in the John Muir Wilderness
Our route began at Courtright Reservoir in the John Muir Wilderness east of Madera. The trail ended at Devil's Punchbowl and resumed again at Horsehead Lake (to the south). Our route ended at Wishon Reservoir, about a 20 minute car-shuttle away from Courtright. Acclimation camp was conducted at the PG&E Marmot Point campground at Courtright Reservoir. Except for the last three hours of hiking above Wishon Reservoir, the entire outing was spent at altitudes above 8,000 feet, and much of it was at or above 10,000 feet.
From Devil's Punchbowl to Horsehead Lake our route consisted of some very challenging Class 2 cross country work requiring rudimentary rock climbing skills. We chose to include this rigorous section of the trip with four considerations in mind:
In the past, we have hit the trail with a set of specific campsites to be reached by the end of each day. In recent years, we have begun to abandon this practice, since we have sometimes found ourselves struggling late into the day to meet some arbitrary objective, having been slowed by some unexpected problem. Aware of the difficulty we faced with an outing having 7400 feet of climbing, with much of it at very high altitudes where the thin air makes climbing difficult for everyone, we laid out a tentative plan for each day. We kept the daily mileage down for the first three days when we would be climbing with heavy packs and when we would still be struggling to acclimate to the altitude, pushing off the bulk of our mileage to the last three days (largely or entirely downhill with almost empty packs). We planned a layover day at Devil’s Punchbowl to allow us to acclimate to the 10,200 feet altitude before attempting the 11,200 foot Two Passes, to give us a rest after three days of uphill work, and for general rest and relaxation. This kind of detail planning paid off - except for stopping a mile or so short of our original destination on Wednesday, we kept to our plan and met our daily goals without too much struggle. See the narrative under the elevation plot for details of each day’s walk.
Our cross country hike deserves a short description, especially since this difficult to locate and difficult to hike route is where we got lost in 1986. From 10,200 foot high Devil’s Punchbowl we hiked into the sun, with an easy climb past Big Shot and Little Shot Lakes. Above these two, wee hiked up steep sheets of granite, passing a little pond at the base of what seemed at first to be an impassable wall of rock. The next mile or two were very slow work, traversing across very long and very steep sheets of granite, or hopping from one boulder to another where we could find a relative safety of talus. At one point, where a loss of footing would have resulted in a long tumble and serious injury, two adults provided belay for the rest of the team. We lunched at the 11,000 foot crest of the first pass, after which we climbed to the 11,200 foot second pass. We were greeted by the sight of a very steep talus slope below us, which we would have to climb down. We worked our way into a valley and used map and compass to find Crabtree Lake. After a brief break, we again took to map and compass to find our way across vast granite and sand formations, around a bog and down to Horsehead Lake. Several of the young adults came to camp exhausted from the long day’s adventure, but we were all thrilled by the adventure we had.
One other misadventure deserves mention. On Thursday, while hiking down the wall of Kings River canyon through dense forest, we were following what seemed to be a clear trail. At a spot only yards from the point where we lost some of our Scouts in 1986, four of the men (two of whom are leaders) became lost this year. After they failed to show up for lunch, we sent a party of four back up the trail to locate them and the main body of our team continued on to our destination.. The lost souls and the “rescue team” found us in Big Maxxon Meadow - the had followed a fisherman’s trail down the canyon wall.
When we had come out of the Wilderness and had shuttled our cars down to Wishon Reservoir, we drove to the little store nearby for a very welcome hot shower for everyone. We changed into fresh clothing (several of the girls brought skirts or dresses) and observed our tradition by stopping on the road for a pizza dinner. Most of us were home by midnight on Saturday.
One man in each patrol carried a set of 7.5 minute series USGS topo maps, as well as the latest Forest Service map and compass. The topo maps were updated with the latest trail information from the Forest Service map, with our route highlighted in yellow. In addition, an evacuation route (rapid descent to lower altitude) from Devil’s Punchbowl was marked in pink highlighter. Ray carried the Wilderness Permit and the listing of camping and fire restrictions which are in effect. In addition, we carried a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) receiver with this year, a lightweight unit provided to us by Trimble Navigation. We used it one time during our cross country hike to verify our position. We were also offered the use of a pair of 2 Watt 2 meter transceivers, which we left at the trailhead. We wished we had them with us when the men got lost. As part of our preparations before the outing, the man of each patrol was given a handout on rock climbing basics. Finally, two leaders carried altimeter/barometers.
Except for Wednesday, we were on the trail by 9:00 AM or so each day, a bit later than was once our habit on “Fifties.” While ton the trail, we often hiked in two or three groups, with the slower people (and at least one leader) bringing up the rear. On Wednesday’s cross country adventure, we hiked as a single team. On reaching our destination for the day, we made camp and attended to our chores. Immediately upon arrival, our SPL designated a portion of the forest for women to use and another for the men (on opposite sides of our camp). Firewood was gathered by one of the patrols, on rotation, each afternoon. Each morning, one of the patrols would pick the foil out of the ashes of the campfire. Afternoons in camp were devoted to reading, talking, doing laundry and hair, swimming and relaxing. Before dinner, the men would rig bear bagging lines because bears are a very real problem in the Sierra, this was a job taken quite seriously. In order to keep bears away from our sleeping area, we generally cooked and stored our food at least 150 feet away from our camp.
Unlike any previous “Fifty”, we caught trout every day of the trip. When fish hit on every third cast, fishing takes the aspect of work. We put most of them back, and those of us who brought tackle shared it with the girls who did not. Several of the girls (and one leader) came down with severe cases of trout fever, fishing until dark or before dawn on several days.
Each evening we had a nice campfire, cooking and eating trout and (most evenings) singing. At Courtright Reservoir (during the acclimation camp) and at Woodchuck Lake, they picked up large amounts of trash left by other campers. At Woodchuck Lake, they burned as much as the could and carried the rest out. The whole troop participated, and the whole troop gets an “Atta-Girl” from their leaders.
Except for light sprinkles at Rae Lake on Sunday afternoon, we had virtually perfect weather for the entire outing. Each afternoon, thunderheads would gather in the sky and we would hear the rumble of distant thunder, but we stayed dry. Throughout the hike, we enjoyed alpine conditions, with daytime highs in the 60’s and night time lows in the 30’s and low 40’s. We awoke on Thursday morning to find frost on our sleeping bags and an air temperature of 35 degrees F, but nobody complained of the cold. Light snowfall last winter and a warm spring melted all of the snow along our route except for one little patch at the bas of the Two Passes.
We saw no sign of bears this year, for which we were grateful. We did spot one weasel, a quick and graceful golden creature, at Rae Lake. Like the trout, woodchucks and/or marmots were plentiful, providing us with entertainment on the last few days of our hike. We saw numerous raptors and other birds, especially with the aid of bird watcher Paul’s sharp eyes. A special treat was the pair of long eared owls spotted during lunch at 10,300 feet altitude.
Mosquitoes and other bugs were a very minor problem this year. The girls hardly seemed aware of them.
While we enjoyed the wildflowers we saw (columbines, buttercups, wild azaleas, lupines, asters, shooting stars, tiger lilies and others), there were fewer of them than is usually the case, especially the lupines. The warm and early spring this year meant that we missed the best part of the flower show.
Nineteen girls, women and men of Troop 253 shared in the challenge and delights of our twelfth annual Fifty Miler in the rugged and beautiful John Muir Wilderness. Each day brought fresh adventures and challenges for us to meet and enjoy. Despite being the largest team to undertake a “Fifty”, we worked smoothly as a team before and throughout the outing. The girls showed a true spirit of sisterhood and mutual cooperation, both on the outing and during the weeks of preparation before it. Senior leaders Vern and Ray enjoyed seeing new leaders Mike and Paul willingly undertake their responsibilities this year, including taking care of all wilderness medicine tasks. All of us, both kids and adults, grew to appreciate each other, shared with each other our delight in the wild and magnificent scenery which surrounded us, and drew a fresh sense of confidence from meeting (and beating) the challenges which “the mountain” threw up before us. As is the case every year, we finished the outing by beginning to think about next year’s adventure. We four leaders who went on the outing, who place so much importance upon courage, self-reliance and outdoor skills in “our” girls, were very proud to watch them once again prove the wisdom of the Roman philosopher Virgil when he observed:
