Working hard on Labor Day

I had been talking for quite some time about going backpacking over a three-day weekend. When Fourth of July didn't work out for packing (did a nice dayhike instead), I had to jump on Labor Day. Earlier in the week I sent out an email to anyone at work I could think of that may like the outdoors, and got a few responses. So Geoff, Conor, and I were going to Sequoia National Forest.

Conor had volunteered with the ranger there two summers back, so he really knew the place well. We went to Mineral King, which is in the southern part of the forest, about a 5 hour drive from where we live, the last hour of which is 15mph steep winding mountain road.

After renting a bear canister for our food and getting the appropriate backcountry permits, we hit the trail Saturday around 3pm, a rather late start. Apparently the sequoia trees in this section of the forest weren't "the big ones," but many of them sure looked huge to me. We hiked in past creeks, waterfalls, sequoias, and firs, about 7 miles to Franklin Lakes, where we set up camp right around sunset. I was surprised at how many people were out there, but considering that much of my other backpacking has been in the Midwest where people generally become sedentary at age 32, I suppose I shouldn't have been so shocked to see about 8 parties of 2-4 people.

The morning arrived and we took a minute-and-a-half swim in the 40 Farenheit waters of our lake. Packing up camp, we ended up getting a late start on the trail again, about 9:30 or so. The whole trip we kept a pretty strong pace despite the elevation and the incline, but we took frequent enough breaks, particularly at the nice vistas and other lakes that we didn't really feel rushed.

Night two came as we were all exhausted, barely arriving at the Lost Canyon junction before dark. This after a day of traversing Franklin Pass, stopping by Lake Forester and Little Claire Lake, passing through areas of bare rock, old-growth forest, and country-club-like grasses and creeks. Night two was also pretty cold, and the next morning we awoke with frost on the tent poles.

A reasonable start that morning, feeling refreshed after a good night sleep but still with sore feet, and we did the climb to Columbine Lake before lunch. Crossing a meadow complete with meandering stream and permafrost patches, we began the ascent to Sawtooth Pass. From the Pass we could look down to see the Ranger Station far below, as well as Sawtooth Peak (which we decided we weren't going to summit) and so much of the rest of our surroundings as well. The descent on loose scree was a bit tricky, but by the time we arrived at Monarch Lake the terrain had become more stable. Our descent continued through evergreen forest for the remainder of the afternoon. We arrived at the parking area around 5, tired and looking forward to dinner and pie at Silver City Resort.

The stats: two and a half days, nearly thirty-one miles, starting elevation around seventy-eight hundred feet, peak elevation around eleven thousand nine hundred. Combined over two hundred digital photos, some of which I've posted on my Flickr account. Views of a few animals: mule deer, marmots, grouse, tarantulas; views of so many different types of landscapes: old forest, young forest, meadow, solid bare rock, loose rock, lakes, streams, waterfalls. The aftermath: a little sunburn, some sore feet, full stomachs from our dehadrated camp meals and the Silver City burgers and pie, a handful of inside jokes, and some wonderful memories.