You can read the first part of this trip on the August 5, 2018
posting
Click on any image for a larger view
Day 4 - No rain this morning.
There are human made noises this morning; lots of people packing to leave
their campsites before the noon checkout time.
I am hiking the glacier trail today.
I did the first 2/3 of the trail yesterday when I hiked to the Bristlecone
pines. The glacier is just another mile and a 500’ elevation climb. My camera is the only piece of camera gear coming with me today. I saw what the trail looked like and I know there will be no room for a
tripod on the rocky trail. I was on the
trail by 800. I saw three other people
coming down the trail as I was going up.
Nobody had gone all the way to the glacier; I will be the first
today. Progressing through the scree I have to pay attention to the close-up
underfoot trail as well as the distant trail.
One can easily step on a fist sized rock the wrong way, but one can also
lose track of the trail especially when the only real difference between being
on trail and off is the size of the rocks. 
Otherwise the terrain looks pretty much the same. I don’t want to scare you away, just pay
attention. The rocks off-trail get
large; one hiker I met referred to them as ankle breakers. Rocks/boulders range from fist sized
to refrigerator sized. Very few places have
soil; this area is a pile of rocks. The
couple places I did see soil grasses and flowers not more than several inches
tall were holding on. If weeds can
survive under these conditions I get the feeling my work at weeding around my
house is pretty much in vain.
These glaciers are thick layers of ice. I got close to a few of them; I grew up with
ice and snow so I don’t have to run and jump on them to experience a
glacier. Occasionally I hear water
running under the rocks; glacier runoff.
I also hear the wind rushing between the rock formations making up the
mountainside. I even heard the familiar
buzzing, and see, bumblebees visiting the few flowers here.
As I was coming down I started seeing people hiking up the trail;
some were doing the glacier trail others just the Bristlecone pines. I stopped at Teresa lake a tenth of a mile
over on the alpine lakes trail for lunch before returning to the camper for the
afternoon.
The sun came out this afternoon giving me hope for star gazing but by early evening the clouds were back for the night. Maybe tomorrow.
Day 5 – I’m doing the Wheeler Peak trail. The summit is over 13,000’. I am not going to the summit, I want to make
it to just above the treeline, approximately 11,500’
I assume from there I will get a spectacular view of the valley below
without all those pesky trees in the way.
I pack my rain jacket just in case.
I’m on the trail at 7, nobody else has signed in the trail log so I must be one of the first hikers out again today. The earlier start allows me to see even more wildlife feeding in the meadows. This morning there are 18 deer scattered throughout the meadows. I also came across a flock of 6 turkeys. They surprised me as much as I surprised them. They just looked over at me picked up their pace a little as they kept feeding.
Approaching the saddle between peaks the wind picked up
and rain started falling lightly.
Looking at my destination I see that the rain is heavier with
Wheeler Peak being obscured by the rain.
Donning my rain jacket I keep going.
Passing through the saddle, resuming my uphill climb the slope becomes
steeper, the rocks composing the trail larger and the rain heavier. Go on or not…
I press on, the last of the trees are only a few hundred feet above
me… The rain keeps coming as I attain my
goal.
Exiting the trail towards the campground side of the mountain the rocks
become a mixture of gravel to toaster sized.
It is not a good place to hike when wet.
Making my way to the mountain edge for my desired photo I stop short when the rocks
become even larger. No photo of the
valley below. I haven’t seen anyone all morning; I don’t want to slip and possibly be the only one out here today. After 15 minutes of careful stepping down the
steep side of the saddle the trail levels out, the rain comes to a stop and I
see the first hiker. He was startled and also concerned about the absence of hikers. I am the first
person he has seen all morning. He’s going
for the top, wishing him well I continue back down the trail. 20 minutes later I start seeing others making
their way to the top. |
| Lehman caves |
There was one open spot left on one of the cave tours. The ranger leading the tour had many stories
to tell and facts to fill in explaining the formations and how the cave was
formed. I recommend making a reservation
prior for a cave tour. People were
standing in lines trying to get on a tour; I made it on to a tour because I only needed
one open spot. Cranking the ISO up past 12,000 allowed me to shoot these cave images without a tripod.
On the way back to the campsite I stopped at the lookout points
for a different perspective of the mountain chain.
Clouds moved in again this evening, no star gazing this night
either.
 |
| Forever kiss |
I went from 68° and cloudy to 80° and sunny by going down 2500’ in
elevation. I want to scout the creek, I
am told there is good fly fishing on Baker Creek. Later that afternoon I hike
along 2 miles of the creek and don’t find much more that one to two spots where
I would even attempt casting a fly. This
river has a dense forest with uncountable downed trees crisscrossing the creek.
Clouds again tonight, no star gazing.
Day 7 – I hiked pretty much all the trails in GBNP I want to hike
by myself. There are other trails but
they are remote and I am not willing to take a chance. I pack up and start my trip back to NM. The sign stating next services - 86 miles,
pauses me to think… I stop at the last gas station in NV paying $3.54 a gallon. My overall trip plan is to do a
loop back home. This time I have fewer
valleys to cross, a good thing; but they are wider, a bad thing. I’m cruising down Hwy 50 “The loneliest Hwy
in America”. I counted; I saw 50 vehicles in my 80 mile drive to the next town.
Crossing back to the eastern half of UT I start to see people
again. I thought we had wide open spaces
in NM; we do, but the scale is so much larger in this part of the west. The terrain becomes greener being surrounded
by mountains. Once I get to I-70 canyons and cream colored rock formations reappear. There are multiple wayside stops on this
stretch of I-70 just for looking at the scenery. The temperature also climbs - drastically. My stop for gas approaching
I-70 is in the low 80’s. Approaching
Green River about 100 miles east it is close to 100°. It stayed this way all the way through Moab
not cooling down until just outside of Monticello, UT.
 |
| Canyonlands from Monte-Lasal NF |
Day 8 – I am considering going home this day or camp one more
night. Driving across the desert seeing
more formations I decide on one more night of camping, but where… Crossing NM 64 I remember our Heron Lake
campout, this is the road I planned to take to Hopewell Lake in the Carson
National Forest. Calling ahead I find
out it is indeed open AND they have rescinded the stage two fire restriction –
in other words I can have a campfire… I
drive another long day so I can camp there, Hopewell Lake has been on my list;
it was recommended by a friend some time ago.
It is high, I’m again at 10,000’.
It went from 80° for most of the drive to 50° through a driving
rainstorm while on my route. I did make
it. I was somewhat disappointed with the
campground. The campsites are nice; they
are pretty level each has a fire ring and table. I think overall campground will be
outstanding in a few years when the small aspen have time to grow and fill
in. Rain came again this evening… Upon my early morning, 2AM, wakeup I saw
clear skies, lots of stars and the Milky Way.
Unfortunately my mind was not in gear to assemble all my camera equipment
to shoot a few images… Sigh
Day 9 – Heavy feet, hooves actually tromping by my window, awaken me this morning. Cows are parading up the campground
road. The sun is out and not a cloud in
the sky, a first on this trip. After my
bacon and pancake breakfast I start packing for the final drive home. The roads through the national forest are
absent of traffic. Not until I get to
Ojo Caliente do I see multiple cars. I’m
not used to this little traffic on my way home from a camping trip until I
remember that today is Wednesday, not the usually Sunday return trip. Approaching Albuquerque the temperature
starts climbing; topping out in the upper 90’s.
Several hours later the washing machine is humming away and the pile of
mail is down to the important envelopes that I have to pay attention to.
 |
| Stella Lake |
This was a good trip.
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
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