Baxter Pass trip 6-10-07

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Baffman
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Baxter Pass trip 6-10-07

Post by Baffman »

I planned a hike from Baxter Pass Trailhead to Shepherd's Pass Trailhead via Junction Pass. The trip started out well. I made it over Baxter Pass and to the Baxter Lakes for the first night. It reached about 32F that night, but I stayed cozy. There were some snow fields to cross on the northwest side of Baxter, but no troubles. I packed up in the morning and made my way down to Dollar Lake for lunch. The trail is sort of hard to follow in places. I didn't really have too many mosquitoes until I got around the green and almost swampy spots around Dollar, Arrowhead and the Rae Lakes. Still, they weren't that bad. I soaked my sore feet and cleaned up a bit before heading up to Dragon Lake. My new, fancy-bo-jangles boots have been rubbing the bottoms of my feet something fierce. It felt like I was getting blistered, but I never did. Dragon Lake is very pretty. I'm really glad I finally went up there. I had planned on spending the night there, but it was only 230 and the campsites weren't that great. Dragon Peak is awesome. I hung out a while and then headed back down to Rae Lakes. Now, I went to bed about 630pm with a few clouds, left the rainfly off. I woke up at 9pm to totally clear skies and a heavy layer of dew. It might as well have rained. At 1130pm, I was awake again, all my gear damp, my sleeping bag clammy and I couldn't get back to sleep. At 1am I gave up. I packed up and hit the trail at 130am with my headlamp. I had some reservations about going over Glen Pass in the dark with snow by myself. It was only spooky when I looked down and saw snow and the blackness. The snow was iced up, but there were pretty good paths already cut in the snow. I made it to the pass at 340am. This is about the same time the moon came up. It was a unique experience to be at near 12,000 feet, in the dark, all alone staring at the stars and the moon. I stayed for 30 minutes. It was cold and breezy up top. By the time I reached the trail junction for Kearsarge/Vidette Meadows, my feet were on fire and I decided to head on out over Kearsarge. As disrupted as my sleep pattern was, I knew I was going to be struggling. I reached Onion Valley at 930am and bummed a ride to Independence with a PCT hiker who had borrowed a car. Although I didn't do the trip I had originally planned, I had a great time. I did decide to get a new pack and a new tent. I have two tents. One I love, but it's a bit heavy. The other I hate, but it's lightweight. I'm going to find one I love that is lightweight. My pack is in good shape and is comfortable, but I've been wanting to try an ultralight pack for a while now. Here's link to a few of the pictures I took.

http://picasaweb.google.com/RobBaffrey/ ... rge6200702
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copeg
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Post by copeg »

What an adventure. Very cool pics! I've had a similar experience down on Woods Creek where the dew dampened everything to the point that it seemed as though it rained - and I was sleeping with no tent. Must've been quite an experience climbing Glen Pass in the middle of the night, and to watch the moon rise from there, I can only imagine!
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Baffman
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Post by Baffman »

It was pretty cool.
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madeintahoe
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Post by madeintahoe »

Beautiful pictures! I have seen in another few pictures that red charcoal colored slope at Baxter pass...very interesting I think..that is a totally differnt area for sure. Dragon Lake is very pretty..I always wondered what that lake looked like.
Thank you for sharing your pictures...what a ncie trip you had :D
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