High Sierra Trail trip report

“WARNING: This will most likely be very long and each day will be a separate post so hang in there.

The cast:
Humanpackmule: You very own loveable mule, Scoutmaster, trip planner, smooth talker
Madman: Mr. dependable, short fuse, hardcore Marine
Captain Obvious: 16, Life Scout, Loud guy, if anything goofy or supremely odd happens, the Captain did it.
Lightening Rod: 16, Eagle Scout, Quiet guy, if anything bad or painful happens, it usually happens to him.

Getting there
Well folks, the plan was to fly out of Orlando Fl instead of our local Jacksonville airport in an effort to save about $120 each. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

The fellas pick me up at 5am and we drive down to Orlando to catch our 9am flight on United Airlines. No issues getting there, getting checked in and boarding the plane. With the lone exception of Madman's anxiety over our gear. He expects them to lose or confiscate our stuff and leave us without the gear we need. But, no issues so far.

So there we are sitting on the plane all happy and excited when Madman, who used to be a Marine avionics tech, notices that they were turning the power for the plane on and off.

Madman: Somethings up.
Me: Oh?
Madman: You don't flip the power to a plane off and on this close to flight time. They are trying to reset something.

Sure enough 15 minutes after we were supposed to be gone the Captain comes on the intercom and informs us in hi smoothest voice that they had a "minor issue" with the navigation computer and that they will have it sorted out very soon.

Madman: Bullcrap, pull the frickin' box and slap in a new one. there's nothing they can fix on those without a full electronics shop.

Well after an hour or so of sitting there wathing Madman get progressively more bent, the Captain comes back on the intercom and informs us that the nav comp won't come online and that they started looking for another part in the airport. But don't worry, if they can't find a part a new one is being flown in from DC at noon.

So they herd us off the plane and herd us back on about noon, the time we should have arrived in Fresno.

Back on the plane the 'ole power on and off routine starts again.

Madman: Those @##$#$# didn't diagnose the problem correctly.
Me: Oh?
Madman: Just watch, this is one big jackfest.

After another hour or so of the same song and dance, the Captain informs us via intercom that the nav comp isn't coming online so they are going to swap locations with the backup comp. Minutes later, same deal, dead comp. Meaning that the part wasn't bad, most likely it was the connection or a different part. End result, flight cancelled.

Madman: (turning red) Gad Dawammit, those fuukkers didn't diagnose the problem at all they just stopped when the got a negative reading and ASSumed that was the issue. Those @#$#$@$ing %^$$$%ers..........(degenerated into Yosemite Sam style dialogue)

Well back in the concourse they have one kiosk with three reps trying to reroute 200 people. Interestly enough all the United reps at the other six counters mysterously dissapeared when they saw what was up.

Well, while in this huge line I called United cust, service on my cell and finally got through. Mr. rep guy tries to book me on a flight that leaves at 9pm and arrives in Fresno tomorrow at noon.

Me: No dice, you need to get me on the quickest flight to Fresno no matter who the carrier is and on your dime.

So he books us on a American Airlines flight leaving in about a hour and a half. Cool, that works for us.

So while I wait in line Madman goes to the counter and asks when we can get our luggage.

Smiley dude: Sir you can't get your luggage. We will hold it and deliver it to you at your final destination. ~plasicky grin~
Madman: (turning redder) We aren't flying on your #$%^bag planes anymore. Give me my frickin luggage.
Smiley dude: I'm sorry sir I can't do that.
Madman: (turning crimson) Why you little piec....
Captain Obvious interveneds at this point: "Ummmm.....errrrr...Dude, HPM is calling us back over." ~whew~

At the counter I am informed that we now have to go back through check in again and get our bags inspected again. And yes, the order has been sent to unload the bags and we can get them at baggage claim downstairs.

Fine, time is now tight to catch the AA flight but I am fairly confident that we can do it. So we head down to baggage claim and none of the carosels lists our flight number. After a few minutes I get concerned and go into the baggage office.

Me: Say when is the baggage from flight X going to be set out.
Baggage dude: (in his best super slow deputy dawg drawl) HHHuuuuuuuhhhhh?
Me: Flight X was cancelled and I was told that we could pick up our stuff here.
Baggage dude: Ain't nobody toll me nuthin about that. That luggage issa gonna be sent on with anothe flight.
Me: Ummmmm...NO. We aren't flying United now and it is very important that you guys don't send my luggage to Denver.
Baggage dude: Well suh, they will deliver it to where eva you are staying in 24 hours.
Me: Nope. I'm staying in the backcountry of Sequoia National Park. I don't think United is going carry our stuff down a backpacking trail to deliver it. Say, can you just make a phone call and see what the status is?
Baggage dude: Well, I can call my super for you.

~He gets on the phone and leaves a message. Looking outside the office I see Madman gesticulating sharply~

Baggage dude: Well, I left a message.
Me: Ummm, sir, I SAW the ground crew unloading the luggage could you just get your line lead on the radio and ask the guys who actually do the work what's up.
Baggage dude: Sir you need to go up to the check in counter and talk to a customer (non)service rep. Maybe he can help you.
Me: Ok, so the cust, rep can help me get my stuff and you can't. Allrighty, thanks for your time.

Up we go to the check in counter and walk straight past the huge line.
Me: Excuse me, are you holding the luggage from flight X hostage? Can I pay my ransom here?
Service dude: Wawawaht? That stuff was unloaded and is headed to baggage claim a while ago.
Me: Thanks, but you might want to inform the luggage office of that little fact. As they see to be oblivious to it.

Back at baggage claim our stuff finally arives and time is very tight to catch the AA flight. We grab our gear and sprint up the stairs to the other side of the airport to the AA counter. Huge line. Hmmmm......I don't ever do this but.....we walk straight to the counter and ask for the service manager.

Me: Can you help us out? United booked us on a flight that leaves VERY soon and we really need to make it.
Service lady: Ok. ~she then begins the slowest check in I have ever seen. She send through two of the guys gear and just as she clicks the last button she says~ Oh, I'm sorry y'all are four minutes too late.
US: WHAT?!?!?
Service lady: Well you probably wouldn't have gotten on anyway as you were booked as standby.

~Madman turns violet~
Madman: STANDBY! THAT LITTLE#$#$@$ #%^$%^ *^#@%%@% BOOKED US STANDBY!?!?!
Me: Umm...(steering Madman away from the counter) United needs to fix this. They started this mess, they need to make it right. Can we just get our bags back please?

So Capt. Obvoius and LR run back down to security to retrieve their bags AGAIN and we head back to the United Counter. Once again, a huge line is there and we head straight to the counter.

Me: ~Snagging the cust. service rep by the arm as he tries to escape when he sees us coming~ (not an exaggeration) ~clearly enough so the people in line can hear~ United has lost my business forever and you have the shining opprotunity to be the only person mentioned favorably in the forthcoming complaint letter of epic size.
Service dude: How can I help you?
Me: Get us to Fresno now.
Service dude: Ummm..ok

End result is that we catch a flight a 5pm to LA and then on the Fresno arriving after 9pm local. Keep in mind we have all be awake since 4am eastern and were supposed to be in Fresno at noon local. So at least that part went well. Also while waiting to catch the flight I called National Park reservations and they called Lodgepole campground and held our campsite reservations.

So here we are in Fresno. Hurray! Time to get the rental car.

Me: Hi, I have a reservation for a mid sized car.
Car chick: Ok, but your car isn't ready. It'll be about a half and hour.
Me: Not ready?
Car chick: Well you are a couple of hours late.
Me: That logic doesn't fly. I would agree if I were early I shouldn't expect my car to be ready but by being late I would logicly expect my car to be ready and waiting as you had two extra hours to be sure it prepped. But , ok, I'll wait.
Car chick: ~ulp~

After twenty minutes

Car chick: Sir, we don't have any cars ready for you. You can go to Avis and get a car from them.
Me: For the same price?
Car chick: Well, no. You would have to pay thier price but we would reimburse you after you checked it in.
Me: I'm flying out very early and you won't be open.
Car chick: You could be reimbursed by mail.
Me: Let me be as clear as I can. Hell no. I am not floating Budget a small loan on my credit card. Find me a car.

after about another fifteen minutes of standing around she informs me that their car prep guy will meet us in the parking lot to give us the keys to our car. So we head out to the lot and hang around. About five minutes later this huge dude pulls up in a rental with the radio blaring and the drivers seat so far back all you can see is his eyebrows.

Car homey: ~In his best gangsta~ Yo G. Y'all lookin fo some wheels?
Us: Ummm...yes.
Car homey: Bam! as he hands me some keys without explanation.

So clicked the keyless entry we discover he has given us the keys to a convertable.
Us: Sweet. I hope we can get our stuff in it.

Sure enough the trunk is half gone because of the convertable mechanism. But the guys give it a heroic try anyway. It doesn't work. You can't fit 4 6foot plus guys in a convertable with 4 backpacks loaded for a week of hiking. To top if off there are 4 cars like what we asked for just sitting there in the lot.

Back in I go. Once again a huge line has formed at the counter striaght to the counter.

Me: That can won't work for me at all. I need what I reserved.
Car chick: We don't have any ready.
Me: You have four ready and sitting in the lot.
Car chick: Ummm....would an SUV work for you.
Me: Well sure. For the same price?
Car chick: No, it's definately more.
Me: I need the size car I asked for barring that you need to get me a larger car and I will not pay a cent more for your lack or preparation.

So I end up hanging around for another fifteen minutes or so.

Car chick: Here, take the SUV. If I'm not here when you return it then that means I got fired.
Me: I'll be here before you open but thank you.

So off we go, much more comfy than before as the SUV was a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. As Captian Obvious sagely observed "Bling bling."

Interesting thing about the Fresno airport. Their signage sucks bad. Heck, most the highways around Fresno suck. There was never a sign to Sequoia and we ended up driving further and further south.

Me: This ain't right. Get my GPS out of my bag fellas.

So we them navigate to Sequoia using the GPS and ignoring the road signs. By this time it is well after midnight and we had been awake for more than 24 hours and I was trying to drive on winding mountian roads. We eventually just pulled off the side of the road a slept in the jeep.”

“WOW, what an adventure. I have had trouble with different airlines, but not that bad. The rental car experience was inexcusible. Those bastards should have given you the upgrade in the first place without making you wait. I had this same experience while on my honeymoon. I had reserved a convertable 2 years in advance, yes that was 2 years. We arrived and were told that they had no convertables to rent. I calmly indicated that I made this reservation 2 years ago and that I would not leave until I had one. I would not let this ruin our honeymoon. I was able to have Hertz pay Budget to get us a brand new Firebird convertable. Very sweet ride.”

“Wow, what a story! Loved the part about asking if they'd be delivering your bags into the Sequoia backcountry. I had a similar experience in Colorado. The puddlejumper from Denver to Durango had to leave one bag behind to meet the weight limit - they picked my backpack. We had a reservation on one of the sold-out Durango-Silverton trains at 7 AM the next morning (to take us to the trailhead), so it seemed unlikely they'd get me my pack in time. I asked cust service if they'd be helicoptering it to me in the wilderness - they didn't really know what to say. The only thing they could think to suggest was for me to buy all new gear, then they might reimburse me later. Never mind that nothing would be open either at the time I arrived in Durango or by the time I left the next day. They did actually get me my pack at almost midnight that night. Whew!”

“Wow! Bloody awful.

I don't know what is going on, but I took two round trips in May and June. They lost a piece of my luggage on three of the four trips. Also, an equipment repair caused a delay that got me a free night in a hotel room.

Hard for airlines to make money if all they do is pay for screw ups. Worse than that, it discourages people from flying more.”

“Right Phil! I will never fly Delta anymore because of how they treated me 3 years ago.

I had a flight from Orlando to Atlanta and then home to Chicago. Bad weather delayed us in FL, so we missed our connecting flight (by only 4 minutes) we were all herded into lines so that they could get us flights set up for the morning and get us a room that night. The agent that helped us was clueless. He did not get the right vouchers for anything. We took a cab to downtown to stay at a pretty sweet hotel, except it was not coded right and they would not honor the voucher. We were stuck. We would have to go back to the airport to sort it out. We took a cab back (now at our expense) and proceeded to wait 2 hours in line. I approached a new agent and thought hopefully he can help better. Wrong! He indicated that all hotels were now full and that we would have to stay at the airport. I said that we had a room, the voucher was not coded right. "Nothing I can do about it."

Next he informed me that we were being bumped off the flight we had booked in the morning. Apparently people had paid extra to get home earlier and people were being bumped to later flights that had not paid. We were supposed to catch a 7:15AM flight back to Chicago, now we had no chouce but to take a 2:55 flight.

To top it off, one of our suitcases never made it home to us. Sorry Delta, you suck!”

“Wow what a start to the adventure. I had no prob (AA to begin with) And the car rental was cool, I had a Jeep Laredo too. I really liked it. But considering how my trip turned out I would have put up with all your stuff to be able to hike.

I can't wait for the next installment to your report.

Your friends sound very cool! Very funny. Even though it was a long post (not really) it was a fast read!”

“Wow, nothing like an adventure before your adventure! I can't wait to read about those reliable TTers!! 8D”

“There
So we wake up about 5 am pacific and continue the drive into Lodgepole. We get to see the sun rise over the King's Canyon overlook and we are all droopy. Eventually we make it to Lodgepole and sure enough the fine folks there had our campsite assigned and posted to a whiteboard. We roll up on camp, pitch the tents and crash untill about 8am.

The rest of the morning was filled by checking out the Lodgepole village. Decent food, well stocked camp store complete with a gear shop, a post office and a pretty cool interperative display in the visitors center.

Time to get our backcountry permit. So we all amble into the permit office. The permit lady spent a good amount of time drilling us about proper food storage and LNT practices. And then it got interesting.

Permit Lady: And remember to pack out all toilet paper.
Us: Ummmm....Ok.
Permit Lady: You know some people don't even bring it.
Captain Obvious: Yeah I can tell by all the brown streaks all over the AT privies.
Lightening Rod: And all the hikers we meet getting off the trail because of intestinal problems.
Permit Lady: Well ok, but how are you planning to handle that?
Me: We will to what is appropriate in accordance with the law. ~all the guys nod emphaticly~
Permit Lady: Good. You know I personally don't use TP. I get creative with rocks.
Us: Really.........you don't say. Thanks for the info. ~gingerly taking permit and sliding out the door~
Us: I need a shower.

We then proceeded to check out Moro Rock and got an awesome view of where we were heading for our first two days and a depressing view of the cloud of brownish agricultural haze out towards Fresno. What a dicotomy. Pristine rugged beauty to your left and man induced ugliness to your right. It was like viewing a lovely landscape through a filthy window. You know it's pretty but it's hard to mentally overcome that trash patina.

We also went to the Giant Forest and oggled at the trees and snapped some pics. We also wondered how many stoners visited the Gen. Sherman tree and observed to each other in their best Tommy Chong voice. "Hey man, that's a huge Sherman. Huh huh huh." I guess you had to be there for that one. Sorry.

The only real disturbing thing was there was this knucklehead that we saw everywhere we went who seemed to think it was a great idea to carve his name in everything he came across. We made a few observations to him that it wasn't a cool thing to do but it never dissuaded him at all. He just kind of stared at us like we all had two heads or something. Finally we made it point to ask him loudly every time we saw him if he was going to deface anything here too. We didn't see much of him after people started staring daggers at him.

Eventually we headed back to camp. Our first trail crisis arose then also. We did another pack shakedown that afternoon and Captain Obvious realized that he left his PUR Hiker filter element at home in the freezer. That left us with one filter and my Katadyn purification tabs. I only had enough for 60 liters. Not enough for four guys for two weeks and no real backup if the other filter failed. The Captain, being a concientous guy headed down to the gear shop to see if maybe they had PUR elements. No dice. All they had was MSR Miniworks filters for $70. (YIKES!) He bit the bullet and bought one. We finished repacking and adjusting and hit the sack at hikers midnight. (9pm)
A good day but we were still on EST and tired from yesterdays ordeal.”

“How did the $70 investment work?”

“WK- hang on buddy all will be revealed. Here's a hint. NOT impressed.”

“Oh my god! It's like Temptation Island here or some kind of sick soap opera!

Turn in next week to see how the MSR Miniworks filter does. Was the human pack mule impressed? We may never know.”

“I meant tune in.”

“As the muscles burn
Passion, drama, Ramen.

Daytime, only on the TT network.”

“Ha Ha!!

Join us tomorrow for new episodes of

All My Trolls
General Hospital is Where TTers Go after they fall down
Guiding Light with my Petzel Duo”

“More...PLEASE......tell us more......”

“Crap! I am not that creative!

How about all new advertures from

Crazy Mike does Dallas
Twinkle Toes and the Fat Man
The TT-Team
The TT Bachelor
The TT Bachelorette (Spelled wrong?)

Somebody help me think of more!”

“How about.

As our Campfire Burns?
I kind of copied off of the mule on that one.”

“TTer's to the rescue
We woke up early as we are to meet a couple of West Coast TTer's who graciously offered to help us shuttle the rental jeep to Wolverton where we expected to end our trip.

We had already done the gear litany and everything seemed good with the exception of the grumbling about the Garcia bear cans the park required us to use.

The guys: Too freaking heavy and I can't fit all my food in it! P.O.S.!!!
Me: Huh, most of my food fits just fine. Gotta carry the snacks separate though.

So we boogie on down to Lodgepole village and sure enough Windwalker is there waiting on us. Not just on time but a bit early. So we settle down to breakfast and wait for Hikin Mike to arrive. Not much later we spy a fella sporting a TT shirt (mighty fine shirt I must say) Sure enough it's Hikin Mike.

Poor Mike had suffered recently from a nasty bout of sickness and much of his left side was all scabbed up and looking rough and painful. We felt bad for him. I'm sure breakfast helped.

So TTer's are more reliable than United Airlines and will get off their deathbed to help. Anyone wanna start a backpacker's airline?

We got to talking and we heard a bit about Sierrapalosa. Sounds like y'all had a blast. I wish I could have done both trips. We were also warned about the mosquitos. Being from Florida we think we have bad bugs but it's always wise to heed the locals advice so I made sure to pick up a small bottle of bug dope.

So we loaded up the gear in Windwalker's truck and the fellas headed off to Crescent Meadow while Hikin Mike helped me drop the Jeep at Wolverton. We all reconnect a few minutes later at the HST trailhead.

It seems that for the last couple of days my right ear was clogged. I thought maybe it was just congestion and was taking decongestants. Unfortunately they did nothing to help and now my right ear had decided to start oozing some very nasty looking and smelling stuff. (no need for more detail. You can thank me later) So I asked Hikin Mike and WindWalker to email my lovely and talented wife Treebait (love ya dear, you are the bestest) and see if she could get some antibiotics shipped to me in my horsepacker resupply in eight days time. Sure enough, no problem, consider it done. Gotta love those TTer’s.

So we made out last porcelin visit snapped some shots and started walking. The trail started as a tourist path. Paved with benches and a water fountain. So we started messing with WW and HM about how cool it was that all trails in California were so well graded and had such nice benches and water fountains along them. Of course they took it in stride and ribbed us back like old friends. Very cool. So we staged a photo of us “succumbing to altitude” on a bench. Funny shot. See the “three days and counting” thread for the photo.

The first part of the trail was stunning. Beautiful overlooks and plenty of hanging gardens. It seems we hit it at the right time for the wildflowers and they were out in full force. Lots of great photo ops. There were birds singing in the distance and over the valley we could see hawks riding the thermals. Big fat blackish lizards scuttled over the warm rocks chasing bugs. The lizards were cool. We were in high spirits but not an energetic as normal. Before too long we ran into a ranger who checked our permits and we asked him what his favorite campsite on this section.

Bearpaw, he replied.
What about Nine Mile? We ask.
Nine Mile is where it needs to be and is nothing more than that. He said.
Oh. We reply.
Where are you headed?
Nine Mile. We say
Oh. Enjoy it.
Ummm….yeah, thanks.

After a while we pass Mehrton creek campsite and not too much later we roll into Nine Mile very tired under our eight day load.

Madman has developed a giant silver dollar size blister on his heel and the other one isn’t looking much better. Yikes. I will never understand why people won’t stop when they feel a hot spot. The other guys tend to their feet but the rest of us are all in very good shape.

The campsite was exactly as the Ranger described it, unremarkable. It was buggy but not near the level WW described Big Arroyo Junction. It did, however, have a nice stream nearby. There was already a tent there but the occupant never stirred that night. About dusk a very bony deer wandered around camp. We set up lounged around, cooked and went to sleep at hiker’s midnight (dark).”

“Whats the tent there in the morning? Maybe the person inside was DEAD!

Join us next time when the Mule smells something coming from the direction of the tent.”

“I feel like I'm with you.
What's next?”

“Usually I am a very patient woman, BUT...I want the next installment!!

Why is there a person like your defacer guy at all National Parks. What losers!!! Nice of you guys to point him out to others.

Ewww- an oozing ear for 8 days; how did you stand it? I know you were darn happy to hit the trail after how long you wanted to do this trail. I hope it met all your expectations.”

“After 2.5 years of planning and waiting and wondering if I should or shouldn't do the trip a little thing like ear pain isn't going to hold me back.

Well, I usually carry some matches in a little plastic bottle. So I bought some alcohol and q-tips at Lodgepole and filled my little makeshift match case with alcohol and carried the matches elsewhere. Every day I swabbed out the ear as many times as I was able.

It was most irratating not being able to hear half of anything. I'm sure the other guys got sick of my doing the deaf guy act all the time though.”

“HPM, so far you're the master of trip reports. i'm enjoying this an extra amount 'cause i know and love the route. keep it coming!!”

“....we are on the edge of our seats...”

“yeah come on...you can't leave us at unremarkable nine mile creek!”

“C'mon now! I got a baby to help out with too. These things take time.

Dehydration and militant Marmots
Our second day on the trail dawned bright and early. Due to the fact we were still bodily on EST and daylight PST we were waking up about 5am and crawling out of the bag about 6. So we decided to try to maximize daylight by keeping that schedule as much as possible. MAdman never even bothered to reset his watch to PST. I kept my on dial on PST and digital on EST so I could translate MST (Madman Standard Time)

The day started as cloudless and bright blue as the days before and being a crew with many weeklong backpacking trips behind us we had camp struck and were eating breakfast in no time. Captain Obvious comes back from pumping a 6 liter tanker extoling the virtues of the MSR miniworks filter he bought. Halfway through breakfast our neighbor made his entrance by crawling out of his tent and starting a big 'ol redneck fire. He was a bit scruffy (who isn't when on the trail) and kinda reminded me of Tommy Chong. Hair, glasses and all.

He looks over at us and says "Hey maaaaannnnn. Do you guys mind if I smoke my roach?"
Us: Ummm....errrr....Sure, I guess. I mean the wind isn't blowing it this way.
Groovy man, thanks.

So he tokes up and decides he's our best friend and tells us about all the jobs he's quit because he can't stand being around uptight squares. He proudly proclaims he has never held a job for more than three months.

The uptight square crew finishes eating, packs up and heads down the trail. Lightening Rod and Capt. Obvious turn to Madman and I and ask: "So, is that what they call a textbook loser?"
MM & HPM: I guess so.

That day it becomes very obvious that Madman's heels are badly screwed up and he keeps falling behind. A very unusual situation. We cross the bridge at Buck Creek and make it to High Sierra Camp above Bearpaw at about 10am.

Man what a great view they have of the Great Western Divide there. We roll up and they have a radio playing a little Jr. Brown and a nifty canvas roofed wood walled hut with folks hanging out enjoying the day. It was pretty nifty. They even had a solar panel set up for power.

The guys wandered inside to check the place out (and to see if they could scope out some more food. On day 2 no less, sheesh.) Nope, no food but they sold Madman a roll of ace wrap so he could secure his heels a little better.

We loitered a while, snapped some pics and Madman resecured his heels and off we went. Once again, more great views and clear sunny skies. Before too much longer we descended to Lone Pine Creek. We arrived at the remains of a concrete bridge that had long ago been torn apart by a flood. There really weren't any good spots to cross unless you made a leap across a gap and had someone throw your pack to you. So that's what we did. Madman wasn't about to jump across. So he tossed his pack to us and went to find another way around. But when he tossed his pack his nalgene broke loose and fell ino the stream and headed quickly downstream. It seems that his nalgene was full of water and was carabinered to his pack by the strap that holds to top to the bottle. We scambled like mad to reach the nalgene before it got whisked downstream. LR and the Capt. lunged after it with trekking poles while I ripped off my boots in preparation to go in after it. Luckily it hit an eddy and that allowed Madman to snag it from his side of the stream. Whew, nothing like a little lunchtime drama. Madman eventually made it across and we settled down to lunch.

Well the local Marmot decided to join us too. The little guy would come within a couple of feet of us and back off and then try from another angle. Testing and probing to se when he could snag something. We moved our stuff into better defensive positions and sat near it. He would dissapear only to show up to try another tactic. Little guy was persistent.

We wrapped up lunch and headed up the final climb to Hamilton Lake. The trail seemed overgrown and we thought is sems odd that the bridges was in such a state being not soo deep. Well when we were way up above the creek we spied two hikers coming up the trail. They entered a stand of trees and instead of following the trail we took they descened to DOH!!!!! A nice new bridge over the stream. Somehow we all missed the trail leading down to the new hotness bridge and took the old trail down to the old and busted bridge. Sheesh.

The climb was stiff and the sun was beating on us. Madman was doing progressively worse. We reached Little Hamilton Lake and Madman looked like he was about to die. I coaxed him up the final streach and we got him into camp.

He said he felt like crap and just wanted to sleep. He looked a bit clammy and not too sweaty. Dehydration. He set up his tent and I made a nalgene of Gatoraid for him. He kicked back the nalgene and we kept bringing him water. He became very concerned when another symptom of advanced dehydration showed itself. Crapping copious amounts of water. I post this not to gross you guys out. I post this detail in order to better inform you for your own knowedge. Get first aid trained ASAP. It bugged him out and we also convinced him to eat. He started feeling a little better and once he started eating his appitite kicked in.

The lake was beautiful and we all took a dip and laid out our clothes to dry in the sun. We pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon lounging and looking at the cirque that contained the lake. Before too long I started looking for where the trail led out of the cirque. And then I saw it.

Me: Guys look at that.
Guys: What
Me: The trail.
Guys: Oh cool there it is...Oh CRAP!
Me: Yep, you see it now.
Guys: Tomorrow is gonna be a ball buster morning.
Me: You noticed?

The cirque was still beautiful but it now held for us a promise of a diffcult climb. By nightfall Madman was feeling much better. the guys turned in early and I stayed up to watch the alpineglow settle over the lake and the stars come forth and display their splendor. It ain't a good trip if you never see the stars and did I see the stars.”

“OMG! I can't believe you guys didn't cross Lone Pine Creek at the bridge!!

Looking up at that trail must have been intimidating...it was bad enough just coming down.

What next??????????????”

“That must have been a hell of a crossing without a bridge, but I want to know how you missed the trail.”

“Sweet trip report. I can't wait to read more.”

“What an adventure! I'm on the edge of my chair! Keep it coming!

Phil - Is this the creek/bridge where we had the sushi/oyster/burger cravings? I can't imagine jumping across it!!”

“ladyhiker - Yes. The bridge was where the guy walked by wearing the In-n-Out hat and the seafood shirt. That set us all off on our food cravings.

(I'm glad these guys didn't have to go over Sawtooth!!)”

“Wow. I remember seeing pics of where the old bridge was destroyed. I am amazed. I hope MM gets better.
I don't think it was gross to post the symptoms. The big question: Did he get creative with rocks? Did you pack out the tp?

Did the baby grow about a foot while you were gone?

I have 1 word to say to you...DICTATION. j/k”

“great shot Wind Walker”

“I hope you post more of this report today. Loooks to be a boring day at work so I will need all the help to make it go by quick.

I smell a book deal in the works.”

“HPM's got a crapload of other responsibilities too, people. He's spent most of the past two days parked on his butt at the computer. You'll have to wait a little longer.”

“Awww, c'mon. The guy only has one child, that must be like being on vacation all the time!



(Just kiddin' ya, treebait. You were a real good sport to let the guy go for so long.)”

“Yes, I was a good sport, then. Now, if I need to get online, I have to go to my parents' house. Right now he's getting cleaned up, so I can use the computer.”

“Windwalker, nope, nothing that Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. Although that would make a cooler story. Ummm...yeah that's EXACTLY where we jumped across. Sure was, err sumthing.

Actually the creek gets much less steep further upstream.
We crossed here You can see Captain Obvious standing on what's left of the bridge. It was aboput a three foot down and four foot over jump.

I'm guessing we missed the junction because I was chasing two 16 year olds and Madman was probably looking at his feet. We were all doing the forehead smack thing afterwards.”

“the other old bridge"

reckon this is where you're talking about. i almost made the same mistake 2 years ago.”

“"Eventually we headed back to camp. Our first trail crisis arose then also. We did another pack shakedown that afternoon and Captain Obvious realized that he left his PUR Hiker filter element at home in the freezer"

This may seem like a silly question, but... Why store the filter element in the freezer? Should I be doing this?

Phil - That's right!! That was mean of that guy to show up with the burger hat and seafood shirt! He's lucky he got by us in one piece!!”

“indeed - i almost ate his hat!”

“I'm wondering about the filter too, Ladyhiker.”

“I looked at the rest of the pictures in the album, now I REALLY want to know the rest of the adventure. It sure looks like things got interesting. There seems to be a lot of pictures of people filtering water.

Thanks for the great report and the awesome pictures. As I mentioned on Wingding's thread, you are making it really hard for me to work this week since I'm heading to the Sierras this weekend.
Keep those reports coming!”

“The filter was in the freezer to remind him that his pot was there too.”

“Lots of folks store paper filter elements in the freezer to inhibit bacterial growth. It works, except for the occasional forgetting that you put it there.

His Ti pot, right WK?”

“Oh, the pics are still messed up but I'm working on that too.

Up through page 11 is ok. Clicking the thumbnail will show you the larger version.

humanpackmule.com pictures”

“Exactly mule.”

“Out of 230 photos there were only 4 of filtering water. But like I said, I'm still fixing the photos up. I used an automated script for the first time and it is requiring a crapload of cleanup. Scripts suck. Once I get the linking corrected I'll go back and add captions.

Up through page 14 is ok to view now.”

“who poked your friend in da eye?..i'm waiting for that part of the story!”