Embedded Files
-- Eugene L., Assistant Patrol Leader / Webmaster, Star, Aug. 2014
As soon as we got off the shuttle tram and shouldered our backpacks, we knew this was it. The Mammoth to Yosemite backpack was starting and there was no turning back. The view was obscured by smoke from a fire in Yosemite. We were all a bit worried about the fire coming towards us. After stopping for a quick lunch at Shadow Lake and hiking 2 or 3 miles, Mr. A stopped in front of a steep slope. He told us that we had two choices: the first was to circle a 3-mile trail around a mountain; the second choice was to cross country up the steep slope to Nydiver Lake. Most of the scouts thought to hike the steep cross country would be more interesting than the long way around. Mr. A decided to hike up the slope, and with much difficulty, we started to ascend the cliff. After a long time balancing on unstable rocks, we finally got to the top of the cliff only for Mr. A to announce that we were not at our destination and we had to scale another cliff. After scaling the second slope, the scouts rushed off to different sleeping spots, as night was quickly falling.
We went over two passes for the second day. With much enthusiasm, we quickly hiked over the first pass. But looking down from the top, we could see there was no defined way down. Jr. ASM James scouted around and found a proper spots to set up rappelling. We finally got past the crevices and cliffs with help of ropes. On our way to hike over the second pass in the afternoon, we could see the Thousand Islands Lake which is named after the hundreds of both giant and minuscule islands dotting its surface. Unfortunately, dark clouds were looming over the horizon by this time. We hiked fast and hoped to reach our camp site before the rainning. It began to drizzle when we arrived at the camp ground next to Davis Lake. Tents were pitched and the kitchen was set up during the rain. It was cold and almost everything was wet. After having a quick dinner of hot Ramen soup and spaghetti with juicy sausages, scouts dove into tents to the comfort of our warm sleeping bags. Just spending a few minutes inside our tent, we realized this would be an uncomfortable night of sleep because our tarp is larger than our tent's rain fly, the rain collected by the tarps formed a small water pool underneath the tent. We were tired and fell to sleep quickly though it was cold outside and kept raining that night.
Next morning, Aaron and I discovered that everything was soaked except our sleeping bags which were shielded by sleeping pads. We spent some time to dry out our stuffs on the rocks before the troop setting off for Donahue pass. The rain resumed almost at the same time we started the hiking. After hiking in the light rain for an hour or so, it started to heavily pour. We stopped and started to set up a rain shelter, created by tying 3 tarps to the trees. Ironically, the rain tapered off soon after we finished constructing the shelter. There was no sign that the rain would stop soon. We decided to move on. It continued to drizzle as we made our way up. Even worse, it became foggy and visibility was limited to a short distance. We only stopped at the Donahue Pass for a few minutes because it was chilly and the wind was howling. When we arrived at the campsite we saw Weijing and his dad who were also differed by the rain and camped at the same place. They hiked from Tuolumne Meadows one day earlier and planned to hike Mt. Lyell with us for the next few days. For the second night, we cooked and had dinner in the rain. We have fought the bad weather for several hours Most of our gears were wet except the sleeping bags. It rained hard during the night.
On the fourth day, we decided to hike 12 miles back to Mammoth through Tuolunme Meadows, the way Weijing and his dad had come. Even though many people wanted to complete the trip to get to Half Dome, it was determined the best choice was to leave for Mammoth. Because the weather forecast stated that the afternoons of the next 3 days would all be thunder storms and many of us were not prepared well for the rain. After 6 hours of pleasant hiking in the scenic Tuolunme Meadows, we reached the ranger station at the trailhead; Mr. A and the adult leaders were working on the transportation arrangements. One hour later, Aunt Lynn drove a minivan to the trailhead first. By drawing cards, 6 scouts were lucky to ride the first car and the rest of us looked at them in envy and dismay as they drove away. After Mr. A and the other cars appeared out of the darkness, we were all thrilled and jumped into the cars, looking forward to the Jacuzzi and a hot bath. When we woke up, we were all surprised for a moment as to where we were, before realizing with smiles we were in Mr. A’s Mammoth condo. Mr. A said we were going to Bodie, a mining ghost town, abandoned in the 1940s. We toured the town, and saw the 20-stamp mill, where a guide explained how the mill was run and how the gold and silver was separated from the rocks.
The plan for the next day was to explore the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and then camp a night nearby before tackling White Mountain. The Ancient Bristlecone Forest is home to the oldest living trees on Earth with some trees being more than 4,000 years old! Using dendrochronology, scientists have been able to find out the climate of the trees during certain stages of their life and determine how old the individual trees are. We learned that the Bristlecone Pine trees have been able to use its adversity to evolve. It grows in harsh conditions in order to survive in the rapid change climates and environments. After spending a night camping at 11,000 feet, we started to climb White Mountain, the third highest peak in California and the highest peak off the Sierras Mountains at 14,246 feet high. Just before our hiking, Nathan discovered a tire of Mr. A's van was leaking. While the senior scouts started later to help Mr. A with tire exchanging, the younger scouts started to tackle the peak. When we got to the base of White Mountain, and saw how steep it was, many people hesitated and started to slow down. However all of us persevered, and finally at 1:00 PM, the last scout reached the peak. The views were great with sunny skies and no storm clouds. After eating lunch and complaining about the cold, we descended downward with much enthusiasm, as we were looking forward to pizza and going back home.
Gallery 2014 Mammoth - Tuolunme Meadows, Bodie, White Mountain Sierra Backpakcing
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse