After a slow, careful drive up the road, which had a few sections that justified our bringing a real 4x4, we eventually reached the trailhead, and moments later we were hiking by headlamp along the old Horse Meadow Road.
Our destination for the night was the saddle between Kennedy Creek and Kennedy Canyon. During our hike there was at most a gentle breeze, not at all cold, and at the saddle we found a nice flat area near a bunch of whitebark pines that provided additional protection from the slight wind. We set up camp quickly; by 12:30 or so we were in bed and fast asleep.
I tried to watch for meteors a few times during the night, but I kept falling asleep...
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, we were once more on the former road/trail heading towards the top of Big Sam.
As we climbed, we could look down at Kennedy Lake and its surrounding meadows.
We were surrounded by very in-Sierra-like mountains, with hardly a piece of granite to be seen anywhere.
Eventually after a few switchbacks we got our first peek into the Emigrant Basin. Middle Emigrant and Emigrant Meadow lake were below us, with High Emigrant Lake hidden just to the left.
On the way down from Big Sam we heard from the Advance Party--and their special guest Bearproof. They were at Dorothy Lake, and we arranged to meet for lunch at Bond Pass. Despite being open and south-facing, there were still small springs flowing on the south side of Big Sam, and the wildflowers were taking full advantage of this water.
Eventually we reached the bottom of the switchbacks and started the long meander across the Emigrant Basin. In the distance we could see High Emigrant Lake, Grizzly Peak, and the peaks behind Snow, Bigelow, and Black Bear lakes.
Our pleasant stroll continued as we passed Emigrant Pass and continued towards Summit Meadow and Bond Pass.
The Advance Party requested that we bring a few liters of water to Bond Pass, which we collected at Summit Meadow before climbing to the pass.
We enjoyed a nice lunch at the pass, then decided to head to Bigelow Lake via an old mining road, some prospects, and a possible boundary marker on the ridge southwest of Bond Pass. The climb was very enjoyable, with very unusual geology and even more....
...and more wildflowers.
We passed several posts along the way--perhaps marking old mining claims, or the park boundary. The road ended at the prospect indicated on the topo map, where a few tailing piles and some cable were all that remained of whatever mining had taken place here. We continued onto the top of the peak, from which we could see Bigelow, Lower Twin, and Huckleberry Lake in the distance.
According to sources, there was supposed to be a boundary marker on this peak. After a bit of searching we found nothing. I was checking out a vaguely not-quite-natural pile of rock, but there was no marker near it--at least, there wasn't any more. The Pink One spotted the remnants of a marker in a prominent rock--the tablet itself had been removed, perhaps by a prospector unhappy with the location of the boundary, or a later survey.
JKW and M had decided to head straight to Biglelow without the mine-and-marker hunt, so we dropped towards the lake to meet up with them.
As with many lakes in the Emigrant, Bigelow had been raised by small dams; and as with most of these dams, they were decaying and leaking.
We stopped at Bigelow for some rest--Bearproof took a swim, M and JWK soaked their feet, and I snuck in a short nap. Once everyone was ready, we were back on the trail, and except for a few minor but avoided navigational snafus, we arrived at our destination: Upper Twin Lake.
We set up camp on the south shore of the lake, after which the Yosemite Yacht Club left Bearproof and M behind to float Lower Twin Lake and finish a Trail Quest segment. But first, we had to search for a boundary marker, which unexpectedly the Great Pink One stumbled across first. (Bearproof would locate it independently while we were at the lower lake, but would also score the bonus of an original witness tree blaze...)
Despite having trail signs at either end, there really isn't a trail from the Upper to the Lower Twin Lake, just a random assortment of ducks and blazes that more or less go from point A to point B. Still, we got full credit for this TQ segment.
It was unfortunately late in the day, and while the lake offered many islands and other fun-to-boat-around features, we ended up "doeing"* the lake instead.
Trail and boating completed, we headed back to camp, where we enjoyed dinner while the sun set. Surprisingly there were still mosquitoes despite the time of year.
We finished dinner and clean-up in the dark, after which I retired to bed and was fast asleep. M and I had hiked about 21 miles in the past 24 hours or so--in my case, to be able to claim one lake and one mile of Yosemite trail completed.
The next morning we enjoyed a nice pancake breakfast while packing. We had a long way back to the truck at Leavitt Lake, and the Yacht Club still had one lake to boat and a segment of Yosemite trail to complete. Bearproof and M in fact left ahead of the rest of us, concerned that they might have a slow pace. (As it is, we were never closer than a few miles from them until we were back at the trailhead.) A bit after they left, we boated across the lake.
After that, we hiked the segment of trail along the Upper Twin Lake, then followed the steep, pack-trail roto-tilled trail down to Cherry Creek, where once more we stepped onto the Horse Meadow Road, which we followed to Horse Meadow.
Just before this meadow, we climbed away from it towards Maxwell Lake.
We continued towards Blackbird Lake, then on to Middle Emigrant and Emigrant Meadow lakes.
We stopped for lunch at Middle Emigrant Lake; we had heard on the radio that M and Bearproof were at Emigrant Meadow lake.
After lunch, we continued to Emigrant Meadow lake, and arrived just as they were about to attack the Big Sam switchbacks, which we could see in the distance.
After leaving this lake we were soon surrounded by more colorful wildflowers, which distracted us from the climb past the lake.
As we approached the switchbacks, we could see Bearproof and M nearing the top of Big Sam.
The wind, which had been quite mild the past few evenings, was blowing strongly as we started our first ascent. The wind kept us cool, and the wonderful scenery distracted us from the climb.
Once high enough we could look back--and down--on the lakes we had hiked past during the past two days.
At the top, we took the short detour to the actual high point and braced against the wind for a few quick summit photos.
It definitely wasn't "all downhill" from here: we had to drop about 1000' to the Kennedy Creek/Canyon saddle, then climb again to about the same elevation as Big Sam, then drop the same amount again to the trailhead.
The walk was pleasant, but it was apparent that Bearproof and M had been sandbagging a bit--we had no chance of catching up with them--not that we were in a hurry to leave these mountains.
We were soon at the saddle where M and I had camped a few nights ago.
The road/trail lead us up mostly gradually to our final "pass".
We eventually reached the top of it, too, near where the PCT continues north to Sonora Pass.
M and Bearproof were already at the trailhead as we started our final descent. We were with them soon enough, and packed for the final adventure: the drive out via the Leavitt Lake road.
The old truck has a few more scrapes than it did, but it survived just fine. We returned to Sonora Pass, where we parted with Bearproof and the Advance Party: they were heading back to Bridgeport, while M and I had to return home. This would be the last time I see the Advance Party for a few weeks... M and I had packed a lot into the weekend, and had enjoyed excellent weather and wonderful company.
* doe (doh) n. transitive To boat (on a lake) the minimal amount needed to get Boat Quest credit. Named after JKW's infamous Doe Lake float.
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