Thursday, July 31, 2008

Mono Creek to Mott Lake

No jolting alarm sounded with the sun on the first morning of our backpack trip - just a clear dawn and the faint sound of singing birds above the nearby rushing creek. We got up and going, enjoying the first of our many hot and slimy instant oatmeal breakfasts as we packed up our things and got ready to hike. On the positive side, the instant hot chocolate we had every morning never got old.

Wednesday was the longest of our hiking days. While we found a great campsite on Tuesday night, it wasn't as far as we had intended to have traveled. Nevertheless, we decided to stay on the trails and take the easy - though long - route to Mott Lake instead of a much steeper cross-country shortcut up to Grinnell via Laurel Lake. The developed trail took us down to nearly 8,000' before we gained back all of the elevation we'd lost in the day - and more - in climbing back up to Mott Lake.


It was neat to hike down Mono Canyon, though. The trail descended through many different types of forest - depending not only on elevation, but on the amount of water available. We passed from Lodgepole forests, through sage brush covered hillsides, grassy meadows fading into tall and stately aspen groves, and we even saw some of the biggest Red Firs I've ever seen in my life - probably nearly 10' in diameter!

We finally had to climb up and over a hill to meet up with the Muir Trail where it comes down from Silver Pass. That's where we had lunch - far from where we had begun the day. By that time my feet, hips and back were all in agony (and I don't think I was the only one hurting), but it's a wonder what a little rest will do! After lunch, we felt refreshed, which was good since we had to go up another series of switchbacks before getting into the relatively flat bottom of the canyon holding Pocket Meadow.


The Mott Lake trail from Pocket Meadow turned out to be in poor repair. It's basically a steep, deep and rock-filled gully that goes straight up the side of a forested hill. There are a few switchbacks and then it topps out in the glacial valley containing Mott Lake. There it winds through meadows and willows (overgrowing the trail) as it goes up several hundred-foot granite steps to the lake. Half-an-hour or so into our hike we found a fun rock-slide where Mott's outlet stream ran over perfect glaciated granite. We took the opportunity to clean some clothes and take a bath - spending hours in the warm sun and warmer than average (for the Sierras) water. Dad took the opportunity to go water sliding; you can see the videos in the Flickr set for the day. Click here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/sets/72157606467826844/

As the sun started to get a little lower, we thought maybe we should finish the hike. It turned out to be quite a long one still, at least two miles from where we had taken a bath (which we thought was maybe almost half-way of the projected two miles from Pocket Meadow to Mott Lake). As a result, we didn't arrive at camp until the dusk was lowering over the foothills in the distance. Such a short evening meant we didn't have time to do much between set up camp, make dinner, eat, clean and go to bed. But it was such a beautiful place that all the long effort of getting there was more than amply repaid, and Libby and my spirits were high as we climbed into our tent for the night. The next day would be our first day of off-trail hiking.
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Mosquito Flat to Mono Creek

The first sound of the first day of our backpack trip was the trilling of our travel alarm. Little light was trickling in through our bedroom's western window, though a clear day was dawning outside, and it was a little difficult to roll out of our warm bed, fully aware this was the last time we'd be enjoy such a luxury for the next five nights. Nevertheless, we wrenched ourselves up and hurriedly got dressed and ready. Soon we were out the door with Grandpa (who generously provided us a lift) to pick up my Dad's old backpacking friend Joe Profita at the McGee Creek trailhead. Joe was going to have to leave the back country earlier than us, so he was going to leave his truck at McGee and hike to it on his last day. We'd keep going for two more days than him and end up at the cabin, again.

Libby at the McGee Creek parking lot. McGee Pass is about 8 miles from here, and around 12,000'.
http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2712139821/in/set-72157606436811560/


We picked him up without any trouble, and the sticky breakfast he provided from a Bishop bakery, and headed off to Rock Creek's canyon. We arrived at Mosquito Flat Campground - Mono Pass's trailhead - around 8:00, used the bathroom and tightened our hip belts. Snap! My belt's clip went flying through the air onto the parking lot's pavement.

OK, we wondered, what do we do, now? Joe had an extra clip in his truck, but that was an hour's round trip. None of us were carrying any extra hip belt clips, either. We spent half-an-hour trying different solutions until we set on a strap of Joe's that I could use to strap shut my clip. It took a lot longer to get my pack on and off every stop, but it worked perfectly in keeping my hip belt tight - which is the most important part of your backpack.

Grandpa took an obligatory pre-trip happy photo at Mosquito Flat.
http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2712140831/in/set-72157606436811560/

Finally, after the fuss, we set off for Mono Pass. We climbed up and out of the trees, through a few last tall Lodgepoles before entering the world of stunted Whitebark Pines. Amazing vistas opened up before us as we climbed slowly but steadily higher, providing needed consolation for our already sore shoulders, hips, and lungs. It took us about 3 hours to do 3 miles and more than 2,000' of elevation gain. About two miles in, we figured out Libby was carrying too much weight, so Dad graciously took her bear can for the rest of the trip, and we spread out a few of her other things to get her up the pass more comfortably. As we climbed, Clark's Nutcrackers became more common, and as we climbed into the pass's lower opening we saw the first of the many, many Gray-crowned Rosy Finches that populate the higher elevation areas of the Sierras.

One of the amazing vistas from above Ruby Lake, below Mono Pass.
http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2712146339/in/set-72157606436811560/

Mono Pass is basically a desert, a flat low point on the crest filled with crushed granite gravel (the result of many harsh freezes and thaws over the years) and scarce scattered grasses and flowers - none of which reach higher than a few inches. We had lunch overlooking Summit Lake, and then began the long descent - equal in length and elevation to our morning's ascent - to Mono Creek. The long downward slog is hard on your feet, but easy on your lungs, and we eventually found a campsite down under the shadow of Mono Rock.


It was the only night we spent under 10,000', which meant that we could have a fire. It was relaxing to soak our feet in the creek and sit next to the fire, watching the light dim on Mono Rock while bats flicked around the sky. That night, Libby and I slept well. We knew we had a long way to go the next day.

I've put all the pictures from the first day up onto Flickr, and you can access them by clicking here: Backpack Day 1.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Pre-Trip Mammoth Time

We actually drove up to Mammoth on Sunday morning. An early start got us there by lunch, and the trip seemed quicker partly because we were listening to The New Treasure Seekers, by E. Nesbit. Ever since Gabe gave us his old iPod, we've been enjoying free audio books via LibriVox. Nesbit's book was good, if typical of her rather unvarying style.

Our activities over the day and the half we spent at the cabin were pretty simple. Libby and I took a walk with Grandpa up Mammoth Creek looking for American Dippers, admiring flowers and checking out old prospects. We didn't find any Dippers, but we saw some other neat birds, including a Kingfisher, a possible MacGillivray's Warbler and a male Lazuli Bunting - by far the highest I've ever seen one. The flower display was spectacular, with dozens of Tiger Lilies growing along the creek.


We made it all the way to a waterfall that cascades down some old broken rock, and we got to see some old mine shafts dug into the rock that Grandpa remembered visiting while they were in operation and he was a boy. I took some pictures on our walk, which you can see here: Pre-backpack Set.

Old Mammoth Consolidated Mine compressor on Red Mountain
http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2712530922/in/set-72157606427461016/

That night we sorted and packed all of our food, and the next day we went with Grandpa to gather wood, checked out some fumaroles bought some last minute supplies at the town's Rite Aid, and got our wilderness permit and bear cans from the Forest Service in town. I also picked up a neat book on the natural history of the Sierras that has distribution information on almost every type of critter that you can find in them there hills.

The rest of Monday we spent relaxing. I took a nap and read, and Libby took a nap and read. Oh, and I went to Emerald Lake early in the morning to look at birds. Lots of Wilson's Warblers, American Robins and Dark-eyed Juncos, but there were also a few Yellow-rumped Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Thick-billed Fox Sparrows, and Pine Siskins around, too. Libby and I later found some Hairy Woodpeckers and a Williamson's Sapsucker just up the mine road in a stand of dead trees. The Sapsuckers that nested in front of the cabin for the last two years have unfortunately moved on.
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Monday, July 28, 2008

Backpack Trip

We're back from our trip! We were gone from Sunday to Sunday, entering the back country via the Rock Creek Mono Pass on Tuesday, and re-crossing the crest yesterday (Sunday) through Duck Pass. We had a great time, and saw a lot of really beautiful things.

Here's a Google Map of our approximate route. There are a few funny things about Google's Map - in Terrain view it moves the Recesses into Mono Creek, and it misnames Rosy Finch Lake as Ross Finch Lake. If you click on the little tabs it'll give you information on some highlights of the trip - I've labeled all of our campsites and all of the passes we climbed.


View Larger Map

When I get the photos all uploaded to Flickr I'll post links and a little more information about the trip - maybe a short blurb on each day.
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Monday, July 14, 2008

Adventure Pass, Indeed!

Items that are not waterproof:

1. Backpacks: zippers and seams.

2. Camera bag: not at all, but especially zippers.

3. Books: Hiking Guide, National Geographic Field Guide

4. Cardboard: MSR stove boxes become pulp in the rain.

5. Floppy-brimmed hats: they become sodden, droopy drips when drowned.

Items that are waterproof:

1. Backpacks: Pockets without zippers.

2. Raincoats.

3. MSR stove.

4. Our spirits!

Clouds below Dollar Lake (probably a little above 9,000')
http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2665147114/

Libby and I are going backpacking in a little more than a week. To prepare ourselves, we've been going hiking every weekend, running in the mornings, and going for long walks around La Mirada. But, how can you be ready to go backpacking if you haven't practiced carrying your pack?

This last weekend we resolved to put our gear, our hips, feet and shoulders to the test. We stuffed our backpacks full of whatever was at hand, threw them in the car and drove off to the local mountains. Our destination was Dollar Lake, a little puddle advertised in glowing terms by our hiking guide -- a sparkling glacial tarn in the local mountains -- the kind of lake that would be comfortable in the Sierras themselves. We got our wilderness permit, and we got our adventure pass, and, having been admitted by these sacred documents into the government's forests and wildernesses, we set out. Little did we know just what sort of adventure we were being admitted to!


The lake is 6.3 miles from and 2700' above the trailhead, between 9200 and 9300 feet. The plan was to take it slow, hike to the lake, where we could drop our packs, relax, read, make some hot lunch (we were bringing our new stove to give it a field test), and then head for home.

I knew there was a chance of rain. The weather forecast put the chance at 30%. 30% didn't sound so bad. I figured, if it did rain, it would be a sporadic and light thunderstorm. With that low of a probability it couldn't do more than get the trail dust damp, then evaporate, right? Wrong. It started raining at about 1:30, about a mile below the lake on our way up. It stopped raining about 7:00, as we got into the car. There were occasional breaks in between, but on the whole, it rained. It basically rained the whole time we were at Dollar Lake. It rained on us all 6 miles down the mountain. There was no lounging about in the mountain sun reading. We stopped, set up the stove, ate some much appreciated hot soup, packed back up, and hit the trail. We might have taken it slow going up, but we were in a fine hurry on the way down. Low on the mountain the trail dust had become slick, inch-deep mud. The last mile or so, we were wading through little streams of running water as they joined us in their bubbling haste to get down the mountain.

The lake itself? If it was in the Sierras, I'd pass by without giving much of a glance. It was a little mud puddle in a shallow glaciated depression (this is one of the rare instances of historic glaciation in the local mountains).


Overall, though, the trip was a success. We had a good time. The pine forests were beautiful, the air was sweet and clean, and we made it. We're a bit stiff and sore, now, and we were in pain, then, but in all we decided that the five dollars we spent on our Adventure Pass was a steal. That much adventure for five bucks? Shoot, that was easily worth twenty or thirty dollars!

Pictures from our adventure are at Flickr: Dollar Lake Hike.
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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Fun with Words

Have you seen this before? I hadn't until today. This is a complete sentence:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

This is way awesome, especially considering buffalo is such a fun word to say.

Here is Wikipedia's explanation.
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Jury Duty

I'm spending this week performing my civic duty. It's very important. I am very important. The system would not work without me. I am Alternate Juror #2. Do you know what that means? Let me break it down for you. Think about it: what if something happens to one of the Jurors, an emergency of some kind? Who would step in and take his place? Well, Alternate Juror #1, of course. But then what if something happens to another Juror? Or, God forbid, to Alternate Juror #1? That's where I come in. I hope you see the import of this position.

It's actually all very interesting, when we're not just sitting on the benches outside the courtroom waiting to be called in (which, I think, has taken up about half of the total time so far). I'm glad to be a part of it. And I've met a nice, Christian home-schooling mom who has Peach Iced Tea flavored mints that she shares.

But don't ask me about the case. I can't talk about it! I've been sworn to secrecy!
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Sunday, July 06, 2008

Fourth of July Travelling

Well, Libby and I have just got to wander. You can't nail our feet to the floor! We won't stay put! We've got to go places and see things and do things!

Actually, I imagine we could live a sedentary life, but we do choose not to. So on the fourth of July this year we drove off to do some hiking in Idyllwild and then down low and southeast to do some birding at the Salton Sea. Pictures (and videos) of the whole experience can be found here: http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/sets/72157606014338686/.

We were going to do the South Ridge Trail to Tahquitz Peak in Idyllwild, but the road our trail guide called pot-holed turned out to be a roller-coaster-style-four-wheel drive-holed. Subsequently we chose to hike up to Suicide Rock instead to ameliorate our anguish in a final act of defiance to the world. Fortunately, we took the wrong turn and ended up a little bit short of Strawberry Junction on the Deer Springs Trail. That meant we gained quite a bit more elevation and went about a mile further than we expected, but it's good practice for our upcoming backpack trip.


We carried our binoculars, of course, but didn't use them a whole lot. The most exciting bird of the trip was a Mountain Quail family. Not only was this a totally new bird to us, but the babies were really cute. They were only about two inches tall, and scurried after their mother with astonishing rapidity. They were all very furtive, dodging in and out of Manzanita thickets and behind rocks, but it was loads of fun to watch the little striped babies, smaller than a mouse, dashing to and fro on the side of the trail. We also saw some neat mountain birds, like Pygmy Nuthatches, Oak Titmice, Violet-green Swallows, a Green-tailed Towhee, and a White-headed Woodpecker.

After our hike, we ate a late lunch and jumped into the car to drive to Brawley. Brawley is a small town in the middle of the Imperial Valley south of the Salton Sea. That means it's a hot place. We took Route 74, which is the Pines to Palms Highway (or is it Palms to Pines?) down from behind San Jacinto to Palm Springs, and then went over and drove way south past the Salton Sea to Brawley. It was hot. The high in Brawley that day had been 110, and it doesn't cool off all that much at night (the low was in the 80s).


The next day we birded our way along the southern end of the Salton Sea and then hit the road by about 10:00 am. We wanted to get out of there before it got too hot. The Salton Sea is a great place to go birding due to the diversity of wintering birds in the cool seasons, but it hosts rarer birds in the summer. It's the only place in the Western U.S. to host Laughing Gulls, Gull-billed Terns, Wood Storks and (only occasionally, now) Fulvous Whistling-Ducks. There is also a bird that comes there in the summer that you can find nowhere else in the United States at all - the Yellow-footed Gull, a very large dark mantled gull previously thought con-specific with our local Western Gull. The Yellow-footed Gull only breeds in the Gulf of California, but every summer since the 50s, an increasing number of them have been flying north to the Salton Sea during the summer.


We were fairly successful in our trip. We saw Laughing Gulls in breeding plumage - not a lifer, but the first time we'd ever seen a hooded gull with a hood. We saw Gull-billed Terns, which were lifers; Black Terns, another lifer that breeds fairly commonly in the inland parts of North America; and our Yellow-footed Gulls. There had been three Fulvous Whistling-Ducks reported this year, but we didn't see them, and eight Wood Storks had been reported two days before we birded the area. No luck on that front either, despite checking the spot they were reported twice and giving every distant American White Pelican a double look.

Fledgling Burrowing Owl
http://flickr.com/photos/rowleypics/2640728978/in/set-72157606014338686/

Bird List:
Species in no particular order, but species seen in Idyllwild won't show up on the Salton Sea list. I'm just writing things down now, too, so I may forget some species.

Idyllwild:

1. Spotted Towhee
2. Band-tailed Pigeon
3. Mourning Dove
4. Red-tailed Hawk
5. Oak Titmouse
6. Violet-green Swallow
7. White-throated Swift
8. Western Scrub Jay
9. Steller's Jay
10. Mountain Quail (Lifer)
11. Western Bluebird
12. Common Raven
13. Northern Mockingbird
14. Mountain Chickadee
15. Acorn Woodpecker
16. Turkey Vulture
17. Lesser Goldfinch
18. Green-tailed Towhee
19. White-headed Woodpecker
20. Pygmy Nuthatch
21. Hummingbird sp.
22. Western Tanager

Salton Sea:

23. Ruddy Duck
24. Marbled Godwit
25. Long-billed Curlew
26. Black-necked Stilt
27. American Avocet
28. White-faced Ibis
29. Killdeer
30. Brown Pelican
31. American White Pelican
32. Clark's Grebe
33. Eared Grebe (these were almost certainly Fall migrants)
34. Double-crested Cormorant
35. Great Blue Heron
36. Great Egret
37. Snowy Egret
38. Green Heron
39. Cattle Egret
40. Black-crowned Night-Heron
41. Northern Harrier (rare in summer at Salton Sea)
42. American Kestrel
43. Gambel's Quail
44. American Coot
45. Common Moorhen (a small family with very ugly little babies)
46. California Gull
47. Laughing Gull
48. Yellow-footed Gull (lifer)
49. Willet
50. Ring-billed Gull
51. Gull-billed Tern (lifer)
52. Black Tern (lifer)
53. Caspian Tern
54. Forster's Tern
55. Common Ground-Dove
56. Rock Pigeon
57. Eurasian Collared Dove
58. White-winged Dove
59. Greater Roadrunner (always very fun to see - crossing the road in front of us)
60. Burrowing Owl (41 - fun to play the "count the Burrowing Owl" game)
61. Black-chinned Hummingbird
62. Gila Woodpecker (one seen in flight was a little unsatisfying)
63. Black Phoebe
64. Western Kingbird
65. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
66. Cliff Swallow
67. Verdin
68. Cactus Wren
69. European Starling
70. Abert's Towhee
71. Red-winged Blackbird
72. Western Meadowlark
73. Great-tailed Grackle
74. House Finch
75. House Sparrow
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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Oregon



I'm pretty late in posting about our trip to Oregon, but it's better late than never.

Right after school got out for me, Jonathan and I took a brief trip up to Toledo, Oregon to visit my Dad's side of the family. We were both very excited about this trip. Oregon in general, and Grandma's House (where we stayed) in particular, are a kind of Home for me. Even though I didn't spend tons of time there when I was growing up (a couple of Christmas-time visits, and a handful of Summer ones) it's full of happy memories. So being there gives me a warm, content, home feeling. And this was my first chance to share that with Jonathan, so that was extra special.

Sadly, my parents and younger siblings weren't able to come because of recent health issues that my Dad has been dealing with. So that was disappointing. But Gabe and Emily and their boys were there, and that was a lot of fun. Those little boys offered a lot of entertainment.

We hit all of the favorite spots and activities. And Jonathan and I got in some birding and even had some lifers (5 for me, and 6 for him). But it also was just good to be there, even when we weren't doing anything more than sitting in Grandma's family room looking at old pictures and eating cookies.

We took a lot of pictures of our trip, which you can view here.
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