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On the Trail Quest with JKW and Chickon

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Bearproof

On the Trail Quest with JKW and Chickon
August 20, 2016 04:24PM

Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 675

It had been several months since I had thrown the backpack on, so I was overdue to get back to Yosemite. I had been on a trip with with Chickon, KW and Basilbop back in February when we did LYV and Cloud’s Rest, and I subsequently did the North (west) Rim Trail in April with some friends. I was itching to get back to the high country, and Chickon worked his and JKW’s Trail Quest itinerary so that I could join them for 6 days.
Leaving the Bay Area at 4AM on a Monday morning, I crested the Altamont just before 5AM and was happy that I wasn’t in the already growing line of headlights heading westbound. Due to my earlier than usual start, my usual gas and supermarket stops in Oakdale were still closed, but as I was heading up over Sonora Pass to Bridgeport and then Twin Lakes I was not concerned…there were plenty of other places to stop along the way for provisions.
I was to start at the “Annette’s Mono Village” trailhead at Twin Lakes, where Chickon and JKW may, or may not, have already started up the trail. Road construction just short of Bridgeport delayed me by about 20 minutes, but gave me a chance to check in by text with the others, and it was clear that they would still be at the parking lot waiting for me, as a veritable cornucopia of minor events had kept them from starting.

We were on the trail by 9:30, and headed up first through pines, then sage, and then more forest, past Barney Lake. Taking the turnoff towards Crown Lake, we headed up

And soon reached the trail junction where the trail to Burro Pass, where a minor debate erupted between Chickon and JKW over one thing or another. (Maybe about something being orange or yellow?) Anyway, I t was reminiscent of an episode of the Bickersons, and had me wondering if this would be non stop for the next 5 days. Fortunately it was not…

We had a quick foot soak in Snow Lake

and continued up to Rock Island Pass where we found the boundary marker and continued on towards Kerrick Meadows

Where we set up for the night near a small stream, waterfall and soaking pool

The morning was chilly, with a bit of ice in my water bottle, but beautiful

Chickon warmed up in the sun

And we were soon heading up the canyon on trail

Towards Buckeye Pass, where we found another boundary marker and then started heading west cross country to get over to Thompson Canyon

There were nice views back towards Peeler Lake and Kerrick Canyon as we climbed

As well as in front as Hawksbeak Peak and upper Thompson Canyon came into view

Chickon and I went up to bag Center Mountain while JKW stayed behind to rest and guard our stuff.

The view down Thompson Canyon during our climb was spectacular

We topped out on Center

but had no luck finding the boundary marker that was supposed to be there…just the excuse we needed to get back to this area sometime in the future.

Back at JKW’s rest spot we lunched

and then headed down into Thompson Canyon

The usually sure footed Chickon went slightly (sub)Marine while crossing this creek – Booyah!

Views up canyon were gorgeous

We strolled down Thompson Canyon to a point about a mile and a half southwest of Acker Peak, where we took a Chickon/Basilbop secret notch back over to Kerrick Canyon, climbing up through dense Lupine

Making it over the crest and down towards Kerrick, we camped in the side canyon just above Kerrick.

Starting our next days’ journey, we had a nice view down into Kerrick Canyon.

Rejoining the trail, we walked downstream and hit the PCT, following it west. We stopped at Kerrick Creek for a soak and lunch

Leaving the lunch spot, Chickon spotted a possible abandoned trail segment and decided to follow it for some shrub adventure while JKW and I stayed on trail. A few minutes later he radioed that he got a glimpse of something running away from him in the brush…perhaps a mountain lion...perhaps a young deer. We were glad to see him reappear on the trail a few minutes later.
We stayed on the PCT over a short ridge and then dropped down to Stubblefield Creek, where a Payday candy bar was promised as a reward for getting to the bottom of the hill. Sadly, mosquitos were a bit heavy at the creek crossing

And the Payday didn’t materialize, much to my chagrin (until days later when we reached the truck at the trailhead). Leaving the PCT,

we headed up to Tilden Lake, spending the night there

And boating Tilden the next morning

After which we hiked west down to Falls Creek in Jack Main Canyon,

rejoining the PCT and heading upcanyon for a day of relatively easy walking

to Dorothy Lake, where we camped under a waxing moon

The next morning, I walked up to Dorothy Pass to check out that boundary marker there

while Chickon and JKW boated on Dorothy

Then it was up to Bond Pass, where we were to meet Basilbop and M. The arrival of a trailcrew there explained the noise of the chainsaws that we had heard on our hike up to Bond

After the reunion and group lunch, we headed up through wildflowers

and then over abandoned mining roads to Quartzite Peak, where we had a nice view back to Dorothy Lake

then down cross country to Bigelow Lake

past Black Bear Lake and on to Yosemite’s upper Twin Lake, where we camped

The next morning, M and I left early, while the three boaters boated Upper Twin and did a bit of extra trail along the northeast shore. M had dinged her little toe the day beforea nd seemed to be in some level of pain and the previous 5 days of chasing JKW and Chickon had taken their toll on my feet and legs, and with a long day (16 miles) followed by a long drive I was concerned about getting a lead on the three boaters who would likely be hiking faster than the two of us. We cruised for the most part that day, passing Horse Meadows

Through the Emigrant Lakes areas

And up over Big Sam, where we had great views south towards Yosemite

And back to where we could see the three behind us in the distance

The landscape was very different from what we had seen the previous days

And we were happy to get over the last pass and see our final destination…Leavitt Lake.

The three arrived at the trailhead about a half an hour after M and I did, and we all packed ourselves into Basilbop’s 4WD truck for the harrowing drive down the rougher than expected jeep road to Highway 108.
It was a great trip, as always, blessed by perfect weather, few mosquitos, and good company. I headed home to rest and recover while Chickon and JKW headed off for their next adventure…going from White Wolf back to Bridgeport’s Twin Lakes to knock off more of JKW’s trails.

More of the end of the trip can be read in Basilbop's post here.

And a bit of Chickon's shenanigans can be read here.

All of the trip photos here.