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Awesome stuff! You should watermark and copyright those photos!
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Eight Days out of Mineral King, Sequoia NP
- Thread starter lambertiana
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Tremendous and evocative !
lambertiana
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Since we were carrying eight days of food, we had to choose things that have a lot of calories for the weight. Snacks were nut-heavy (both salted and chocolate-covered), plus individually wrapped string cheese, swedish fish, and beef jerky. Dinners were a mix of standard freeze-dried meals and things like easy mac with foil pack tuna or instant mashed potatoes with foil pack spam. My friend brought a jar of sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) that he spread on whole wheat tortillas, that was pretty good. And for after dinner I brought a jar of nutella and a big bar of marzipan.
Of the seven nights, we only had people camping nearby for two nights. The other five nights there were no people in the canyon/lake basin that we knew of. On the last night at Columbine Lake we had some neighbors who caught quite a few 10-12" brook trout.
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John, wow! What a trip!!! Wish I could have made it! Great pictures, great scenery, great narration. I love following along 
Your goal, the couple of lakes tucked in the cirque under 12168T was spectacular, doubly so with you in all likelihood being the only one who's visited in many a year. Lovely spot. Great route too, must have been incredibly scenic in person; I know pics never do a place justice. Sorry to hear the route in Big Arroyo was too littered with deadfall and you had to backtrack up Soda Creek instead of looping to Forester via Rattlesnake as you had planned. A quick visit to Rattlesnake Point along the way looks like it'd have provided incredible views east. Looks like you made the best of it though. What was your total time from breaking camp that day to deciding to call it quits in Big Arroyo for the night? I'm guessing you were camped somewhere between Soda Creek and Willow Creek, since you had to go back up-canyon the next day to continue on? I absolutely love that you really got away from folks for a majority of the trip... my favorite kinda trip.
Columbine Lake looks very, very beautiful in the stark way you mentioned. Very appealing to see it from lake level, since I've only seen it from Sawtooth Peak with you.
I bet it was nice only having a partner for the trip too. I'm not great with more than 1-3 others along on bping trip... loses too much of the solitude I go out there to seek. I like 2 person trips the best.
Oh man, I'm getting so stoked for next year!!!
Your goal, the couple of lakes tucked in the cirque under 12168T was spectacular, doubly so with you in all likelihood being the only one who's visited in many a year. Lovely spot. Great route too, must have been incredibly scenic in person; I know pics never do a place justice. Sorry to hear the route in Big Arroyo was too littered with deadfall and you had to backtrack up Soda Creek instead of looping to Forester via Rattlesnake as you had planned. A quick visit to Rattlesnake Point along the way looks like it'd have provided incredible views east. Looks like you made the best of it though. What was your total time from breaking camp that day to deciding to call it quits in Big Arroyo for the night? I'm guessing you were camped somewhere between Soda Creek and Willow Creek, since you had to go back up-canyon the next day to continue on? I absolutely love that you really got away from folks for a majority of the trip... my favorite kinda trip.
Columbine Lake looks very, very beautiful in the stark way you mentioned. Very appealing to see it from lake level, since I've only seen it from Sawtooth Peak with you.
I bet it was nice only having a partner for the trip too. I'm not great with more than 1-3 others along on bping trip... loses too much of the solitude I go out there to seek. I like 2 person trips the best.
Oh man, I'm getting so stoked for next year!!!
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Man you just made me so homesick for the Sierras. Great pics and what looks like a wonderful trip, cheers :thumbup: thanks for sharing
lambertiana
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Russell - You could have come....
On the day we ran into the problems in Big Arroyo, we had been underway for over eight hours at that point. What got us to change plans is that, after almost a half mile of blowdown, we saw no sign of it letting up. The prospect of another two miles of blowdown to get to where we needed to be at the end of the day was not attractive. So we stopped between Soda Creek and Willow Creek, closer to Soda Creek. After we set up camp I explored a little back on the other side of the creek and found a route that did not look so bad. So I am wondering about returning....
Bob - We totaled approximately 65 miles over the eight days. Some days were shorter than others. The day we went from Lost Canyon to my lakes was probably three miles total, and we made good time, so we had a lot of time to explore that lake basin. As Russell pointed out, it was special to be in a lake basin that had probably not seen humans in a long long time; we saw zero trace of human presence. I asked on another sierra hiking forum where all of the off trail folks hang out, and no one there knew of anyone who had been to those lakes.
I have been using a Canon SX130. I just can't see carrying a full size DSLR on backpacking trips (before going digital, I lugged around a Leicaflex with a couple lenses, and that was a lot of weight). I'm hoping to save my pennies for a high quality compact DSLR (my son-in-law's father has a compact Leicaflex DSLR that is not much bigger than my camera).
1Hiker2, I had a few knives (this is bladeforums, after all). SAK classic, Queen stockman, S30V G10 UKPK, this one in left front
And for fixed blade, this one from Ray Laconico
And yeah, I hear some of you saying something about me not wanting to carry a DSLR, but having all those blades....
On the day we ran into the problems in Big Arroyo, we had been underway for over eight hours at that point. What got us to change plans is that, after almost a half mile of blowdown, we saw no sign of it letting up. The prospect of another two miles of blowdown to get to where we needed to be at the end of the day was not attractive. So we stopped between Soda Creek and Willow Creek, closer to Soda Creek. After we set up camp I explored a little back on the other side of the creek and found a route that did not look so bad. So I am wondering about returning....
Bob - We totaled approximately 65 miles over the eight days. Some days were shorter than others. The day we went from Lost Canyon to my lakes was probably three miles total, and we made good time, so we had a lot of time to explore that lake basin. As Russell pointed out, it was special to be in a lake basin that had probably not seen humans in a long long time; we saw zero trace of human presence. I asked on another sierra hiking forum where all of the off trail folks hang out, and no one there knew of anyone who had been to those lakes.
I have been using a Canon SX130. I just can't see carrying a full size DSLR on backpacking trips (before going digital, I lugged around a Leicaflex with a couple lenses, and that was a lot of weight). I'm hoping to save my pennies for a high quality compact DSLR (my son-in-law's father has a compact Leicaflex DSLR that is not much bigger than my camera).
1Hiker2, I had a few knives (this is bladeforums, after all). SAK classic, Queen stockman, S30V G10 UKPK, this one in left front
And for fixed blade, this one from Ray Laconico
And yeah, I hear some of you saying something about me not wanting to carry a DSLR, but having all those blades....
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I know, but one long trip this summer was the limit for the GF, haha.
Next summer is looking good :thumbup:Yeah, half a mile with a pack bushwhacking over blowdown is hard on the legs and exhausting, let alone 2 more miles. More risk for injury too. If you return, I'd love to see the view from Rattlesnake Point, if you make it out there. Though it may not differ significantly from that of the lakes below 12168T, I guess.
"That Laconico probably weighs more than a Nikon D3100," is what I was going to say.
After backpacking and hiking for years with a Minolta X700 film SLR camera and a couple of lenses, I can say the new entry-level DSLRs are a dream for backpacking.
Those Canon point-and-shoot cameras are pretty nice too, as is evident from your pictures. I use one when traveling overseas and carrying on the motorcycle.
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Compact mirrorless / Micro 4/3 camera, John! That's my aim when I can afford one...
lambertiana
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Bob - Not even close. The body alone for the D3100 weighs as much as all the knives I had on the trip combined. That Laconico weighs just over 4 oz. I had Ray make it lightweight specifically for backpacking.
Another issue I have with most of the cameras out there, the compact DSLRs included, is the battery. For a weeklong trip I often take about 1500 pictures, and for that D3100 I would have to carry three batteries (according to Nikon's website, one battery charge is good for about 500 pictures). Multiply that by the cost of the batteries, and I have added another $200 plus to the cost of buying the camera. I already can't afford the camera, and the battery problem moves it even farther from my reach. With my Canon 130SX I got by with two sets of two lithium AA batteries on my last trip. I can buy a lot of lithium AA batteries for $200.
Another issue I have with most of the cameras out there, the compact DSLRs included, is the battery. For a weeklong trip I often take about 1500 pictures, and for that D3100 I would have to carry three batteries (according to Nikon's website, one battery charge is good for about 500 pictures). Multiply that by the cost of the batteries, and I have added another $200 plus to the cost of buying the camera. I already can't afford the camera, and the battery problem moves it even farther from my reach. With my Canon 130SX I got by with two sets of two lithium AA batteries on my last trip. I can buy a lot of lithium AA batteries for $200.
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True. I now carry 2 spare rechargeable batteries for my point and shoot, just about covers a weeklong. Being able to run off AA is a nice plus, with your Canon.
Been a while since I had a point and shoot, but I found being able to shut off the screen save a ton of battery usage.
Years ago I did a three week trip and my batteries died on the way home, I was amazed. I did only take six hundred fifty pics and it had a lot less mega pixels than newer cameras so it may have required less juice.
Gorgeous pics and it looked like an incredible trip
Years ago I did a three week trip and my batteries died on the way home, I was amazed. I did only take six hundred fifty pics and it had a lot less mega pixels than newer cameras so it may have required less juice.
Gorgeous pics and it looked like an incredible trip