Backpacking

[SteelBlue]

Piney your kids are little bad asses. Looks like it was an awesome trip.

[bluegoose]

I'm not sure where that is, but as with all of your backpacking pictures, it looks amazing.


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[bluegoose]

Marble Mountains trip report



Had an awesome backpacking trip into the marble mountains this last weekend. Took a handful of young men from the ward, as well as 3 other adult leaders.

Set out on Wednesday night after work. Fortunately, one of our guys called the forest service office beforehand to learn that the road to the trailhead was closed due to a mudslide. So they left a map with the alternate route to the trailhead along some little-used forest service logging roads. It added about 5 miles, but about 40 minutes to the drive. So rather than explore unfamiliar roads at midnight we decided to camp in an earlier campground that night and head out for the trailhead at first light.


We hit the trailhead at about 8:00 for the 6 mile hike into our base camp. A light rain the day before left the trail in perfect hiking condition. It is a fairly easy trail for the first 5 miles. The last mile is up horse steps and gains most of the 2,000 feet of elevation. One of the leaders in our group was really poorly prepared, not only with his gear but also his fitness. He showed up with about 90 pounds on his back, including a cot, and a 10'x14' tarp, in addition to his 4 person tent. He also had 3 pairs of Levi's and a weeks supply of food for our 3 day trip. He struggled mightily on the relatively easy hike, taking over 5 hours for what should have been a 3 hour hike. And of course he was harassing the boys all weekend for not having as much gear as he had around camp. Oh yeah, he didn't carry a bit of climbing gear, when the rest of us carried between 8-18 pounds of climbing gear, in addition to our own gear. [emoji57]


The last time that we visited this area was for caving 14 years ago. We had previously camped out in the open on the granite face to be able to enjoy the stars. There was a chance of rain, so we opted for a nice campsite in the trees about a quarter mile from the old location. Good move, as our first night we got blasted with several hundred lightening strikes in about 4 hours.

With all of the rain and snow that we got this winter there was still a ton of water in the area. And everything was green. We crossed probably 7-8 creeks on the hike in, and the meadow next to our camp lush and green.





Very few other campers in the area, but we did see and talk to about 20 PCT thru-hikers over the weekend.

The main reason for going to this area was the caving, as it is littered with caves of all shapes and sizes. We repelled into 3 caves over the weekend. The biggest of the bunch involved a 60 foot scramble down underground, followed by a 65 foot rappel down the narrow drop. It opened up for about a half mile of wandering and scrambling under ground.









The kids did awesome. Two of the boys have a lot of experience with climbing and rappelling above ground, but this was their first trip rappelling underground. The other two this was really their first time on real ropes in the outdoors. One kid was a little freaked out and opted out altogether. But he still had fun.

We had hoped to drop into Bigfoot, a 300 foot vertical drop, into 18 miles of mapped underground caves. We combed the area for an hour looking for the entrance. But no luck. I could've sworn I would have been able to walk directly to it, but I guess 14 years of undergrowth and a failing memory did a good job of hiding the entrance.



All in all, an awesome trip and a great way to end the summer. Already have a few day trips planned this late summer and early fall for some more local climbing and rappelling trips.






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[Jeff Lebowski]

Wow! That looks like a bast.

[Pelado]

Looks like an awesome experience. I can see myself as the poorly prepared dude. Except the part about bringing a cot, large tarp, and multiple pairs of jeans.

[BigPiney]

That looks awesome. Shouldn't have to do pack checks for leaders. SMH.

[BigPiney]

Last week my son and I (along with some others) summited Mt Whitney. It was interesting to say the least. I got a call from a friend a month ago saying he had space on a permit so we decided to come along since my son had not been on the top of the cool mountains around here.

We had a few things that made this more difficult this week. The monsoon rolled in this last week, so major thunderstorms show up. Also a wildfire started from a lightening strike on Sunday just above Manzanar that ended up closing Whitney Portal Road and they evacuated the campgrounds up there.
Out plan was to start our hike at the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead and come out Whitney portal, so we had to change our itinerary the morning of departure from a loop to an out and back.

It ended up working out but it made our days harder and longer.

Day one was easy. 6.5 miles to Long Lake in the Cottonwood lakes basin. The marmots here are plentiful and will eat your stuff if you leave it out. On the last night one at them nibbled the ¼ inch off the high tops of one of the girl’s boots. And they were in her vestibule. Crazy little things, but so cute.




Day two way a killer. 12 miles, most of it cross country. We went over New Army Pass and went cross country over the flank of Mount Langley and dropped into Miter Basin. Passed through Miter Basin, past Sky Blue Lake and then up and over Crabtree Pass to an unnamed lake. About 1 in the afternoon in the process of this hike we got hit with a hail storm, so we set up a few tents and played some cards for an hour to lets this pass.



I tend to get my butt kicked by elevation and over exertion, at least on one day when I go out, and this was the day. It just ended up being too much for me. The climb up Crabtree pass which sits at 12,500 ft just killed me. I was able to limp into camp in the rain, but was done for the night. I set up the tent, crawled into my sleeping bag and did my best not to puke for the next 3 hours. I ended up skipping dinner and had a cup of apple cider and two jelly beans just before bed.



Day 3 we got up at 4:45 am to beat the storms that were sure to come. This was a day hike without packs to the summit, so we were on the trail by 5:30 am. From our lake (12,000 ft) we climbed what is affectionately knows as “the sand hill”. 1500 ft climb up scree and boulders up to Discovery Pinnacle. From here it is a 30 ft descent to the Whitney trail right at Trail Crest. It was then a 2-mile hike on the trail to the summit. We were on the summit, in the clouds, by 10 am. All 8 of us made it: my son, his friend, my friend, his 2 kids (15 and 13) and his nieces (18 and 13).





We got off that peak pretty quick, seeing as how we were already in the clouds. On our descent we started hearing thunder in the distance so we got down as fast as we could. We got back to the lake and tents for lunch and then the weather got worse. Another afternoon/evening spent in the tents playing cards amidst a downpour. From 4 till about 8:30 it dumped an ½ inch of rain in that little basin (I had left out my cooking pot). There were not a lot of tent spaces among the boulders at 12,000 ft. The spot that we had selected was in the low point apparently. And after that much rain in such a short time, what was a low point previously, became a 5 inch deep, 8 ft wide creek that ran into the lake. And yes our tent was right in the middle of that. It was like sitting on a water bed.

Big Agnes, your tents, even the cheap ones are great.

Luckily the rain did eventually stop. We could move the tent after moving some pretty big rocks and made a new tent spot and had some dinner. We ended up somewhat dry and comfortable for that night of sleep.

Day 4 was 12 miles returning over Crabtree Pass, through Miter Basin which was sunny this time and beautiful, down Rock Creek and then finally on the trail where we climbed back up over New Army pass back into Cottonwood Lakes basin.

Day 5 was 6.5 miles back to the trailhead.

Quite the adventure.

[BigPiney]

THis is what it looked like as we got back to camp. You can barely see the tents on the other side of the lake:



This is my tent in yellow. As you can see, no real place to put it.



Another view:



Then the rains came tumbling down. Here you can see the creek running under the tent:

[mtnbiker]

Wow, quite an adventure. You're just about the last person I'd think would have elevation sickness, so it goes to show that it can happen to anyone. Thanks for the write-up and pictures.

[BigPiney]

Wow, quite an adventure. You're just about the last person I'd think would have elevation sickness, so it goes to show that it can happen to anyone. Thanks for the write-up and pictures.

It gets me just about every time. I always feel terrible that night and am fine by the next morning. Usually it involves puking in the middle of the night, so I was glad to about that this time.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Very cool, BP!

My son is climbing Rainier again this week. I worry about that kid.

[Pelado]

Last week my son and I (along with some others) summited Mt Whitney.

Very cool. How old is your son?

[bluegoose]

Very cool. How old is your son?

Great trip report and incredible pictures.

I am the same at elevation. Last time I was above 13,000 in the big horns of Wyoming I was nauseous and puking on and off for 2 days.

[Northwestcoug]

Great pics and report, BP. It sounds like a great but challenging trip.

Careful with the altitude sickness, fellas.

[BigPiney]

Very cool. How old is your son?

17. Going away to school this fall. That is a pic of him near the summit hut.