1997 JOHN MUIR WILDERNESS 50 MILER THE TRIP VIEWED THROUGH THE EYES OF NICOLE

JULY 18-FRIDAY - DAY ZERO

Now who would have thought that a nice five hour car drive could be decent? No, I'm not being sarcastic this time.  Except for a bit of car sickness in Mr.  Slusser's car, not much happened.  A nice scenic lunch in Los Banos.  Ha Ha Ha.
Our last real
dinner of spaghetti,
almost normal toilet and
non-iodized water
for the week.
There were nice rocks to climb on around our campsite.
As yet the full moon has not brought out a single solitary werewolf.
We're starting a 50 mile hike tomorrow?!

JULY 19-SATURDAY - DAY ONE - DESTINATION: DUCK LAKE

The weather was nice to start our hike.  Although it was only a four mile day there was plenty of elevation to start the breathing.  Not much happened until lunch when a piece of beef jerky took a tooth of Laura's out.  Fortunately it was dead, so an immediate turn around wasn't needed.
You could tell that this was a horse camp because there was a pot and cane of soup left behind in one of the fire pits.  The pot had a hole in it.
Duck Lake was nicer than the leaders had expected.  We got in early enough for Heber, Paul, and Suzanne to go fishing, for Molly, Shannon, and myself to go swimming, and for Ann and Harmony to take a nap.  I don't know what Laura was doing.
Rumor has it that Heber almost fell in the lake, but I didn't get a confirmation on that.
In a search for firewood I stumbled across the skeletonized remains of a cow.  Note: Change the name of Duck Lake to Dead Skeletonized Cow Lake.  I saw no ducks.
It's nice how chemical reactions can bring people together.  I mean fire, for those sick-minded individuals out there.  A spirited discussion about this-and-that took place.
We started the day with four adults with full sets of teeth and ended the day with five adults minus one tooth.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ANN ON HER 18TH! Thank you Paul for packing in the brownies, they were wonderful.
Another beautiful moon with no werewolves as yet.

JULY 20-SUNDAY - DAY TWO - DESTINATION: SCEPTER LAKE

The cross-country out of Dead Skeletonized Cow Lake wasn't nearly as hard or time consuming as I had expected, but then this is my first miler.  At the top of the pass a debate started on what a rock formation looked like.  To me it looked like an amazon lying down with her head tilted back.
On another note; I think that they should change the name of Duck Lake to Dead Skeletonized Cow Lake and write the new name on all the maps.
We had lunch after going up Chuck Pass .  Molly said at the campfire that we should have cheese, pickles, and chocolate for lunch.  I don't think that would be a good idea after going up Chuck Pass.  (Up Chuck Pass! Ha Ha Ha! Poor Harmony was already looking a little pale, but she did look better later.
We made good time to the camp, despite some slow going at the end.  I think the constant mosquitoes and flies may have been a big part in making this seven mile day go so fast.  We had plenty of time to chill when we got in.
Arrgh, some horse campers left a boot behind in a still smoldering fire.
Scepter lake was only waist deep.  I believe that another name change should take place.  Scepter to Septic.
The dark clouds that loomed over the hills kept off our camp, we didn't even have to set up shelters.  Although Mr.  Slusser kept saying he would like some thunder and lightning.

JULY 21-MONDAY - DAY THREE - DESTINATION: PEARL LAKE (THAT WAS WHERE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO)

Our hike up Scepter Pass was rewarded with a beautiful view supposedly it is the easiest pass to go up.  I cannot say that going down was exactly my cup of tea.  We think there might have been a trail going down, but we're not supposed to tell the horses that, they wouldn't like to hear the news.  All I can say on the horse issue is I wouldn't want to try to bring them back there.
Even though we left later than hoped, we needn't have worried about the time.  Our group makes pretty amazing time.
At lunch a solitary man walked through our camp, didn't say a word, and speeded up so he could get out of our sight as fast as possible.  Paul and Heber didn't even see him.  Lunch was nasty, well at least the dried apples were.  I don't think it helped that I kept telling everyone that they looked like the ears were cut off our fetal pig when we were dissecting the brain.  The peanut butter was WONDERFUL! You didn't even need the apples to eat it.
Some things about the hike from there into Portal Lake
Good things:
the wildflowers were beautiful
Bad things:
the mosquitoes weren't as bad as going into Septic, er Scepter Lake.
it was muddy
all uphill, fairly steep too
in the mud
the sound of a scout gagging on a mosquito was fairly common
there were enough mosquitoes
uphill in the mud, breathing bugs
Mr. Slusser was granted his wish for rain.  At least the rain gods decided to wait until we were within a few hundred yards of camp before unleashing their fury.  It was cool seeing lightning strike so close to where we were.  At least the rain made all the bugs go away.  However, sitting crowded, cold, and damp underneath a shelter is no way to spend the afternoon.  I mean we weren't cold just because we were damp, a hundred yards away from the camp there was snow on the ground.  Which Molly felt a need to go play in even before the rain had stopped.  Mr.  Slusser obliged her wishes and went with her.
Once the rain stopped we walked the final yards into the proper camp and Mr.  Slusser started a fire.  Mind you it took a while, but it did sure feel nice when it was going.
Had it not started raining, we probably would have made it into Pearl Lake early.  At that, we didn't know what the clouds were going to do next.  We set camp at Portal Lake.  I am told that we are less than a mile out.
I have to say that Portal Lake is nice.  There is a waterfall right next to our camp.  It's flowing down from Cathedral Lake which is at the top of a vertical rock face from where our camp is.  There are plenty of rocks to squat behind, but precious little dirt to dig a hole in.
The feeling around camp is of exhaustion.
The leaders decided it was our turn to put the bear bags up.  It took forever to get one up.  We summoned "the force" to aid in our efforts.  I believe that Molly prayed to the tree.
The clouds made for a beautiful sunset.
Molly and I would have howled at the moon, but it was hiding.

JULY 22-TUESDAY - DAYFOUR - DESTINATlON: UNKNOWN

A sacrifice must be made.
At four this morning we were awaken by our leaders because we had to make shelters because it was raining.  It is fortunate that last night all six girls had decided to sleep near each other instead of in two groups like we had been.  This made the shelter building much easier.  I thank our leaders for doing most of the work.  Letting themselves get wet so we could stay dry.  They had our shelter up in less than ten minutes.  Of course the rain started just as I was finally falling into a good deep sleep.  Do you think that it was any kind of forewarning when I woke up on Monday with "It's the End of the World as We Know It" stuck in my head? Nah.
Suzanne said that Mr.  Slusser must have dreamed about rain last night.  It was decided that today shall be our layover day.  It's really cheesy that it's cold and wet.  If the sun had decided to show her face we might have been able to swim and wash the filth off of everything.
Well that is not to say that people didn't try.  After Molly and Harmony got up at eleven they decided that they were going to wash their hair.  Shannon joined in on the madness .  Laura washed her clothes.  Suzanne, Ann, and I watched them.  We were doing our best to stay warm with all our clothes on, never mind getting our heads wet.  The men folk went fishing.
We met the marmots.  Apparently they were not getting enough cotton in their diets so they felt the need to eat Mr.  Slusser's bandannas.  Laura scared, or tried to scare them off.  At least she got the bandannas back, albeit that they were both marmotized.  Mr. Slusser, in his true fashion decided that he would just have to hem them when he got home.  It's not like bandannas are an expensive item.  Oh well.

In the afternoon Heber, Paul, Ann, Molly, and Shannon went on a day hike to see what Pearl Lake looked like while everyone else stayed nice and toasty in their sleeping bags.  Although, I am told, Pearl Lake was a nicer lake for layover day activities, it was not as well suited for camping purposes.
The sunset almost made up for the grayness of the day.  It was Benadrl colored.  The clouds looked as if they had been set on fire in fluorescent shades of orange, pink, red, and purple.  For a minute the rocks glowed red.  You could never capture the true intensity of what that sunset was on film.  To really understand the feeling you'd have to have seen the rain all day, the darkness of the hills, not even mentioning what all your other senses were feeling.
Decisions on what is to be done tomorrow will depend on the moods of the weather gods.  It looks like it might clear, really.

JULY 23-WEDNESDAY - DAY FIVE - DESTINATION: UNKNOWN-      I O'CLOCK'S DESTINATION: HALF MOON LAKE

Ahh, the joys of waking up at 7:30 to our ever so friendly leaders telling us that the clouds are only fog, even though it happens to be raining quite significantly.  Fun, fun, fun.  Oh, the joys of getting eight people, two of them tall men, into an emergency shelter that is smaller than some peoples walk-in closets, except this one is about three feet high and staying there for three hours.  Laura was smart and stayed in her own shelter where she was undoubtedly more comfortable.  There was not much to do but, sit, stare, sleep, and try to stay warm.  The fact that we were all so close to each other greatly helped in the staying warm.  Suzanne has now forbidden me from telling her any more stories.
There was an all too brief interlude where it wasn't raining, but it the rain soon sent us back diving for cover.
I must say it is no fun dropping your drawers in the rain.  In fact it is much worse when you were already out using a bush and it does start raining.
This time all nine of us were forced under the same shelter.  Around one p.m.  the rain stopped so we decided to head out while the going was still good.  We broke a layover camp in a record half-hour time.  Since the weather was still remaining untrustworthy we had to resort to a backup plan of hiking to Half Moon Lake rather than going on our planned route.  We were cheated out of our hike up Blackcap Mountain and we didn't get to camp at Guest Lake.  However I can't say that I would have wanted go five miles cross country or down a level two hike in the rain or the fog.
It's amazing what our group does when we have the motivation.  Like finding alternate stream crossings than what the leaders were going to try to have us do.  The hike down from Portal was beautiful.  The bugs had not yet returned in full force and I was quite literally up to my armpits in wildflowers.  Even the mud wasn't so bad going back down.  The only reason my socks got wet, excepting sweat, was when the mud went over the top of my boot and down my ankle.  I was surprised at the number of people going back up to Portal as we were leaving.  It was definitely fortunate that we decided to leave today.  Portal was a small campsite.
That motivation had me arriving at Half Moon Lake at 5:30.  It was a seven mile hike.  We left at one p.m.  When I arrived I was practically asleep on my feet.  Camp and dinner were made in remarkable time.  We set up shelters just in case.  It was nice that the weather smiled on the day's hike.  There was no place between Portal and Half Moon Lake that we could have camped.  It was an all or nothing decision to go.  We got lucky.
Half Moon Lake was beautiful.  The water was very warm, it would have been lovely to go swimming.  I wish we could have had our layover day here.
Due to the rain, all the wood that was gathered for the fire was damp.  I did get within thirty feet of a doe when I started getting wood.  Anyway getting the fire started was a real problem.  Since none of us were having our periods at the time, we decided to start burning our supplies.  Oh yes, Paul and Heber were out fishing so it was just us women folk with our responsible leader, Laura.  The bags to pack out our stuff burned better than the tampons.  Definitely a female bonding experience.  It was decided that all campers should carry supplies.  A unisex and sanitary fire was what we had.  When the men came back they were wary, they had heard our laughter and were glad that they had been out of camp.  We joked about how they should warm their hands over the fire, both of them stood away with their hands in their pockets.  Suzanne bet $5 that they knew what we had done, so I bet another $5 that they wouldn't say it out loud.
Both Molly and Ann had had bad feelings about bears in this campsite.  It was definitely worth it to watch the leaders put the bear bags up in the tree.  When we went to use the bathroom Molly was refusing to be the first one to dig a hole.  She also insisted on sleeping in the middle of the shelter.  It didn't help that at dinner Molly had spilled a cup of chicken soup on her lap when she was trying to swat a mosquito.
Molly also provided the amusement of the night because after we had all gotten in our bags Molly fell asleep and started talking.  She told us how she was going to make her invisible cow George into a vampire, about gluing her shoe to the top of the Empire State building, and how she couldn't have the Boston Tea Party because the water wouldn't boil.

JULY 24-THURSDAY - DAY SIX - DESTINATION: WOODCHUCK LAKE

Man, it was cold when we woke up.  It was decided that we would hike to Woodchuck Lake and not spend another layover at Half Moon Lake.  This was the decision because of the lateness in the week, it was cold, and the dual facts of the tooth, or lack of, that Laura had lost was beginning to bother her, and she believed that she was also getting a sinus infection.  I was a bit sad to leave Half Moon Lake behind.  In my opinion, it was the nicest place we had camped.
The hike to Woodchuck Lake was only supposed to have been five miles but we ended up missing our turn and taking a well used but unmarked trail.  Even though Heber and Paul hadn't agreed on where we were, we pressed on which is why we ended up so far off trail.  I think we ended up nearly a mile off where we wanted to be before we got out the Global Positioning System.  Suzanne found a new toy with buttons.  It's funny that when we retraced our steps we found the trail exactly where it was supposed to be with a big spray painted rock showing exactly which way to go.  All nine of us walked by it without noticing because we all assumed we were on the right trail because it was so well used.  After getting on the right trail there were no more problems with the hike.  You could tell as we were coming into Woodchuck Lake that it was a more used campground than Half Moon Lake.  It was obvious we were getting back to civilization.  The thought of home seemed nice although seeing people again wasn't.
Given that a normal, no really, a normal, Sierra thundershower was moving in on our heels all of us girls got our shelter up and in our bags in quick time.  Although it wasn't really raining it was just so ding-clang cold, sleeping bags were just the best place to be.  No one wanted to go with me to collect fire wood, as Mr.  Slusser suggested before it got wet.  You know, it's funny, don't mess around with female rituals because they are powerful.  Five out of six of us got our periods, up from zero yesterday.  I managed to convince Suzanne to get out of her sleeping bag to help me by unzipping it from the bottom.
Later when we were all in our bags Heber came by and said that a fire would be nice.  It turns out that he had fallen in the lake.  He stepped on a slippery log that Paul had walked across, did a dance and fell in.  Poor Heber didn't even catch a fish for himself.
Now I must say something about Sierra Seats because they are something to talk about.  We didn't discover the one at Half Moon Lake until this morning and I got lost looking for the one at Woodchuck Lake.  What exactly is a Sierra Seat? Think of those pit toilets at Big Basin.  It's like one of those without walls.  At Half Moon Lake it was kind of behind some trees, but not really.  At Woodchuck Lake it was a throne behind some rocks .  An open air pit toilet, that, my friend, is what a Sierra Seat is.  At least it beats squatting.
It was 45°F when we were making dinner.  To say the least it felt good to sit around the fire.  Heber cooked the fish that Paul caught before we had Scouts Own.  Harmony and Ann planned it because this is their last outing as scouts in the troop.  They had an open forum where we just talked about how we felt during the outing.  Harmony passed Elmo, who has been on three fifties, onto Molly to be brought on further outings so the tradition can continue.
I think one of the nicest parts of the outing was how together our group was.  There were no cliques of girls pestering each other.  Our group really was a group.  The fires definitely reinforced group unity.  It's hard to describe the feeling.
The stars were out in full splendor.  Heber explained to Molly that shooting stars are about fist-sized pieces of space debris burning up in our atmosphere, so are we as individuals in a sense.  We are so small, yet we have the potential to make such a large impression.  The majesty of the Sierras also helps to reinforce just how small we are.  The last time we were at Woodchuck Lake our troop burned around fifty pounds of trash and packed out around forty more pounds.  This year with the exception of a shovel head that Molly packed out there were only a few pounds of trash.  Small things can make big impressions.

JULY 25-FRIDAY - DAYSEVEN - DESTINATION: THE CARS!

Is it a bad sign when you pull your glasses out of your boot and they have ice on them? It explains why we were all practically in each other's sleeping bags last night trying to stay warm.  I don't think I even want to know how cold it got last night.
All our camp duties were done and we were on the trail by 8:30.  We drop 3200 feet today and gain 200 over the course of ten miles.
It's funny, on our way down we saw a group of out of shape men struggling up the hill with only fishing poles and guns.  They had the nerve to make the comment that we were carrying the kitchen sink with us.  Then we came across two horses and six mules.  We may have had the kitchen sink but they had the whole goddamn house! Oooh, I dislike horse packers.  The woman leading the group of horses was just plain rude.  Paul had some bones to pick with them too.  I'm glad we left Woodchuck Lake, as nice as it was.  That's where this group was going.  Ahh, un-civilization.
Heber managed to fall in while we were crossing a stream.  He was unhurt, just wet.
Just as we were getting ready to pack up from lunch a man on his horse came by and started chatting. He arrived in California in 1936 and had been running cattle in the Sierras ever since.  Horsemen like him are cool.  The last of the real cowboys.  He deserves a horse.  The stories he told were interesting and it was nice to hear different perspectives on the changing wilderness environment.
THE CARS!!! We got to the cars around 2:30.  We would have gotten there sooner, but lunch broke the hour mark.  Our leaders can be evil.  They blackmailed us! No showers until before pictures were taken.  It felt heavenly to get clean after not being able to bathe for a week.
The pizza was even better.  The nine of us completely devoured four pizzas entirely.  It was weird in the pizza parlor, everyone was white and a few people were carrying sidearms.
It's strange.  I'm glad to go home, but we just got here yesterday, right?