Sequoia Deadman Canyon Trip 2003

I took this solo trip in early August 2003. Starting from Lodgepole this trip took me to Twin Lakes, over Silliman Pass, to Ranger Lakes, on to Comanche Meadow, past the Roaring River Ranger Station, through Deadman Canyon, over Elizabeth Pass, and along the High Sierra trail, past Bearpaw Meadow, and back to Crescent Meadow. It's 5o+ miles and easily do-able in a week. Though not quite a loop trip, getting from Crescent Meadow to Lodgepole is fairly easy - either hike it or bum a ride. Enjoy the pictures - I have some trip-related observations at the end.

Cahoon Meadow

I camped a little beyond this meadow. I had gotten a walk-in permit in the afternoon and needed to hike in enough to be "legal". It would also give me a chance to acclimatize overnight.

Twin Lake

This is just before Silliman Pass. A pleasant place to bask in the sun before heading over the pass.

Views from Silliman Pass

View of lake

Silliman Mountain

View of Comanche Meadow in the distance

The forest fire visible near Comanche Meadow had me a little worried. However, it wasn't directly near the trail and I pressed on.

Ranger Lake

A nice spot to camp - no fish in the lake as far as I can tell.

On the way to Roaring River

Roaring River Ranger Station

After spending my third night near Sugarloaf meadow, I spent the fourth night at Roaring River. This is the halfway point with some very attractive campsites near the river.

Deadman Canyon

This is truly a special place. Most of the time you have it to yourself. I camped that night at the head of the cirque - right over a bench overlooking the valley. In the canyon is the gravesite of a shepherd - hence the name of the canyon. Parts of the trail near the upper part of the canyon are overgrown with vegetation but there is no danger of getting lost.

Trail to Deadman Canyon

Stream in Deadman Canyon

Granite Formations

Shepherd's gravesite in Deadman Canyon

Closeup of gravesite

Stream cascading down granite in Deadman Canyon

Awesome granite spires

Ranger Meadow

Views of Elizabeth Pass in the distance

The perfect U-Shape carved by the glacier

Granite bench at the head of the cirque

Alpenglow on the mountains at the head of the cirque

Coming up to the pass

Marmot

Elizabeth Pass

On to the High Sierra Trail

This section of the trail requires you to look for the next set of "ducks" to guide you. Once again the landscape is very open and easy to navigate.

Rugged exfoliating granite near the pass

Views down into the Kaweah valley

Bridge on the High Sierra trail over the outlet from Tamarack Lake

Note that if you take the "Over the Hill" trail you'll miss this bridge - so take the trail down to the High Sierra trail instead of heading immediately to Bearpaw Meadow. You not only get to see the bridge but the flowers along the trail here are superb. You can also check out this bridge at the following Google Earth link (if you have it loaded on your computer). Make sure you have the "terrain" layer turned on !

Looking down from the bridge

The High Sierra trail back to Crescent Meadow

High Sierra Camp on the High Sierra trail

There are developed campsites near here. The folks at the High Sierra camp are very nice - I mooched a delicious "brownie" off them !!

Misc Info

• Permits. I took a gamble in not making an advance reservation for the permit as I
  figured I'd be able to get a walk-in permit. Luckily that was indeed the case and I was able to head out the same afternoon.
  
• Safety. In addition to a detailed itinerary I left with both my wife and the ranger at Lodgepole, I also carried a satellite phone with me on this trip. I made one trial call with it and had excellent reception. I usually rent this for my solo trips.
  
• Food. A major mistake - it was going to be a week long trip so I had to carefully plan the packing of my bear canister. Unfortunately, I picked tortillas because of their "packing efficiency" even though I am not a big fan of them. By the third day I could barely put them in my mouth. All made worse by the fact that I deliberately did not take a stove to save weight.
  
• Pack. Gregory G-pack. Worked out great - especially compared to my older and much heavier pack.
  
• Shelter. A makeshift tarp that I put up with a single hiking pole with an emergency blanket for a ground sheet. This worked out fine too as I had excellent weather for the trip.
  
• Navigation. Topo maps and compass. GPS unit used to periodically confirm navigation.
  

Bridge on High Sierra trail over outlet from Tamarack Lake

 

Bob Mitcheltree - An Engineer's Engineer

This week we grieved the loss of Bob Mitcheltree. Some of us knew him at a personal level over many years and their grief is deep. Others, including me, knew him only professionally and that too only for the last few years. Yet we are all so grateful for the healing warmth at the Steltzner residence on Wednesday where Adam, Ben, Bob’s many friends and his parents shared their love of Bob. It might have been a chilly evening in this southern California desert but it did not feel cold.

I like others had been touched by his generosity and his willingness to share his knowledge of aerodynamics. He was always ready to take a phone call or pause in the street for a quick chat - to answer a question, to offer a suggestion. Unselfish acts of giving that added a refreshing element to the routine of a day. Still the pain and the loss I felt had an intensity that came as a surprise. After all I hadn’t known Bob all that well… But then maybe I did know him better than I thought. Thinking about it I realized Bob was truly an Engineer’s Engineer. Rock solid at a technical level, impeccable in his approach, unassuming and approachable at all levels. Someone to learn from and to emulate. Perhaps this is why I miss him. In a technical world filled with fleeting emails, ghostly Powerpoint charts and management pressures, Bob represented clarity. A source that I as an engineer could go back to – the core, the fundamentals, the thrill of technical accomplishment, the clarity of purpose. All the touchstones that I needed to remind me of the true spirit of engineering and exploration. For this I am eternally grateful. Thank you Bob.

Bending the map

It was late. The exhiliration of a long day of backpacking in the High Sierras of California was slowly giving way to exhaustion. At 10,000 feet the air was thin, light was fading and I had to make my destination for the night. "Chicken Spring Lake" - what a quaint name - but it would be my stop - hot food, a warm bed - well actually a cozy sleeping bag, and solitude to watch the stars. All I had to do was keep those feet moving and look for the outlet from the lake - sometimes dry late in the season, the guide books suggested. It should only be an hour and half away.

I was in the middle of a 3-day backpacking trip. Pre GPS - many maps to carry and I didn't quite have the segment of map for this particular stretch. Shouldn't matter, I thought, I had a good map for the stretch from the lake to the pass beyond - just not for this segment. My first mistake ...

What's this - the outlet from the lake already. I thought it was an hour and a half way. Hmm, must have made much better time than I thought. My second mistake ...

Ah, a good camp-site. I'll check out the lake in the morning. It should be just behind the rise there. The head of the cirque (where the glaciers once carved out this bowl) was distinct - just a little smaller than the topo map indicated and maybe a little askew. But this is definitely Chicken Spring lake ...

Wake up in the morning. Gorgeous scenery. Go over the rise and check out the lake. It's there alright - but mostly dry. Hmm.. the guide book never said anything about the lake itself being dry - only about the outlet stream. Good ! I have something juicy to post to the Sierra hikers bulletin board when I get home .... Not only is the outlet dry, but the lake itself is mostly mud. Perhaps the consequence of a drier than usual year. In the little community of us Sierra backpackers, information is a prized commodity, a modern day pot-latch of information giving, but without the waste.

The pass is only a half an hour away. Nice trail. Brisk walk - no fatigue after a good night's sleep. Home tonight.

Twenty minutes. Should be coming to the pass. The trail should rise to the crest of the ridge and cross over. Should be beginning a bit of a climb just about now .....

Twenty more minutes. Where is that *%$@ pass ? First signs of doubt. Did I miss it ? Was there supposed to be a side trail that I hadn't noticed ?

Ten more minutes. No pass! Yes panic! I am lost. What do all the books say? Stay calm (yeah right !). Stay still - don't make it worse by wandering farther. But I should go on, shouldn't I ? Maybe it's just a little bit ahead .... Ok. I'll walk on a bit more - but only because I'm confident I can backtrack to Chicken Spring lake and reverse my trip. That's going to add a whole extra day to the trip. There's going to be some explaining to do at home ...

What's that ? The trail is finally beginning to rise to the ridge line. About time !! Exhiliration begins to set in - displacing the panic. Last few steps up to the pass and I peer over to see .. Chicken Spring lake ! Bright, blue and full of water, with only a trickle on the outlet stream.

Snap !! A major reset. I have only now reached Chicken Spring Lake. Laughter in my mind and heart. I shout out to the sky - "The joke is on me."

What had happened ? As usual with these things a compounding of mistakes. Fatigue, inadequacy of my maps, wanting it to be Chicken Spring lake. I had "bent the map" and mistaken a small, no-name lake on the way to be my destination. Once I had done this there was absolutely nothing I could do that would change my mind. If you were reading this in say, Los Angeles, and I told you that you were actually in Buffalo - you'd think I was crazy. But if you then looked outside your window and saw 3 feet of snow - you'd go "snap" and unbend your map.

We all have our maps, and maybe we don't usually bend them quite so dramatically as I did. Some of our maps are more important than others and some people have very important maps - the US President, for example. I happen to like his map but in a far-away land, with fatigue creeping into the body politic, and the evening of a presidential term coming upon him, I hope he doesn't "bend his map" and even if he does, I hope there is a welcome sight for him as he crests the ridge.