TR: Glacier Divide, July 8-12, 2014
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:01 am
Earlier this month, two friends and I completed a loop across the Glacier Divide. We hiked out of North Lake, taking Lamarck Col over and then down to Darwin Bench. From there we crossed back over via Alpine Col and spent some time at Lake Muriel before hiking out over Piute Pass and back to North Lake.
K drove from San Jose on Tuesday, July 8th and picked up N in Davis before meeting me in Auburn. We drove over I-80 and down 395 to Bishop. After grabbing our permit and some sandwiches, we drove to North Lake, ate, and then hiked in to Lower Lamarck Lake. The bugs were a problem at North Lake, but lessened as we climbed. By about 7:30 pm we had found a simple campsite right off the trail and went to sleep early in anticipation of an early start the next day.
I awoke nauseous and with a headache. We hoped the night at Lower Lamarck would help with acclimation, but obviously it wasn't enough. After water, ibuprofen, coffee, and some food I felt better and by about 7:30 we were climbing. I felt better as the day progressed.
The hike up to Lamarck Col has been well documented, so I'll just say a few things. We were pleased with how defined the trail is and loved the views afforded. At the top the snow field worried me at first, but once I got to it and felt how soft it was, we climbed it easily. It was the first time crossing Lamarck Col for all of us.
We had spotted a lone hiker catching up with us and just after we reached the col, Dario, long time back-country ranger, caught up welcomed us to Kings Canyon. He gave us some advice on our route down and camping spots in Darwin Canyon. Then he kept on hiking, moving much faster than us. We were impressed as he probably has 20 years on us. We hiked down into the canyon, encountering a few talus fields. We made camp between the last two lakes, worried about some dark clouds over the divide. No significant rain to report.
N and I fished for a while and there were large Goldens everywhere. Unfortunately, they were not interested in anything we threw at them. They looked to be spawning and were more concerned about defending shallow patches of sand than eating.
The next morning I awoke nauseous again, but the same ibuprofen/coffee ritual helped me overcome it and we hiked down to Darwin Bench. After finding a high spot between the two creeks and dumping our packs we hiked around the bench. It was amazing. We sat overlooking Evolution Valley and took in the view of so many high peaks. K went off to explore as N and I fished our way back up the bench. The Goldens were small, but they hit everything. Their bellies were the brighest red-orange I've ever seen on Goldens. We plucked them out all afternoon—great fun.
We encountered a lone hiker—a Marine fresh out of the service who was on his first trip into the Sierra. He was doing a 3-night trip over Piute Pass, down Piute Canyon to the PCT, back up Evolution Valley, and out over Lamarck Col. He was solo. We chatted for a while and gave him some info on the route up to Lamarck Col. We were impressed. After that, some alpine frisbee filled part of the evening and then we all slept great.
I awoke feeling great. We packed up an started on what would be a huge day for us—over Alpine Col. We took a route that had us cross the isthmus between Lakes 11540 and 11546 and stay left of the drainage from Lake 11910. We intended to follow the west side of Lake 11910 as suggested in Secor. It was the real start to some serious talus-hopping. Secor also mentions granite ledges to follow, and so that lead me to make a mistake. It looked as if there was a cliff face on the west side that would require us to go up and over. I thought getting above that early would be best and so followed a scree line up to some granite ledges that required a barely class 3 move. That move scared me though and I did not feel comfortable having N and K follow me. I also did not like the idea of climbing down. I directed them to see if there was lower route and I continued on the cliff tops hoping to find a talus or scree line to descend. We were separated, I did not know if I'd be able to find a route down, and a mistake at this point would be costly, if not deadly. I had to collect myself for a moment and then I moved forward. I did find a talus line down and N and K stayed on the shore and were able to cross below the cliff on a snow field. We met back up and started the climb up to Alpine Col. We went up the middle ramp and the climb became easier the higher we went. We took a break at the top, quite pleased with ourselves.
...continued...
K drove from San Jose on Tuesday, July 8th and picked up N in Davis before meeting me in Auburn. We drove over I-80 and down 395 to Bishop. After grabbing our permit and some sandwiches, we drove to North Lake, ate, and then hiked in to Lower Lamarck Lake. The bugs were a problem at North Lake, but lessened as we climbed. By about 7:30 pm we had found a simple campsite right off the trail and went to sleep early in anticipation of an early start the next day.
I awoke nauseous and with a headache. We hoped the night at Lower Lamarck would help with acclimation, but obviously it wasn't enough. After water, ibuprofen, coffee, and some food I felt better and by about 7:30 we were climbing. I felt better as the day progressed.
The hike up to Lamarck Col has been well documented, so I'll just say a few things. We were pleased with how defined the trail is and loved the views afforded. At the top the snow field worried me at first, but once I got to it and felt how soft it was, we climbed it easily. It was the first time crossing Lamarck Col for all of us.
We had spotted a lone hiker catching up with us and just after we reached the col, Dario, long time back-country ranger, caught up welcomed us to Kings Canyon. He gave us some advice on our route down and camping spots in Darwin Canyon. Then he kept on hiking, moving much faster than us. We were impressed as he probably has 20 years on us. We hiked down into the canyon, encountering a few talus fields. We made camp between the last two lakes, worried about some dark clouds over the divide. No significant rain to report.
N and I fished for a while and there were large Goldens everywhere. Unfortunately, they were not interested in anything we threw at them. They looked to be spawning and were more concerned about defending shallow patches of sand than eating.
The next morning I awoke nauseous again, but the same ibuprofen/coffee ritual helped me overcome it and we hiked down to Darwin Bench. After finding a high spot between the two creeks and dumping our packs we hiked around the bench. It was amazing. We sat overlooking Evolution Valley and took in the view of so many high peaks. K went off to explore as N and I fished our way back up the bench. The Goldens were small, but they hit everything. Their bellies were the brighest red-orange I've ever seen on Goldens. We plucked them out all afternoon—great fun.
We encountered a lone hiker—a Marine fresh out of the service who was on his first trip into the Sierra. He was doing a 3-night trip over Piute Pass, down Piute Canyon to the PCT, back up Evolution Valley, and out over Lamarck Col. He was solo. We chatted for a while and gave him some info on the route up to Lamarck Col. We were impressed. After that, some alpine frisbee filled part of the evening and then we all slept great.
I awoke feeling great. We packed up an started on what would be a huge day for us—over Alpine Col. We took a route that had us cross the isthmus between Lakes 11540 and 11546 and stay left of the drainage from Lake 11910. We intended to follow the west side of Lake 11910 as suggested in Secor. It was the real start to some serious talus-hopping. Secor also mentions granite ledges to follow, and so that lead me to make a mistake. It looked as if there was a cliff face on the west side that would require us to go up and over. I thought getting above that early would be best and so followed a scree line up to some granite ledges that required a barely class 3 move. That move scared me though and I did not feel comfortable having N and K follow me. I also did not like the idea of climbing down. I directed them to see if there was lower route and I continued on the cliff tops hoping to find a talus or scree line to descend. We were separated, I did not know if I'd be able to find a route down, and a mistake at this point would be costly, if not deadly. I had to collect myself for a moment and then I moved forward. I did find a talus line down and N and K stayed on the shore and were able to cross below the cliff on a snow field. We met back up and started the climb up to Alpine Col. We went up the middle ramp and the climb became easier the higher we went. We took a break at the top, quite pleased with ourselves.
...continued...