The Best Laid Plans…

[Rick W]

August 7^th-12^th, 2017

There we were, standing where the footbridge over the torrential white water of Palisade Creek should be.  Our plan had always been to be flexible if things got sketchy, but I didn’t think we’d had to ditch our route on the second day, before any of the off-trail fun began!  I looked around, then checked my map.  Where is the footbridge?!

There it is – Footbridge!
<p style=”padding-left: 30px;”>Side note: having a kid makes for late submission of trip reports, so I hope you all enjoy this late report.  *I just moved to South Carolina, so, I hope “y’all” enjoy this late report. (or is it “all y’all”?)</p>
I don’t mind going through a creek, (if I can’t go over it, or under it) but this year’s snowpack turned normal creek crossings into class V rapids.  I’m not sure if I had an old map, or the bridge was taken out this year, but either way it was gone.  So we did what any normal people would do – went upstream and tried to find a better spot to cross.  We hiked for a while before realizing that there was no way we were getting past that creek, so we decided to abandon our original plan and hop on the JMT instead.  After all, the JMT’s not a bad consolation prize.  New plan – get to Palisade Lakes for the night and reassess.  I wish somebody had told us it was a big snow year! (I kid, I kid…)

No, you go first…

We passed a couple and stopped to chit chat.  They said they were trying to rest up for the golden staircase.  Me: golden what-case?  Ugh… The only thing I hate more than switchbacks, is steps cut into the trails.  They’re very useful and all, but I can get that at home.  The golden staircase was a long set of switchbacks, with nicely stacked slabs of granite forming stairs, and I’m not sure where the gold comes in, other than the hot sun baking us as we walked up.  Up, up, up – it’s a great day for up!

Towards the top of the golden staircase

The original plan was to leave out of South Lake, then hike down the Middle Fork of the Kings River, until we got to Simpson Meadow.  Then we would loop back by going off-trail into 60 lakes basin, taking Cartridge Pass to South Fork Kings, then go up the JMT to Palisade Lakes and off-trail again into Palisade and Dusy Basins, along a SHR inspired line.  Every year I try to pick a harder trip than the year before, and Ryan keeps signing up for more punishment.  We’ll see who breaks first.

Ryan – Unbroken

The trip out of South Lake began great.  We got to Bishop, and discovered the Mountain Rambler Brewery, with which we were very pleased.  We were warned about the possibly smelly clientele and thought that it might be us in a week’s time.  Apparently it’s a hotspot with climbers and backpackers that I never knew about.  We cowboy camped (1^st time!) at Willow Campground, woke up a little damp, but still got to the trail head early.  (Does it still count if it’s on top of a table, or is that more of a hobo camp?  I reckon cowboys like tables sometimes)

Cowboy (?) camp at Willow Campground

There was beautiful scenery on both sides of Bishop Pass, but trying to keep up with Ryan as we hike over any pass is best described by the snickers bar I had.  We wound our way through Dusy Basin, and as the afternoon came along, set up camp with a great view over Le Conte Canyon.

Long Lake

First night above LeConte Canyon

We made it over the golden staircase, and found a nice campsite at the outlet of Lower Palisade Lake.  The water was cold, but it was still sunny enough for a dip.  There were still snowbanks on the edge of the lake in spots, which I was surprised to see in August.  We imagined the route that we planned to take on our last day out, into Palisade/Dusy Basins, and came to the realization that it may be a bad idea as well.  This was later confirmed by a European guy that had been doing the SHR, and by the search and rescue helicopter circling that area the evening of our last day.  We’ll have to save that for another day.

View from camp at Palisade Lakes.  The camp shoes are strictly for the ladies!

We decided to keep going on the JMT, and take the side trail to Bench Lake.  A friend had mentioned good things about Bench Lake, and the audio book on former backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson that we’d been listening to around camp had been talking quite a bit about it.  (Very interesting story in case you haven’t read it.)  We made it over a snowy Mather Pass, down into the upper basin, and noticed a sign rerouting us to cross South Fork Kings far upstream of the normal place, and go off-trail until the Taboose Pass junction.  Apparently, South Fork Kings was also too sketchy to cross after a number of creeks fed into it.  An area that we would’ve likely crossed if we’d somehow stayed on our original route.

Crossing South Fork Kings River

We made it to Bench Lake, and set up camp, but I was a bit underwhelmed.  My friend had really sold this place as a great location, but I didn’t understand why.  Until I looked at the map and realized that we were at the little lake before Bench Lake.  So we went further down the trail to confirm our suspicions, and concluded that my friend wasn’t full of it.  Bench Lake was incredible, and we were the only ones there, which was a welcome feeling after 2 days on the crowded JMT.  This is one place I’ll definitely come back to, we said to ourselves.  We were too exhausted to move our camp, so we enjoyed Bench Lake as long as we could, and went back to camp for a little bourbon.  The view across the canyon was of Cartridge Pass, and I cursed the gods because we weren’t camping in 60 lakes basin that night.

That night, we talked about doing something I’ve only read about on BPL – a 20 mile day!  If we got an early start, it was doable.  We’d eaten half of our food, so our packs were lighter.  And other than Mather Pass, the terrain wasn’t too bad.  Could we get into the club?  Spoiler alert – yes, we could!

The one and only – Bench Lake (picture doesn’t do it justice)

We woke up at 6:00, had coffee, and saved breakfast for later on the trail.  We walked through many creeks with our shoes on, and chuckled at some of the people going the opposite way, trying to stay dry for the first few, not knowing what was ahead.  Going north on the JMT made for some interesting people watching.  There were young and old, men and women, locals and Europeans, kitchen sinkers and fast-packers.   We were all very different, but still had quite a bit in common.  The ascent of Mather Pass went much faster from the south, but the descent over some snowy areas made it slow going.  My right knee reminded me that it misses my physical therapist, but I made it down OK.

North side of Mather Pass

Once we made it back to Palisade Lakes for a late lunch we knew we were on track, and the beautiful views in Grouse Meadows were calling our name.  The golden staircase wasn’t much better going the other way, but we made good time, and pulled into Grouse Meadows in time for a cool dip.  A friendly pipe smoking pastor from Alabama was impressed that we jumped in the cold water, and we were later impressed by his gourmet back country meals.  We could learn something from him.  And alas, we made it into the 20 mile club! 21.2 to be exact (#sierramapper), or 34 km according to some Aussies!

I thought this place looked familiar!

We got some great sleep after all of that hiking, and Ryan had quite a late morning.  I was ready to steal his stuff and leave!  We had an extra day of food now, so I had a bean/rice/cheese/frito burrito for breakfast that I will need to keep on the menu.

Dusy Basin

We took our time going back out through Dusy Basin the next day, and then had a short exit over Bishop Pass the following day, which we planned out perfectly, so we could stop at Copper Top BBQ for lunch.  It wasn’t the trip that I’d planned for months, but we made the most of it and had a great time anyway.  My wife didn’t go into early labor, so I dodged that bullet, and the little guy was born happy and healthy.  She was 8 months pregnant when I left, so although it may seem like I’m an insensitive jerk, you should hear the story about me moving to Alaska, and leaving her in California, for half of the first pregnancy.  That was waaaay worse, and she still had another one with me!

Exit over Bishop Pass

Since this is Backpacking Light and all, I’ll add a little info on our weight.  I started out with 16.5 lb baseweight, and got close to 30 lbs with food and water at the start.  Ryan was a little heavier, with his 22 oz battery pack, but we’re both super buff, so it doesn’t really matter.  I was really happy with my new Osprey Exos 58, which made it through its first big trip, and happy as usual with my Duplex.  We also brought some dice and a tiny chess set, which made for fun times and bets (mostly for Lindt chocolate balls) at camp.  Ryan must’ve been cheating, ‘cause I couldn’t win, and that’s about the only thing that makes sense to me.

Here’s a link to the route that we ended up taking.

[Adam White]

Great trip report, thanks for sharing!

A few thoughts:

• I had a similar reaction to the Palisade Creek “Footbridge” (see: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/94412/). Turns out, the bridge has been missing since it was washed out in the early 80s (I’m guessing it was the 1982/1983 El Nino, but my Google-fu is failing to confirm that for me right now). “But Adam,” you ask, “If the footbridge was washed out in the 1980’s, why do the 1990’s era USGS Topos still say footbridge?” … *crickets*
• I just went down a 30 minute rabbit hole on “Y’all” vs “All y’all” (and the related “All y’all’s”). As far as I can tell, “All y’all” emphasizes inclusion for the audience. But I am a northerner, so do not listen to me.
• The climb out of Simpson Meadow towards State Lakes would not have been your favorite section of trail, given your dislike for switchbacks–not only is it a dry, switchbacking 4,000 foot climb, but it’s also loose–two steps forward, one step back. I’ve descended it twice. Having descended them, I have a hard time imagining a trip I’d voluntarily plan that included ascending that trail.

[Rick W]

Thanks for the link.  Very entertaining trip report – insane mileage, and a lot of laughs!  “what do Cubans know about fiber?” ha!  I see what you mean about ascending out of Simpson Meadow though.  I’ll need to just plan downhill trips there in the future.

I think I finally know when to use y’all or all y’all, but to use it naturally when I’m speaking still feels strange.  And the people I’m talking to (all very friendly southern folk) can easily tell I’m still an outsider.

[Doug Coe]

Rick—Thanks for the entertaining trip report. Makes me eager to get back to the east side of the Sierra! I’ve been up and down Taboose Pass (not too fun), down Mono Pass, up Paiute Pass, up Kearsarge Pass, but never over Bishop Pass.

[Rick W]

Thanks Doug.  I’m a bit partial to the east side (Paiute Pass is great too). I’d heard horror stories about Taboose, so I got a permit for this past June, but I had to cancel it.  It’s still on my bucket list, because for some reason or another, I like to inflict pain on myself and hope that the reward of Bench Lake will even things out.

[Doug Coe]

Rick—Taboose is all up. Kind of akin to the elevation gain and milage of hiking out of the Grand Canyon to the south rim.

I did it to start a last third of the JMT (I had section hiked the first two thirds in two previous trips), and I wanted to start in where I’d left off. Otherwise there are plenty of other, more appealing ways to access the Sierra from the east!

[William Chilton]

Nice trip report, I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for sharing it. I hope it’s getting more views than the lack of comments seems to suggest.

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