What I Did on My Summer Vacation 2022

The last back pack adventure of our 2022 season was a special one.

It was Jim’s 60th birthday.

It was just us (and V).

The fall colors were off the hook and weather was in our favor.

I got to choose the route.

I knew I wanted to choose a route that would challenge my skill set, grow confidence in my own abilities, and do all of this with my life partner.

 

The blue line is more or less the route we ended up taking.

Starting in the upper right corner at the blue line we went up Pine Creek trail (the single line more of less), cut  off the trail into a region called Granite Park (counterclockwise in the large circle), ascended Granite Bear pass (12,300 feet), descended through the Bear lakes region, ascended Feather pass (12,300), hiked along La Salle lake, cut left and ascended the Royce Merriam saddle (12,200), descended down to the Royce lakes basin, came through Royce pass, descended through Granite Park, and eventually rejoined the Pine Creek trail.

I’m not sure how this was only 24 miles!

Off trail hiking is an often arduous and slow task that requires patience, route finding, scrambling on talus for what seems like miles, finding foot placement in scree and on sliding slopes, and backtracking to find a better way to move forward.

Although we gave ourselves 4 days and 3 nights, we quickly got ahead of schedule and finished the route in 3 days and 2 nights.

The trip began with the long beautiful drive to the eastern Sierras through Yosemite.

We grabbed a camping spot at Horton Rim campground.

 

One of the “newer” aspects of our backpacking trips is having Base Camp when planning our trips.  We camp in her before and after trail time.  Flannel sheets, running water, real coffee, refrigerator with apples and other perishables… it’s like a 5 star camping hotel.

We started out early on a cold fall Monday morning, October 3rd,  from Pine Creek pack station up through a mile of beautiful forested trail with the colors of fall just shouting “hallelujah” at us!

The trail merges with an old mining road and continues up to lower and upper Pine Lake and then on to Honeymoon lake.

 

Before heading off trail into Granite Park we hiked in this kind of environment – pine trees, creek crossings, aspens, views of granite peaks.

We stopped for lunch along a small creek.

This was the first time I used my new Mountain Laurel design ultralight backpack weighing 18 ounces.  I fell in love with her on this trip.

We both feel that going lighter in our gear will extend the opportunity for us to continue backpacking for many more years.

My entire “kit” with water weighed in at under 20 pounds. At the end of this blog I’ve shared my gear list.

 

We use an app on the iphone and paper maps, helping us calculate how to set up for ascending a pass without a trail.

Rather than camping in the Granite Park region, we decided there was plenty of time and daylight to ascend Granite Bear pass that first afternoon.

 

Pointing to our destination, which as the crow flies, is not actually that far away.

 

On a previous backpack this summer, we’d  scrambled up the opposite side of Granite Bear pass with ease – lots of scree, but nothing very technical.  This side was going to be a bit harder.

That dark blob halfway up the photo is Jim.

 

And there was a bit of snow on the way up.

 

The potential of moving into a flow state is a reality on these types of off route hikes. Everything becomes very present.. .it’s an easy time to be in the moment as you take one step after another, focusing on foot placement, breathing hard, looking ahead, staying balanced….

It’s great to be at a place en route where you can see where you will arrive.

How beautiful is this stark amazing landscape of granite? It’s easy for me to believe in something greater than myself when I’m surrounded by the grandeur of granite.

It’s just so big.

 

Looking back down from near the top of Granite Bear pass.

 

Just about over the top – you can see my head in the shadow.

Arms out in triumph at the top.  The large blue spot in the background is Honeymoon lake which is supposedly 6 miles from the trailhead where we began the day.

Set up first night’s camp about 2/3 of the way down to Black bear lake at about 11,800 feet.

 

It got cold very fast as the sun slowly faded behind the mountain.  Vida (in her red fleece sweater) was first in the tent and I joined her by 6:30pm after a freeze dried dinner of Butternut Squash Chickpea Curry.

 

Day 2, October 4th, began early morning cold waiting for the sun to come up high enough to grace our camp with some solar rays and unfreeze our little bones!  It had been many many hours in the tent.

My sleep comes in bursts and starts when backpacking.  I’m guessing I get 7 or 8 hours of sleep, but it is never in one stretch.  I spend what seems like many hours lying awake each night  reminding myself that I am fairly warm and cozy and at least “resting”.

Vida sleeps on my side of the tent at my feet and when it’s cold she’s usually halfway up on my sleeping pad and completely covered in my down quilt.  It is the one time that she allows for body contact with me.

Heading down from our first night’s camp to Black bear lake.

 

Looking back up at Granite Bear pass as we said farewell.

 

Cross country to Ursa and Bear Paw lakes.

Ursa lake, which we had visited early in the season with our friends, Deb and Bryce.

Don’t let the beautiful blue sky in all these photos trick you into thinking it was particularly warm. An invigoratingly cold dip in Bear Paw lake before heading up Feather Pass where you hope to dry off before the breeze picks back up!

Last summer we came over Feather pass from the opposite side.

One thing I’ve learned is that the two sides of a pass are incredibly distinct. Ascending or descending what you’ve done previously from the other side is a brand new adventure and often not as easy as you would expect.

Heading towards Feather pass (the notch in between the taller peaks).

 

The bottom was fairly straight forward with lots of rocks and fairly stable talus to navigate.

At some point as it became steeper and steeper. Jim and I had to decide whether to stay right or left.

There are no photos of this part of the ascent because we went right and should have gone left and all my focus went to staying the course.

It was hard to remember how we had come down the previous year and it wasn’t until we were in the thick of it that it became clear that it was opposite of what we were currently doing.

The question becomes… do we carry on and figure it out or turn around and go back down and start up another potential route?

There is no one route.  There is no trail.  You’re just figuring it out as you go.

It’s kind of like putting together a big jig saw puzzle without the picture on the box to guide you.

This was the scariest point in the trip for me because we were sort of “cliffing” out near the top.  There were two times that I had to take my backpack off, hand it up to Jim, use my hands and arms to help me climb, and hold onto Jim’s outstretched hand in order to get to my next position.

This turns a class 2 ascent into more of a class 3 ascent and I’m fairly certain that I will be sticking with the class 2’s.

But, working with Jim and staying with my breath, I persevered. We got to the top.

Somehow I forgot to stand with big triumphant open arms at the top.  I think I was just relieved to be standing on what felt like really solid flat ground.

We descended Feather pass on the La Salle lake side.

Looking back up at where we had come from and had our lunch.

 

Jim and V as we move towards the head wall descent towards La Salle – again, we did not choose the route we had done the previous year and I certainly wish we had.  There were a few more scary moments for me.

We were now heading into territory that neither of us had perviously explored as we navigated into a hanging valley on the way to the Royce Merriam saddle – a pass between these two peaks.

Where are the photos of this?

I was tired.  I forgot to photograph.

We camped at about 11,800 that night near the shore of an alpine lake that doesn’t seem to have a name.

The sun ducked behind a peak and the game was over for me.  I was in the tent by 6:15 that night.  Vida had already beat me in.

Did I mention that we brought and slept in down pants?  Yep, it was that cold.

Early morning day three, October 5th – you can see in the first photo how the sun has yet to find our little lakeside camping spot.

Jim is having coffee and braving the cold.

I am having coffee, provided by Jim, in the tent with Vida until there is a bit of sunlight.

 

We were only several hundred feet down from the Royce Merriam saddle at our camp site. It was just a scramble up a scree slope to get to the top and look out at one of the Royce lakes.

I had read about this pass and it was suggested that the east side of this pass, the one we were descending, had a permanent snowfield necessitating micro – spikes and an ice axe.  We were betting on a lack of snow because it was early October and our winters have been mild recently.

 

Jim assessing potential routes.

I choose a route that began on the far side of the saddle.

Picking my way through rocks on the edge of an ice field.

Me and V walking on the “permanent snowfield” of ice.

So. Much. Talus.  The saddle is clearly visible here.

The arrow points to the Royce Merriam saddle from where descended.

 

We spent the next couple hours walking through the Royce lakes region. No real elevation gain of loss, but talus laid out like a giant game of pick up sticks along the shores of each lake. Slow going and absolutely devoid of other humans.

 

Royce pass, a class 1 pass, allowed us a view of the forested area out past Granite Park that would eventually lead us via Pine Creek trail back down to Base Camp.

 

As we descended we looked for ideal camp sites, but it was still pretty early in the afternoon and nothing was saying, “you should really camp here tonight”.

 

We eventually arrived back to the trail at Honeymoon lake and decided Pine lake would be that night’s destination where the aspens were sharing their celebratory golden fall color against the backdrop of the most amazing striated black and white granite mountains.

We stopped at Pine Lake, jumped in for a “swim”, admired the amazing fall colors surrounding us, cooked dinner, and were just about to set up our tent when we realized that the sun was going to drop behind the mountain and it was only 5:15.

Base Camp was only a few miles away…. she was beckoning us…. warm water to wash in, a bed, Vida’s crate with her bed, clean clothes, real coffee in the french press the next morning….

So we packed up and headed down at a very rapid pace. The landscape was simply stunning in the alpenglow.

 

We didn’t quite make it to Base Camp before dark, using our headlamps in the thickly forested last mile or so.

A short drive later we had arrived once more at Horton Rim campground where we slept soundly and gratefully.

The following day was a drive around June lake oohing and aahing at the fall color palette , lunch at the Whoa Nellie deli, and back through Yosemite for a night of camping at Wawona campground.

 

It was a great way to end backpacking season 2022.

 

 

My packing gear list:

Backpack – Mountain Laurel design

Zpacks tent – (Jim carries this and it weighs about 18 ounces)

Line my pack with a thick plastic trash compactor bag – the pack gets wet, but the bag inside keeps everything dry (tried and tested)

20 degree Enlightened brand down quilt

Sleeping Pad – Therma rest Neo air

Zpacks blow up pillow (2 oz and worth every ounce!)

Lightweight blue foam pad for Vida at end of my sleeping pad (when it’s cold she gets partway on my sleeping pad and sleeps under the quilt with me at my feet)

Super lightweight black foam for under my sleeping pad

Stove (Jim carries this)

2 small fuels (we each carry one)

URsack for food storage – bear can was not required for where we were

Down jacket

Rain jacket

Down pants

Silk long johns

Long sleeved smart wool shirt

Long sleeved sun hoody

Lightweight long hiking pants

Pair running shorts (did not use on this trip)

1 underwear (wash every evening)

1 bra

2 pair Injinji socks – one tall and one ankle hiking socks

Altra hiking trail shoes (worn, not carried)

emergency dog harness (for carry out in case of injury – weighs 9 oz, but I think it’s worth it)

dog fleece jacket for nighttime

smart wool beanie

smart wool buff

ball cap for sun protection – hoody comes over the hat to provide real coverage to my face

warm gloves

Toiletries and emergency kit – toothbrush, tooth paste tablets, sunblock, foot/hand balm, sunblock lip balm, medication, bandaids/sutures/etc

Food for 3 nights and 3 1/2 days

Vida’s freeze dried food and a baggy of high reward treats

(V’s and my food weighed about 7 pounds for 3 – 4 days and I came out with extra snacks and extra food for her)

plastic water bottle – I use a smartwater bottle

smaller plastic water bottle that is carried in a pouch on my backpack strap for easy access

water filter – Katadyn BeFree (2 oz)

titanium mug

long handled backpacking spoon

iphone – for camera use and downloaded books

reserve battery and cord

mini Delorme GPS (Jim carries)

one hiking pole – doubles as walking stick and tent stake

Eye glasses and case (my glasses have automatic sun tint so double as sunglasses)

small camp towel

Small 2 oz sit pad

small knife

plastic emergency whistle

lighter

poop shovel/toilet paper/wipes/wag bag (leave no trace)