BPL Trip – Leavitt Meadows to Fremont Lake

[Manfred]

Right the next weekend after returning from my solo Scotland trip, a BPL trip offered the opportunity to go backpacking with my family and some like-minded friends. Wonderful! Michelle and I decided to bring our three youngest daughters along.
David W. , Jacob. D, Adam, Rebecca and Alexis and the five of us met at the Leavitt Meadows trailhead Saturday morning. Kat P. had to bow out because she didn’t feel well. Unbeknown to us Jacob and Adam had – just like us – slept Friday night at the trailhead. That was a nice surprise when we got up and cooked breakfast.
Adam took way more photos than me. Let’s see whether he will add some to this thread. Here are some from my camera to give you an impression of this nice little BPL weekend trip.

Picture 1: My wife and three girls at Leavitt Meadows with Tower Peak in the background

Picture 2: Our daughter Elisabeth wading through West Walker River
This was a wonderful achievement for Elisabeth. Not just wading through the river, but the whole weekend trip. She has dyspraxia and these things are way harder for her then for her two little sisters.

Picture 3: The sun is slowly shining on our daughters' sleeping bags. When will they wake up?

Picture 4: Fremont Lake

Picture 5: Having a break at Roosevelt Lake

This was a great weekend trip. 9 miles each way from Leavitt Meadows to Fremont Lake with Roosevelt Lake in between for a break made it very family friendly. Our daughters enjoyed it very much and especially Elisabeth is now proud as can be (as are her parents) although it was sometimes very hard for her while doing it. Thanks to David W. for taking the initiative and organizing the trip.

[Steven Paris]

Very inspiring, Manfred. Tell Elisabeth that folks on BPL are impressed with her river crossing!

Edited to correct the spelling of your daughter's name. Embarrassing thing is I have a twin sister named Elisabeth, with the "s".

[t.darrah]

Great job with the water crossing Elisabeth!

[Andrew F]

Looks like you guys had a fun time! That is great that Elisabeth came along. I remember how proud you were at the GGG that she finished the geocaching course.

Tower Peak is impressive, isn't it? I have a route planned out that is an extension of the High Route north from Twin Lakes that goes right underneath Tower. I'm not 100% sure if it goes, but that's part of the fun. Maybe we can do that one this summer.

[Manfred]

Andrew,

You had me look at a map right away :)

Are you planning to go along Robinson Creek and shortly before Barney Lake climb up to Little Lake and then around the north of Center Peak? Or do you plan to follow Robinson Creek past Barney Lake and Peeler Lake and then go over the saddle between Acker Peak and Center Peak?

Sounds like another nice adventure. Would you want to climb Tower Peak as part of it?

Manfred

[Andrew F]

Manfred, I'll send you a link to the Hillmap I made. Too many unnamed passes to keep things straight. :)

[Manfred]

Thom and Steven,

Elisabeth is right now looking at your comments and she is very touched. She wants to say thank you and share with you her five best and worst parts of the trek

Best
1) Hanging out at Roosevelt Lake
2) Seeing the stars at night from the sleeping bag and see how they move
3) Seeing the ranch (packer's station) across Leavitt Meadows
4) Crossing the freezing river on Saturday
5) Getting over fear of steep downhill

Worst
1) Choking on a pill
2) Going off-trail down from the road to the trail was very scary
3) Crossing back through the river on Sunday – this time against the current in even colder water was very hard and hurt a lot
4) Mosquito bites
5) Going back for Manfred and adding almost 7 miles to her hike on Saturday

Elisabeth wants you to know that she is very proud of her 25 mile trip although it was really, really, REALLY tough.

[Steven Paris]

Elisabeth,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on your trip. It does seem like every backpacking trip has both good points and bad points. Almost every single time, the good points outweigh the bad ones!

Don't forget to thank your parents. There are lots and lots of children in the United States who won't ever get to see stars like that. Now I just need to get my daughters out on more trips!

Steve in Portland, OR

[Jacob D]

All the girls should proud, they are troopers, especially Michelle :)

A BIG congrats to Elisabeth for accomplishing her first "real" backpacking trip. Sometimes things are scary, hard work, and not much fun… but it always feels good to reach the goal and to know that the practice will make next time a little easier.

As for me, somewhat of a stressful weekend. Adam and I drove up Friday evening and around 11:00 PM my truck gave up the ghost at about 9000 ft elevation heading up Sonora Pass. Bunch of lights came on, no throttle response, pitch black outside… good times. Luckily there was a turnout right there. The truck was also overheated which is something I've been troubleshooting for too long now. Long story short, we solved some problems, crossed our fingers and carried on. Made it to the TH by midnight, decided to bivvy on the grassy knoll at the parking lot. Woke up and spotted Manfred and his family.

The hike in was nice. I "pulled a Jacob" and forgot to put a memory card in my camera (nor did I pack my backup card… yesssss). Oh well, I had my phone and snagged a few snapshots with it.

That day I yo-yo'ed up and down the trail a couple times; once for trekking poles I forgot after we swam in the river, and again later with Manfred. This was the first time I'd been at any significant elevation this year and I didn't stay on top of my hydration very well. I ended up feeling pretty nauseated in the afternoon and had to pound a bunch of water, electrolytes, and ibuprofen to get me back to an even keel. Luckily I saved a challenging meal I'd been wanting to try cooking for this trip and I pretty much ruined it out of impatience and lack of interest.

The hike out was smooth sailing, Adam and I covered it fairly quickly and hit the road, only to be hampered with more truck problems. David, Rebbecca, and Alexis found us licking our wounds on the side of 108 and followed us for a while; finally we were able to limp home without incurring a massively expensive tow, and only some mild hallucinations from our pickup-turned-sweatlodge.

OK, OK!… It was nice to hike with familiar friends and meet a few new ones, but I'm glad that one's over with! Beer me! :)

[t.darrah]

Elizabeth,
I know my daughter Hannah (8 years old) would enjoy meeting you and sharing a hiking adventure with you and your sisters. We have multiple father/daughter hiking trips planned for this summer and look forward to sharing these trip reports with you.

[Adam Criswell]

It was great to meet new people and see old friends. Despite trying to recover from a cold, it felt great to be outside with friendly people and overly friendly mosquitoes. Great group, I think everyone kept their spirits up despite some set backs and difficulties.

Here is the ever popular group shot at the trailhead:

Braiding:

Only the most hardcore stir their coconut water with a knife:

We were also attacked by a wild pug:

Manfred fit his whole fish in there:

Tree:

The water was flowing pretty fast:

Flowers:

More trees:

The Ultimacy Bivy, only for the unplanned and extreme:

Breakfast in Bed:

Sunset:

Sorry David, Alexis and Rebecca, I didn't get any pictures of you! Next time. And the star trail pictures really didn't work out.

Thanks for a great trip!

[Manfred]

Adam,

Thank you for adding your photos. They are wonderful – I like especially the sunset and the tree.

Thanks,

Manfred

[Jacob D]

Nice photos, Adam. Thanks for the chuckles :)

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