March-Henry Coe

Hope you all area wearing pants! I went to Henry Coe this time last year and the over-grown green grass hangs over the trail and gave my bare legs the worst allergic reaction to grass Ive ever experienced in my life. Had to cut my fleece up and wear the arms as pants. ahah, lesson learned

David,

Well, good news is that I took 229 photos on the trip.

Bad news is that I have to sort and edit them and post them up.

Plus, the fact that I did not bring a map or have a map is going to make for a fuzzy description of the trip.

That said, I can tell you that there were quite a few people on this trip divided into two groups.

Group 1: Josh and his three sons (youngest was 7 yrs old!), Katharina and her daughter. They camped at Kelly Lake.

Group 2: Mark with his brother Rick, Richard, Ben, Jay, Cameron, Tony….and Bonus BPLer- Adam, who did not know there was a BPL trip, but was out there solo, who we met at Coit Lake where we spent the night.

Great sunny weather, which is great because today is is raining.

I was surprised by how much elevation gain and loss there was. My legs are store today!

Clear skies…at one hill top, we could even faintly see the snow covered Sierras. Full moon at night.

Trip started out with us trying to find a parking spot at the trail head. There was a mountain bike race going on so it was packed….had to park down the road on the side of the road.

Group 2 met Group 1 on the trail about 1/3 of the way to Coit Lake (9-9.5 miles) at a hill top and we had lunch together. Then we hike together for a few hours. Group 1 split into two groups as Josh and the two youngest boys were naturally going slower. Serious respect for them going out there….big hills up and down.

Kelly Lake was filled with quite a few backpackers…garbage cans and pit toilets available. Filter your own water.

At Kelly Lake we parted and traveled about 3 more miles to Coit Lake where we met Richard, who was maybe only 15 minutes ahead of us on the trail.

There was a group of Boy Scouts at the "good" spot at the lake. We headed down to the far end and immediately spotted a cuben tarp….has to be a BPLer!!!

Mark & Rick were there, close to the garbage can and pit toilet. They had come up Friday and spent the night. We found a spot close to them that was a little higher up and had close access to the Lake for water and a nice view. Just the Scouts and us there. Nice.

Adam wandered in as we were setting up our camp and was looking for a place to camp. Richard offered a spot next to him and Adam joined us for the rest of the trip. Found out that he too is a BPL member! "Bonus BPLer" on the trip. :)

Everyone had dinner at our little campsite overlooking the lake….quite an spread in terms of age. Ben, the youngest, was 17 years old and had soloed the JMT at age 16. Mark might have been the eldest of us and just had retired and looking forward to a future of light weight backpacking.

No fires permited, however Richard had a compact LED lantern that we used to give us some light as we enjoyed the wine that Richard had generously brought to share. Earlier in the late afternoon, Richard and Jay went fishing. Jay caught and released a small fish that he had snagged on his first cast. Richard might have done the same thing.

Great evening of seeing everyone else's UL gear, especially at dinner time, and sharing stories about past trips and life experiences.

Anyway, that is some of what happened…will get it all in the trip report, which I will post in the photo gallery area.

Won't have time tonight, but over the next few days, I will get some photos tossed up quick.

Might not have a lot of captions, but it will let you know what happened.

P.S. Brandon…lots of weeds, but still green and pretty. Ticks were an issue. Jay had one…have video of the little bugger getting pulled off. Nasty. I had a fair amount of condensation in my open bivy. Even on the surface of my quilt that was not touching the bivy, had a lot of condensation. Temps at night probably no lower than 38F-43F.

-Tony

Here is Tony with some of his new gear

Cameron,

There you go…showing everyone my new outfit in case I lose my job!

JRB Sierra Sniveller…22 oz, rated for 25-30 F.

My 1st quilt….worked great and kept me warm til I woke up hungry at night and was too lazy to get out of bed.

52" wide was plenty for me to sleep on my back or belly and have extra on the sides to tuck in.

Slept with any open bivy and without layering clothing…think it will be true to the numbers list. As a cold sleeper, I am confident that it could get me to 30F fine.

-Tony

Here is Tony with some of his new gear

Looks like Tony should be holding a big old sword instead of that pot :)

I was surprised by how much elevation gain and loss there was. My legs are store today!

I guess that is why I have seen the sentiment that one goes to the Sierras to train for Henry Coe!

:))

Richards light.

BPL Nano Tarp

Coit Lake

Richard's bug net

Tony & Bivy

BPL Nano, MLD Serenity Shelter

Hammock

Jay, Ben, Cameron

Cameron, Richard, Rick, Tony

Sunrise

Rick Tony Jay Cameron

Tony Jay Cameron Marc

Hey, I found the trip posting. I didnt get everyone but here is a picture of some of us just before hiking out.

It was great to meet everyone.

I have a pass for the event which includes 2 nights stay in Henry Coe. My son and son-in-law can't join me because of previous commitments. I plan to hike to Mississippi Lake and do some fishing. Looking for 2-3 people to join me because my wife does not want me to hike and fish alone. Give me a call @ 925-216-1355 if interested.

Dennis

You might want to open a new thread.