Tag: Crescent Meadow

  • High Sierra Trail: Day 1

    High Sierra Trail: Day 1

    Preparations  |  Day 1  |  Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4  |  Day 5  |  Day 6  |  Day 7  |  Day 8

    Day 1

    We’re off! Setting out from Crescent Meadow, the trail climbs a gentle knoll through carpets of fern fronds shaded under giant sequoia stands. After about a mile, we emerge from the forest and hike along the open slopes, passing Eagle View Overlook. Across the valley, Cathedral Rocks provide a steady landmark throughout most of the day.

    Near Panther Creek, we take our first real stop for lunch. Today’s lunch is romaine lettuce with party mix and Dubliner cheese. Mark calls these lettuce wraps. I guess that name works, although to me, lettuce wraps conjures up P.F. Chang’s tofu stir-fry with the drizzling mixture of soy sauce, chili, and mustard.

    At this point, Mickey asks Mark, pointing to me, “So, do you call still call him Dr. Wongworawat when out here?”

    “I told him to call me ‘Danny,’” I interrupt.

    But for nearly the rest of the trip, perhaps out of awkward deference, Mark simply avoids addressing me altogether. Instead, it’s, “Um, would you like another lettuce wrap?”

    In the cool shade around Mehrten Creek, we stop for much longer, eating more lunch and getting water. “Um, do you need more water?” Mark uses his SteriPen for the first time here. It takes much less effort than filtering water. Meanwhile, Wayne and Mickey decide to head off first. The trail, overall being level but actually rising and falling hundreds of feet like an undulating ribbon, cuts across steep granite sheets. Much of this section is exposed.

    By the time we arrive at Buck Creek, Wayne and Mickey had already scouted out camping spots. The sites are tightly spaced, and there is one spot that is claimed by an unmanned tent. Mark and I find a relatively flat spot near the main trail and pitch the single-pole tent. Wayne and Mike set their own tents nearby, while Mickey, as he will be doing for the rest of the trip, rolls out his ground cloth to bivvy under the stars. They both ask me how the homemade tent came to be. Mickey wants to see if there are mesh pockets to hold loose objects. Mike finds his own spot near the fire pit.

    Buck Creek is cold, and some of us bathe in its flowing waters. Mark gets out his fishing pole but catches nothing. Even if he did, certain fishes are protected here.

    I get dinner going. For tonight, we have our fresh head of cabbage and chili peppers cooked in red curry over rice. Before the trip, Mark and I had decided to partner up for meals; otherwise, everyone is pretty much on their own. Even without fresh fish, there’s something luxurious about a cold bath and now steaming curry while sitting on broad granite slabs. The only thing missing is the pink bucket to do dishes in, but we manage.

    Across the bridge, I find a large piece of downed wood that I haul back for burning. Looking down Buck Creek’s drainage, I glimpse the waxing crescent moon rising over the clear southern sky. As cold air flows down the slopes along this basin, the warm fire feels amazing.

    « Preparations
    Day 2 »
  • High Sierra Trail: Preparations

    High Sierra Trail: Preparations

    Preparations  |  Day 1  |  Day 2  |  Day 3  |  Day 4  |  Day 5  |  Day 6  |  Day 7  |  Day 8

    Before the trip

    It’s all about the luxury items.

    The scale is actually quite ruthless, and ever since Brad convinced me to try using it before our trip to Rainier, I’ve been letting the scale make most decisions. The pack weighs 1191 g, the sleeping bag 1038 g; and the second shirt 156 g. In total, my pack’s base weight, sans food and water, is 29 lbs. That’s including my luxury items—all the camera stuff, with the body, lens, tripod, and other accessories, making up the extra 7.5 lbs.

    But the scale doesn’t really decide our luxury items. I can’t part with my camera. Mark, third year orthopaedic resident, packs fishing tackle and extra fuel to make warm water for baths. I convince him to leave behind his pillow and the ugly pink emesis basin, which he wanted to use for doing dishes and taking warm baths.

    The daily ration of food is set out according to the hiking and eating plan—affectionately dubbed “the grid” by Kevin, then a third-year resident, on our Thousand Island Lake trip. Each meal is carefully packed into bear canisters. Mark suggests we bring fresh produce, so we include lettuce, red peppers, cabbage, kale, a tomato, lemons, herbs, garlic, an onion, and a carrot.

    Mark offers to carry the pots while I carry the tent. I figure that’s a fair trade, even though the tent weighs twice the pots. In the end, with the bulky bear canisters full of food and hydration sacks full of water, our packs turned out to be the same weight.

    This whole trip started because of Mickey, Medical Coordinator of Addiction Treatment Program at the Loma Linda VA Hospital. For the last few years, Mickey and I had discussed this trip; it had been on his bucket list. Then back in February, we met and simply set the date. My resident, Mark, was one of the first to confirm. I applied for and got our first choice for permit dates. Over the next few months, our group size grew to include two members of the Preventive Medicine Department: Wayne, Chair, and Mike, Residency Program Director.

    Hans, Director of the Masters of Science in Orthopaedics and Prosthetics Program, had graciously offered to drive us up to Visalia. We have known each other for twenty years, when we first met to finish the lacquer coat on my lute using his HVLP spray gun. His wife, Mary Ann, was in my med school class.

    We all convene at Mickey’s house. First, there are introductions: Mickey, Wayne, Mike, Hans, and Mark. Mickey shows off his little waterproof notepad; he’s going to jot down thoughts while on the trail. The overhead carrier and the back of the car are overstuffed with backpacking gear, but it all fits. During the four-hour drive north, we share a little about ourselves.

    In Visalia, we check in at the Hampton Inn and spend the night. Since the continental breakfast line doesn’t open until 6:00, Mark and I have an early in-room breakfast that we prepared ahead of time: apples and coffee from the hotel, hard-boiled eggs from home, and coffee cake with trail mix.

    We’re all ready when the shuttle arrives in front of our hotel, right on the dot, at 6:07.

    Onboard, Mark explains to us that he is wearing his wedding band on a cord hung around his neck. He makes a phone call to his wife Sarah to tell her that. Mickey will later correct him: “You’re supposed to say that the ring is hanging in by my heart.” I snap a picture of Mark on the phone with the ring on a rope and send it to Sarah.

    After winding up the mountain, we step into the Lodgepole Ranger Station’s backcountry office. Ranger Ben gives us all the regulations, and I pull the permit for 7 hikers, because Lucas and Ashlene couldn’t make it for this first part of the hike but will join us later. Mark takes pictures—later to be lost—of the fact sheet depicting fishes that are protected below 9,000 ft. Ranger Ben didn’t seem to concerned anyways: “Read this, and you’re on your own out there.” As we turn to leave, he says, “Oh, I almost forgot. You guys will be in the Whitney zone, so here are wag bags. Take a few extra.” We all dread when we will have to use and carry them out.

    From Lodgepole, the driver takes us directly to Crescent Meadow, putting us there 45 minutes ahead of schedule. We’re now all set for what would be an epic hike across two major mountain passes, Kaweah Gap in the Great Western Divide and Trail Crest along Mt. Whitney’s ridgeline, traversing 72 miles to end up at Whitney Portal. I have my camera ready, and Mark wields his fishing pole and totes comfort fuel.

    Day 1 »