emigrant expedition
DAY 1:
my ja buddy k and i went on a much anticipated backpacking trip to emigrant wilderness over the weekend. we first drove up to the ranger station in mi-wok, got a back country permit, signed in, and drove further north to the trail head at gianelli. despite the gorgeous whether we were experiencing, the ranger told us that a cold front was coming in, so we'd probably see some rain and possibly a thunder, and in higher parts, snow. we were not too discouraged by that, so we went, with high spirits, fishing polls, and well packed packs onto the trail (the wrong one, actually, but it eventually met the trail we were planning on taking... haha).
i had been getting so sick of the life in the city, so i was super energized and stoked to be in such an amazing natural space. we kept a good pace, chatting away about life and such, and we did not have any difficulty getting to our first destination, chewing gum lake.
we pitched a tent on the south east side (i think) of the lake, and went looking for grasshoppers, which k has convinced me that they make perfect baits for fishing in the sierra lakes. skeptical though i was, i searched and searched and found none around the lake, even though we saw lots of them along the way. perhaps it's because the temperature was beginning to plunge. i started having altitude headache in the late afternoon, but had a good appetite, and it did not stop me from indulging in the back country wine k brought in a sack. i ended up not taking any pain killers, just letting sleep do its healing job and getting my body acclimatized.
DAY2:
unfortunately, the sleep for both of us was quite restless, due to all night of gusty wind and occasional sprinkling of rain/snow/sleet. wind was what really did it - it made booming sounds all over and kept us up all night. regardless, we got ourselves up eventually (me without a head ache!), bundled up in our warmest gears we brought, successfully completed the wild-dumping, and continued our hike towards the toe jam lake... but hell, it was getting COLD. we were up around 2400ft by then, so soon enough, we found ourselves in the snow shower.
we also missed a turn onto the trail that supposedly lead to toe jam. so instead of backtracking our path, we went off-trail and traversed. luckily, i'm a pretty easy-going person so i went along with k's adventurous (and sometimes reckless) intuition, blazing trails, looking for any clues of "unmaintained trail" that would take us to toe jam lake. we went on for about two hours, and finally settled to head for a body of water we were able to spot with our eyes. we were least convinced that it was toe jam, but at that point, we were both pretty tired and my feet were definitely beginning to ache. (i also decided to stick with my cotton socks preference unlike all other trekkers i've known in my life... wool sox give me TERRIBLE blisters!) i think where we ended up was the y-meadow lake(dam). regardless, we were happy to just pitch our tent and eat, have some beers, and possibly cast our lines to see if we can get some fish. temperature had definitely plunged even further, so just after about 1/2 hr of attempting to fish, we decided to head back to the camp. we made the most amazing fire that night, and ate and drank backpackers' margaritas like a couple of homo champs!
DAY 3:
although we were both quite tired, we again had a night of light sleep, this time due to the coldness. such is life of a backpacker, i suppose. the morning was chilly, although there was a hint of sunshine, and that made us feel hopeful that we may be able to stop at powell lake and try to fish there on our way out. for the rest of the morning, the weather remained questionable, with an occasional burst of sun, and during one of these sunny moments we came across two fat grasshoppers! k with his rubber bands and i with my dizzy method (a popular way to catch dragonflies in asia), we each successfully captured the buggers, and with big smiles on our faces, we headed home-bound on the trail. whenever the sun went away, the temperature sank back and there were hints of snow showers here and there, so i kept snacking on high fat snacks to keep myself warm, and i think that helped me a lot, since k started to feel fatigued. so i took on some camping gears that he insisted on carrying, and took many breaks to enjoy and soak up the gorgeous scenery of the emigrant, and to regain some energy. we made it to powell lake in a pretty good time, so we decided to have a late lunch there and fish.
no luck though. the poor hoppers just got soaked and no fish ate them. it was disappointing to say the least, but it was hailing by then too. so before we got too cold we packed up and left for the trail head so that we can get out of there before the sunset. as we went down the altitude, the temperature recovered (although not by much) and i enjoyed seeing wild flowers flourishing all over. so beautiful.
at the trail head, we saw packers with llamas! apparently you can rent these animals to go backpacking. whoa.
on the way home, we simultaneously thought of juicy, fatty, tasty in-n-out burger animal style, so we grubbed at the norcal's favorite burger joint, and returned to oakland.
even though i came home empty handed (without a fish), all stinky and tired, there was a surprise apple pie in the oven - v is just about the sweetest thing that's ever happened to my life! I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HER.
my ja buddy k and i went on a much anticipated backpacking trip to emigrant wilderness over the weekend. we first drove up to the ranger station in mi-wok, got a back country permit, signed in, and drove further north to the trail head at gianelli. despite the gorgeous whether we were experiencing, the ranger told us that a cold front was coming in, so we'd probably see some rain and possibly a thunder, and in higher parts, snow. we were not too discouraged by that, so we went, with high spirits, fishing polls, and well packed packs onto the trail (the wrong one, actually, but it eventually met the trail we were planning on taking... haha).
i had been getting so sick of the life in the city, so i was super energized and stoked to be in such an amazing natural space. we kept a good pace, chatting away about life and such, and we did not have any difficulty getting to our first destination, chewing gum lake.
we pitched a tent on the south east side (i think) of the lake, and went looking for grasshoppers, which k has convinced me that they make perfect baits for fishing in the sierra lakes. skeptical though i was, i searched and searched and found none around the lake, even though we saw lots of them along the way. perhaps it's because the temperature was beginning to plunge. i started having altitude headache in the late afternoon, but had a good appetite, and it did not stop me from indulging in the back country wine k brought in a sack. i ended up not taking any pain killers, just letting sleep do its healing job and getting my body acclimatized. DAY2:
unfortunately, the sleep for both of us was quite restless, due to all night of gusty wind and occasional sprinkling of rain/snow/sleet. wind was what really did it - it made booming sounds all over and kept us up all night. regardless, we got ourselves up eventually (me without a head ache!), bundled up in our warmest gears we brought, successfully completed the wild-dumping, and continued our hike towards the toe jam lake... but hell, it was getting COLD. we were up around 2400ft by then, so soon enough, we found ourselves in the snow shower.
we also missed a turn onto the trail that supposedly lead to toe jam. so instead of backtracking our path, we went off-trail and traversed. luckily, i'm a pretty easy-going person so i went along with k's adventurous (and sometimes reckless) intuition, blazing trails, looking for any clues of "unmaintained trail" that would take us to toe jam lake. we went on for about two hours, and finally settled to head for a body of water we were able to spot with our eyes. we were least convinced that it was toe jam, but at that point, we were both pretty tired and my feet were definitely beginning to ache. (i also decided to stick with my cotton socks preference unlike all other trekkers i've known in my life... wool sox give me TERRIBLE blisters!) i think where we ended up was the y-meadow lake(dam). regardless, we were happy to just pitch our tent and eat, have some beers, and possibly cast our lines to see if we can get some fish. temperature had definitely plunged even further, so just after about 1/2 hr of attempting to fish, we decided to head back to the camp. we made the most amazing fire that night, and ate and drank backpackers' margaritas like a couple of homo champs! DAY 3:
although we were both quite tired, we again had a night of light sleep, this time due to the coldness. such is life of a backpacker, i suppose. the morning was chilly, although there was a hint of sunshine, and that made us feel hopeful that we may be able to stop at powell lake and try to fish there on our way out. for the rest of the morning, the weather remained questionable, with an occasional burst of sun, and during one of these sunny moments we came across two fat grasshoppers! k with his rubber bands and i with my dizzy method (a popular way to catch dragonflies in asia), we each successfully captured the buggers, and with big smiles on our faces, we headed home-bound on the trail. whenever the sun went away, the temperature sank back and there were hints of snow showers here and there, so i kept snacking on high fat snacks to keep myself warm, and i think that helped me a lot, since k started to feel fatigued. so i took on some camping gears that he insisted on carrying, and took many breaks to enjoy and soak up the gorgeous scenery of the emigrant, and to regain some energy. we made it to powell lake in a pretty good time, so we decided to have a late lunch there and fish.
no luck though. the poor hoppers just got soaked and no fish ate them. it was disappointing to say the least, but it was hailing by then too. so before we got too cold we packed up and left for the trail head so that we can get out of there before the sunset. as we went down the altitude, the temperature recovered (although not by much) and i enjoyed seeing wild flowers flourishing all over. so beautiful. 
at the trail head, we saw packers with llamas! apparently you can rent these animals to go backpacking. whoa. on the way home, we simultaneously thought of juicy, fatty, tasty in-n-out burger animal style, so we grubbed at the norcal's favorite burger joint, and returned to oakland.
even though i came home empty handed (without a fish), all stinky and tired, there was a surprise apple pie in the oven - v is just about the sweetest thing that's ever happened to my life! I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HER.
posted by rikitikitembo at 2:18 PM
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