Sunday, August 8, 2010
Stats for the day: started at Bernice Lake (10,220') at 8:30 - ended at Reymann Lake (10,062') at 1:00. Total ascent 1898'. Total Descent 2067'. Total Distance 6.61 miles. 3 hrs 13 mins walking.
The weather has taken center stage again these last two days. Previous to that it was so consistently sunny everyday for a week and a half we really gave it little thought. But, it is six in the afternoon, I am sitting under the tarp at Reymann Lake, it is 43 degrees and the inch of hail that fell between 2:45 and 3:45 has not all melted away yet. It is cold.
We were aware of the high possibility of thunderstorms today, not from any weather service, but from the amount of dew that coated every surface this morning. It signaled a lot of moisture in the air. By 9:30 we were seeing small cloudlets beginning to form in the cloudless blue skies. Both the dew and the formation of the clouds in mid morning says "Thunderstorm"! But, experience told us we had until mid-afternoon before the skies would open upon us.
So we took our time this morning drying the dew out of everything, leaving camp an hour later than normal, at 8:30. Instead of retracing the trail back out of Bernice Lake we climbed cross country up into Gallison Basin to view this magnificent meadow. We then joined the Vogelsang Pass trail and we were soon at the High Sierra Camp. It was deserted. I walked into the dining room and found the remnants of breakfast still on the tables, but no one present. Back outside, one of the college age kids working at the camp came by and we found from him that someone had broken their leg that morning just across Fletcher Creek from the camp, not more than one hundred yards away. They were expecting a helicopter at any minute to land and whisk him away to the hospital in Mammoth. No sooner had he finished the account than we heard the beat of an approaching helicopter. The pilot circled once, hovered a minute to check the winds, then set down across the creek, tucking the bird in between boulders and trees. We waited for him to lift off with his subject, but after 20 minutes we lost patience and returned to the dining hall, hoping to buy candy bars and socks even though the sign on the door said closed. The nice kid discussed the SHR with us and talked about the joy of working at Vogelsang, then consented to sell us our goods. We finally left Vogelsang about 11 and headed down the trail to Tuolumne Pass, where we would leave the trail to head cross-country for Reymann Lake. At the trail junction we met a scout troop of about a dozen kids and five adult leaders. We struck up a conversation, thanked them for bringing the kids to the mountains and donating their time. We told them we were all Eagle Scouts and about Camp Sheppard. They were very interested in a climb of Rainier for their older kids and took my name, email and phone number. We shook hands all around and headed up to the pass that leads to Reymann Lake. It was now noon and the clouds were building, but certainly not threatening yet.
The weather has taken center stage again these last two days. Previous to that it was so consistently sunny everyday for a week and a half we really gave it little thought. But, it is six in the afternoon, I am sitting under the tarp at Reymann Lake, it is 43 degrees and the inch of hail that fell between 2:45 and 3:45 has not all melted away yet. It is cold.
We were aware of the high possibility of thunderstorms today, not from any weather service, but from the amount of dew that coated every surface this morning. It signaled a lot of moisture in the air. By 9:30 we were seeing small cloudlets beginning to form in the cloudless blue skies. Both the dew and the formation of the clouds in mid morning says "Thunderstorm"! But, experience told us we had until mid-afternoon before the skies would open upon us.
So we took our time this morning drying the dew out of everything, leaving camp an hour later than normal, at 8:30. Instead of retracing the trail back out of Bernice Lake we climbed cross country up into Gallison Basin to view this magnificent meadow. We then joined the Vogelsang Pass trail and we were soon at the High Sierra Camp. It was deserted. I walked into the dining room and found the remnants of breakfast still on the tables, but no one present. Back outside, one of the college age kids working at the camp came by and we found from him that someone had broken their leg that morning just across Fletcher Creek from the camp, not more than one hundred yards away. They were expecting a helicopter at any minute to land and whisk him away to the hospital in Mammoth. No sooner had he finished the account than we heard the beat of an approaching helicopter. The pilot circled once, hovered a minute to check the winds, then set down across the creek, tucking the bird in between boulders and trees. We waited for him to lift off with his subject, but after 20 minutes we lost patience and returned to the dining hall, hoping to buy candy bars and socks even though the sign on the door said closed. The nice kid discussed the SHR with us and talked about the joy of working at Vogelsang, then consented to sell us our goods. We finally left Vogelsang about 11 and headed down the trail to Tuolumne Pass, where we would leave the trail to head cross-country for Reymann Lake. At the trail junction we met a scout troop of about a dozen kids and five adult leaders. We struck up a conversation, thanked them for bringing the kids to the mountains and donating their time. We told them we were all Eagle Scouts and about Camp Sheppard. They were very interested in a climb of Rainier for their older kids and took my name, email and phone number. We shook hands all around and headed up to the pass that leads to Reymann Lake. It was now noon and the clouds were building, but certainly not threatening yet.
We met a young man in his late twenties at the pass scoping out climbing routes on the cliffs above Nelson Lake. We chatted a few minutes, then parted. We dropped into Reymann Lake about 1:00 and enjoyed lunch in bright, warm sunshine, after which we discussed putting up the tarp, but decided the thunder would announce the expected rain and we would wait for that call. Andy and Gary promptly sprawled in the meadows and were lulled into a deep sleep by the warm sun. I plugged my iPhone into Gary's solar panel and began writing emails as it charged, intending them to be sent the next time I got cell service.
The first indication I had that something was amiss was my iPhone dropping in charge rather than gaining. Next, I heard the first patters of raindrops. I woke Gary and Andy and we quickly erected the tarp as the rain started to intensify. Where was our thunderous warning? By the time we had it secure it was pouring rain mixed with hail. It was 2:45. Snug under our shelter we cooked up some hot tea and enjoyed Mother Nature's fury as thunder crashed and hail up to half an inch in diameter hammered against the tarp and collected in ever deepening piles on the meadow. An hour later the storm subsided, but the temperature was decidedly colder. Clouds still threatened more hail and rain, but we took advantage of the lull by photographing the summer flowers surrounded by hail and snow. The fish were not biting and by 4:30 we retired to the tarp to cook dinner. Again we noticed how cold it felt, so I set my altimeter watch out to get a reading. It promptly dropped to 43 degrees.
We went for a short walk to the outlet of the lake to warm up a bit, then put up the tent, intending to warm ourselves in our bags, which Gary and Andy did. I wrapped my sleeping bag around we while seated on a bear can under the tarp and wrote this entry.
So, the Sierra's are ordinarily a warm, weather friendly place to hike and camp. But, just as we were reminded the day we drove into King's Canyon how bad the weather can get, today also bumped us back to reality.
The first indication I had that something was amiss was my iPhone dropping in charge rather than gaining. Next, I heard the first patters of raindrops. I woke Gary and Andy and we quickly erected the tarp as the rain started to intensify. Where was our thunderous warning? By the time we had it secure it was pouring rain mixed with hail. It was 2:45. Snug under our shelter we cooked up some hot tea and enjoyed Mother Nature's fury as thunder crashed and hail up to half an inch in diameter hammered against the tarp and collected in ever deepening piles on the meadow. An hour later the storm subsided, but the temperature was decidedly colder. Clouds still threatened more hail and rain, but we took advantage of the lull by photographing the summer flowers surrounded by hail and snow. The fish were not biting and by 4:30 we retired to the tarp to cook dinner. Again we noticed how cold it felt, so I set my altimeter watch out to get a reading. It promptly dropped to 43 degrees.
We went for a short walk to the outlet of the lake to warm up a bit, then put up the tent, intending to warm ourselves in our bags, which Gary and Andy did. I wrapped my sleeping bag around we while seated on a bear can under the tarp and wrote this entry.
So, the Sierra's are ordinarily a warm, weather friendly place to hike and camp. But, just as we were reminded the day we drove into King's Canyon how bad the weather can get, today also bumped us back to reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment