom of the falls. Everyone is excited to see one another and now our group is finally complete. We head back to camp to rest before dinner. We lounge around sunning ourselves and talking. Dave and Joe are talking about the gear they want to design. Joe suggests that they name the gear, Dope Mountain Gear. Brian suggests that it is more approrpriately named "Joe Hu's Bunk-ass Mountain Gear". We all agree it was a stupid suggestion from a stupid, stupid man. After a lot of lounging, good conversation and yummy snacks provided by Dave and Sudeep, we decide to see if we can find a place to view lower Rancheria Falls. Following the river from the upper falls, one can stand at the top of the lower falls and look over the edge. We were hoping to find a better vantage point where we could see the front of the falls so we did some boulder climbing trying to get a better look. The only way to see the falls would be to scale down to the various precarious ledges and peak over, but the risk of falling to oneís death was not worth it. We decide to turn back. By the time we made it back to camp we were hungry and cooked up a large dinner. Throughout dinner we had a little visitor, which we named Dick The Bird. He was hoping to get some food droppings and also took a liking to Brianís tent which he perched himself on for some time. I had to continually insist that Joe not shoot it dead with his slingshot. About an hour later we cracked open the vodka. This night we were able to make a large fire. We had the other half of the duraflame, plus because of the beautiful partly cloudy day we had, there was a lot of dried out wood to be used. We sat around the fire and talked and drank until the fire began to die, as did our energy. We soon retired to our tents.
Sunday Once again Joe and I were the first out of our tents Sunday morning. The first peak out the tent reveals another morning of clear blue sky. Within the hour everyone had crawled out of their tents. In true Sunday fashion, it is a slow start. Brian mustered up some energy and went to the river to pump water. Joe and Dave were looking at some maps, planning our next trip. Sudeep decided to take some solo time and found a nice place to sit and soak in the surrounding beauty. The camp was very quite. Suddenly the crisp morning air was disrupted by calls from Sudeep. Wide-eyed she came running into the camp declaring that she had just seen a bear. Everyone jumped up and followed her to the area where she had seen the bear. We climbed up onto the rock where Sudeep had been perched but the bear would not reveal itself. We continued to climb over the rocks and boulders, looking frantically in the direction the bear had been spotted. Finally the bear made an appearance as a glimpse of its head was spotted through the trees. Everyone bustled with excitement which alarmed the bear and caused her to bolt, crashing through the water, across the river, as far away from us as she could get. We could barely contain our excitement. We then heard small cries coming from our side of the river. Looking down into a lower campsite, two cubs were at the waterís edge frantically calling for their mother. One had a light brown, slightly blonde fur coat and the other wore a stark black coat. The Mom was deeply afraid of us even though we were more than 100 feet away from her. She wanted to collect her cubs but was too afraid to approach. Fearing we were causing too much harm we decided to retreat and let the family rejoin in peace. Back at our campsite we saw that the Mom successfully collected her cubs and they disappeared back into the mountains. This encounter was far from the warnings we had heard from the Rangers. It was suggested that the bears were so brave that they would steal food placed right next to you when your back was turned. These bears were terribly afraid of us, which is probably a result of the "hazing", or scaring off with rubber bullets, done in a previous summer. After the excitement subsided we started breakfast, with all of us scanning the horizon for another bear sighting. Joe and Brian did not make the same mistake twice and ate a large breakfast. After all our bellies were full, a few members of the camp went to rest in their tents while others went off to explore one last time.
|
|
