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More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 8:49 am
by bytwerk
Yet another report on the Red Mountain Basin: http://www.bytwerk.com/sierra/2010.htm

This is an area I've somehow overlooked in 40 years of hiking in the Sierra. Now that I've been there, I wonder how it escaped my notice all these years.

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:30 am
by maverick
Thanks Bytwerk for posting your TR and pictures.

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 1:13 pm
by balzaccom
Yep--we love this area. And while Lower Indian has a lot of skeeters...the fishing can be unbelievable!

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 3:30 pm
by ndwoods
I think of all the cross country I've done....I might have loved Red Mountain Basin...and where it led to.... the most!

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:03 pm
by Cloudy
Nice trip report. I too like the Red Mountain Basin and Courtright areas and this reminds me of a Courtright story.

I was coming back from doing a section of the JMT (started at Courtright) and came back past Muir Trail Ranch, walked around Florence Lake and climbed a bit to hit the Dusy-Ehrshim 4WD trail to follow back to Courtright. I had been out for 11 or so days and after some dusty plodding down the trail, I kept thinking "It would sure be great to have a beer". Well, not 1/2 hour after wishing for one, I saw something sticking out of a dusty pothole on the trail -it was an unopened can of Bud! It had probably bounced out of someone's jeep, had a "born-on" date of a month earlier and had simply been pressed into the soft dust of the pothole. I put it in my pack and cooled it in a stream that night and had a much-enjoyed cold one later that evening. I can't help thinking that I wasted the one wish in my life when I could have wished for a million dollars...

The next bit of excitement was when I followed the trail to the top of "Chicken Rock" and wondered where in the heck the trail went to get down to lake level. I poked around a bit and discovered that it went down straight over the side of the the granite dome at an approximate 45 degree angle! There really wasn't anywhere else to go so I crouched/slid/walked down that rock face and nearly crapped my pants in doing so due to sheer terror... I now have a healthy respect for ORV drivers that can master something like that. I certainly wouldn't want to do it. :-)

Alan

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:47 pm
by rightstar76
Glad that you had a fun relaxing trip Bytwerk. When I went up there I could have used a horse to carry my things between Post Corral Meadow and Disappointment Lake. That's a really nice area.

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:20 pm
by Cross Country
Red Mountain Basin and Dissapointment Lake is a great place to take kids. Mike and I hiked out from Dissapointment Lake (picture) in one day, easily. Mike was 8 yo.

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2019 1:20 pm
by kpeter
For a moment I thought we nearly crossed paths, but I see we missed each other by a day...and nine years :) Or was your trip in 2019 rather than 2010? If so, we missed at Post Corral by a day, you going out, we coming in.

We missed Rae Lake due to exhaustion but it looks lovely and I wish me made it there.

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2019 1:22 pm
by kpeter
Cross Country wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:20 pm Red Mountain Basin and Dissapointment Lake is a great place to take kids. Mike and I hiked out from Dissapointment Lake (picture) in one day, easily. Mike was 8 yo.
That is where we camped :)

Hiking out in one day is a lot more reasonable than hiking in in one day! But I am glad we did it in two, and got to see the Meadow Brook and Middle Fork by going the long way out.

Re: More on the Red Mountain Basin

Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2019 1:44 pm
by rlown
kpeter wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2019 1:20 pm For a moment I thought we nearly crossed paths, but I see we missed each other by a day...and nine years :)
CC has been unable to get back online for a while. His trip wasn't 2019.