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2024 Trip Chronicles: Contents
Gilmore Lake Backpack 6/30
Gilmore Lake Backpack 7/1
Gilmore Lake Backpack 7/2
My first backpack for 2024 would be a short 2 night 3 day trip into Desolation Wilderness. After reserving a permit on June 18 for June 25, 26, 27, I cancelled on June 23 because weather forecasts changed to very windy. Apparently in order to allow others that quota slot, El Dorado National Forest was not set up to cancel my permit within 7 days of the date. On June 24 with forecasts showing 2 less breezy days, I re-reserved for June 30, July 1, 2. I didn't work out by climbing stairs as I normally will but otherwise have been reasonably fit.
As record heat warmed the state, on Saturday June 29, I drove from mid day to Tracy and visited brother M as was his 70th birthday. Continuing east, arrived at the Glen Alpine Trailhead at 6550 feet about 7pm and set up my Forester to overnight that was quiet. About one-third of the parking spots were open. I also figured out where the obscure unmarked 17E06.1 trail began up the blocked road and a spot to stash my moto g phone outside the car.
On Sunday June 30, 2024, after considerable wee hours insomnia, I arose at 5:15am PDT, secured gear in my car, then proceeded up the 17E06.1 trail that begins with a short steep rocky section from the jeep road to two summer cabins. With a carrying weight of about 55 pounds, this 138 pound old guy would be stopping as often as trailside boulders and logs allowed. Early mornings, the trail is mostly shaded by the ridge. After the sun rises, the dark volcanic rock makes that slope miserable with radiation heating. It is 1.4 miles to a trail junction then another 1.4 miles to Gilmore Lake for 2.3 miles total. Taking the standard more gradual 17E06 trail would be 4.3 miles.
The initial 320 feet per the above Canon ELPH190 image, climbs through a rocky sunny dry zone. As I topped out in that section after 4 stops, I felt gastrointestinal exertion sickness and was barely able to not vomit that would have flooded my body with chemicals making the effort worse. Note, I didn't and normally don't eat breakfast, especially on trail days. After a 15 minute rest, I continued slowly without any more nausea.
Continuing on at 6870, the trail switchbacks up another 290 feet over loose volcanic scree and small talus to 7160 where the trail traverses across a steep dry hot scree and brush slope. At 7890 up another 730 feet for 1340 feet uphill total was a short Class 3 section across a rusty rock band with exposure. With a backpack, one must turn sideways leaning in slightly towards the slope to side step across narrow ledges of rusty metamorphic rock while using marginally useful handholds. The crux is a one foot step up between ledges. A day hiking family with two young children and 2 lively dogs passed me on their way to Mount Tallac. The whole trail had a half dozen Class 2 spots requiring hand use that was otherwise unpleasant Class 1 loose volcanic gravel walking. I won't ever use that trail again with a backpack either up or down because I was constantly using extra leg muscle effort controlling sliding on the loose gravel.
The below Canon ELPH190 image from about 7700 shows the dense chinquapin and manzanita brush along the trail. Although nearing a stream gully, one is still 350 feet below the 8150 trail junction as the trail continues to switchback up steeply through this brushy section.
The junction is not signed with the right trail continuing to the 17E33 trail and the top of Mt Tallac while the fainter left trail routes to Gilmore Lake. 17E06.1 immediately enters forest and crosses a stream that will be the only good water source on this route through July. My strenuous effort with many stops had taken a long 3.5 hours to reach this point just 1.4 miles along.
After another 100 feet of gradual vertical, I left the trail where a large fallen log blocked the path, then continued traversing across sunny mostly open slopes of volcanic scree, brush, and many wildflowers. My expectation was that I would cross a couple small streams but that did not happen as they had apparently sunk into the porous soils leaving just a few small wet areas that would not satisfy this person that expected to fully submerge my body somewhere. Thus, rambled on and after realizing I would not be camp siting where I expected, next hoped to see another stream another quarter mile. But that was just a trickle so continued to the all-year Gilmore Lake stream. But that mosquitoey stream was so surrounded by willows and alder that it too wasn't practical.
All the Gilmore bench areas had mosquitoes that were especially dense about any wet stream and shadier forest areas. Over the three days, I was only bitten about a dozen times, and most of those were during the 2 times I dunked in the lake and stream. Otherwise with full body clothing, head gear, and 100% DEET on hands, wrists, and sometimes face, was always protected. I brought but never used my headnet. Mosquitoes were most active late in the day when both days, I wasn't doing any photography and rather stayed inside my tent. Thus as usual, was not much bothered. The second night a tiny black fly I especially hate, got inside my tent and during the night while I was asleep, bit my lower leg in 4 places that after the trip left 4 quite itchy 3/4 inch diameter red bites for a couple days.
So I climbed uphill 200 feet of vertical to near the Gilmore Lake outlet and settled on a camp site at 8320 feet maybe 600 feet away well out in deep shady forest where others rarely might visit nor bears. About noon, I tented atop a well dried out snow melt pond, free of any vegetation. A good source of clean water was the inlet stream for Gilmore Lake about 700 feet away. Per the above image of my 2 night camp, one can see my tent without the rain fly with my Nemo Avo 15F goose down 800 fill sleeping bag inside I only ever used as a blanket atop my foam pad. Also, a Tyvek ground sheet, a small blue plastic sheet to step onto at the tent door, my Oben carbon graphite tripod I place beside the entrance to allow hand stabilizing after existing the tent, my MSR cooking setup, pack against a lodgepole pine trunk, and Garcia food canister. Each night the temperature dropped to about 40F by sunrise then would rise to about 75F mid afternoon while lower elevation California areas baked under a 100F+ heat wave.
After setting up camp and fetching water, I took a dip in Gilmore Lake. I regretted not beinging along a pair of flip flops because all the near shore underwater areas were covered by painful to barefoot step on small volcanic scree. All west and south shore areas are rather shallow so one could not simply swim out a bit without first walking. I made a Knorr-Lipton pasta primavera meal, then too weary to do much, napped till about 5pm. Then sans gear, explored nearby slopes for an hour before retiring early without ever taking any a6700 photos.
Awake and well refreshed by sunrise Monday July 1, 2024, I was soon out of the tent and on a route southwest towards canyon rim areas where I had originally expected to camp. Was disappointed to find most views west southwest towards the Crystal Range were rather blocked by forest taller than expected. There were also fewer interesting Sierra junipers for foregrounds on the volcanic geology though many wildflowers. It was not until 7:21am that I set up my camera. By then I had crossed the Gilmore outlet stream, Pacific Crest Trail, and climbed up onto a metamorphic rock outcrop that had many wind-shaped junipers.
For the first Sony a6700 subject of my trip, at 7:25am PDT worked the superb 4 column stitch blend landscape using 36 focus stack blended shots at page top I had sized up on Google Earth before the trip. In the background is the snowy Crystal Range with Pyramid Peak at 9983 feet at left and 9975 foot, Mt Price at right. These are the same snowy peaks one can prominently see during clear winter days from the Sacramento region. At frame mid ground is Susie Lake 500 vertical feet below. Frame lower right shows the nearby dark lichen covered bedrock with a wind prostrate Sierra juniper. Below the image, mouse select the enlarged vertical slice view to see the orange tent along Susie lake.
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Patches of peaking still dewy spreading phlox, phlox diffusa, were abundant everywhere. Most of my close-ups use the Sigma 56mm DC DN sharp prime lens set to the F5.0 aperture.
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Down along Gilmore Lake, I worked this mediocre lake landscape in a vegetation moving breeze with a foreground of great red paintbrush, castelleja miniata, Sierra forget-me-not, cryptantha nubigena, yet without flowers corn lily, veratrum californicum, and Sierra willow, salix orestera. The lake has a modest population of rainbow trout and lake trout.
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After returning to camp, with the breeze within the forest somewhat blocked, worked the above semi backlit 30mm horizontal landscape at a late 11:40am PDT where the Mt Tallac slope meets the Gilmore bench. That is the zone with most flowers, arguably among the best in the range. In the foreground are dense sandworts, minuartia sp, butterballs, eriogonum ovalifolium, single-stem groundsel, senecio integerrimus, spreading phlox, sulfur flower, eriogonum umbellatum, mountain pretty face, triteleia ixioides, Applegate's paintbrush, castelleja applegatei. The bent conifer in the distance is a mountain white pine. In the forest were many more species with many petals closed till mid morning. The sandwort is possibly the minuartia douglasii species.
Back at camp, I cooked a can of Progresso Chicken Cheese Enchilada soup and rested. Later explored down the Gilmore Lake outlet stream to a bedrock section at 8030 where mosquitoes were minimal. At 3:15pm, I fully dunked myself in its pleasantly cool water then laid out on sunny bedrock adding a bit to my tan. After the refreshing stream immersion, regained the PCT then followed a group of PCT backpackers I spoke with that set up camp at Gilmore. I then rested in shade by the lake edge for a lazy hour.
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I then explored the PCT towards Dick's Pass where at 8am right along the trail was the above massive wind shaped mountain white pine, pinus monticola, with a 5+ foot diameter trunk. Using my 30mm lens in a vertical orientation, in the foreground were dense pussy paws, calyptridium unbellatum. Also, silver lupine, lupinus argenteus, fern-leaf lomatium, lomatium dissectum, single-stem groundsel, senecia integerrimus, butterballs, and spreading phlox.
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I climbed up to a rock outcrop viewpoint where at 4:25pm worked this 3 column 30mm lens panorama of Gilmore Lake and Mount Tallac. At mid ground, are mountain hemlock, tsuga mertensiana, mountain white pine, lodgepole pine. A better image of the full lake without blocking conifers might be another 200 feet higher on the ridge but without Mt Tallac behind.
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I did mount my Sony 85mm prime lens to work the above better detail of the top of Mt Tallac that incudes whitebark pine, pinus albicaulis. By mid July after snows have melted and landscapes dried, many of these areas lose their vibrant green color thus a reason my Desolation Wilderness visits tend to be during this early summer peak aesthetic period.
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At 4:45pm, a nearby 85mm tripoded 2 column horizontal stitch blend looking down on Susie Lake at 7790 feet. Note the orange tent on the enlarged vertical slice view. Lowest areas of snow were in shade at about 7.8k. The heavily travelled PCT routes around the mid to south end shores at frame left. The metamorphic sedimentary geology makes level tentable areas beyond well used sites scarce.
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Before the trip into these areas I had never previously visited, I expected to find more aesthetic Sierra juniper than I did. Regardless, here is one tree I did locate and using my 30mm lens, it has a nice complement of wildflowers including mountain spiraea, spiraea densiflora, sandwort, mountain pretty face, shieldleaf, streptanthus toruosus, and Leichtlin's mariposa, calochortus leichtlinii. In the background distance frame left below branches are Stevens Peak and Red Lake Peak just south of Carson Pass while at the right frame edge, Mokelumne Peak.
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At 5:54pm, a mediocre view of forest areas near my campsite with a red fir at frame right, lodgepole pine, mountain white pine, fern-leaf lomatium, butterballs, single-stem groundsel. Working these forest areas was difficult. By mid morning many flowers have still not yet opened. During sunny days, mid day is too contrasty, and it is often breezy. Ideally, would be cloudy conditions at mid day with low breezes. A key reason for my return during another June. I again retired early to my tent on this Monday instead of dealing with minor breezy and dense mosquitoes. And enjoyed another long night of good sleep though this person that dreams 100% of sleeping time, always wakes up every hour or three.
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On Tuesday July 2, 2024 I was up at dawn, packed up gear, stashed the pack, then set off on a 600 foot uphill cross country ramble to the most important landscape I had analyzed with Google Earth before the trip and the result is as strong as I could have expected. The above shot over 7 minutes after 7:45am, the earliest possible due to shadows, is a huge 6 column 1 row panorama 17000 by 6000 pixels using my 56mm lens. With the snowy Crystal Range in the distance, it includes Gilmore Lake, Susie Lake, Heather Lake, Lake Aloha, Jack's Peak, and Dick's peak. Trees include in near mid ground, mountain white pine, red fir, lodgepole pine. Wildflowers at frame bottom include fern-leaf lomatium, silver lupine, Applegate's paintbrush with brushes big sagebrush, chinquapin, Sierra willow, and mountain hemlock. For insurance, I first worked a slightly different tripod spot with my 30mm lens horizontally. This will make some great 85 by 30 inch murals at 200ppi in South Lake Tahoe.
Above is a 100% pixels 777 by 777 pixel crop of the above image Lake Aloha section with a bit of Heather Lake below showing the amount of fine detail.
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Under a large mountain white pine were these soft arnica, arnica mollis, flowers with focus bracketing requiring 27 shots to render the full image sharply.
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After returning down to Gilmore Lake, I returned to the location along the PCT to Dick's Pass with dense pussy paws to at 9am work this shot in the better morning front sunlit illumination. Poking through frame upper left red fir branches is Pyramid Peak with a bit of blue Susie Lake directly below. The same wildflowers as on Monday, pussy paws, silver lupine, butterballs, fern-leaf lomatium, single-stem groundsel, and spreading phlox.
During the week after returning home, I've made 3 more recreation dot gov backpacking reservations for the coming 5 week period, one to base camp 4 or 5 nights in the Green Creek basin with bro J and two for Bishop Creek of 2 and 5 nights. But first up on July 17, a week from now, have two GA standing area field level tickets for the Levi Stadium Rolling Stones concert. Life is good for this 75 year old senior.
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2024 Trip Chronicles: Contents
