Mono Creek 8/2>8

[SSSdave]

Returned from a 7 day backpack, Wednesday thru Tuesday, August 2>8, 2017, from Edison reservoir up Mono Creek, elevations between about 8k and 11k.

The first 4 days had thunderstorms with the Saturday's strong storm during a southerly Mexican Monsoon flow leaving 4 inches depths of pea and smaller sized hail across the local landscape where I was camped at about 10k. After 3 days of fair weather, strong thunderstorms began again yesterday across the range. With a snowpack that will linger into late summer at timberline and above elevations, much melt continuing to flow down into normally by mid summer dry forest elevations, and above normal summer rains, the result will be much greener landscapes late into summer at crest and timberline elevations most backpackers visit.

Lake Edison reservoir at 7650 feet elevation is almost full, thus the $23 round trip Vermillion Valley Resort ferry ride saves another half mile that we were walking during the drought years. There are streams flowing down from the high canyon slopes at frequent intervals all along the canyon bottom trail, thus no need to be carrying much water. And that also means there are numbers of wet trail areas where hikers have been making side paths to avoid the mud holes and flows down the center of trails.

Areas of snow are found in shady areas above 9.5k and increasingly where it was deep during winter above 10k. A lake above 10.5k was still 40% snow berg covered and at night the other 60% iced over with a thin layer. The recesses south of the main stream have much snow above 10k. A HSR hiker needed his crampons and ice axe to go over Gabbot Pass.

Below 8200 feet outside of late in day, mosquitoes are few even along marshy areas because damselflies and dragonflies that one sees flittering about those wet areas, have pretty much eaten most of them. However above that elevation along the main creek at the canyon bottom, there were still a fair number of mosquitoes by mid morning. A report from a hiker coming down from Second Recess was the mosquitoes there were horrible that is what one ought expect in the 4 recess canyon forest bottoms because there is more snow still melting on those shadier north facing slopes to the south. On a south facing canyon to the north that I visited, there were only minor numbers of mosquitoes even in meadows and marshy areas above 9.6k. Much of my trip I never applied DEET, lounged about mid days wearing only a cotton t-shirt unprotected. The epic hail storm certainly killed many adults as well as those in shallow pools. Also by sunrise each day above 10k temps were at freezing icing over shallow pools that suffocates the wigglers.

There were peaking wildflowers below about 9.8k with drying, gone to seed species like lupine below 8.5k. Above 10k only early summer flowers like kalmia, red heather, alpine aster, and buttercups were blooming amid lush green rising grasses and herbs. Thus the peak of wildflowers at timberline elevations most backpackers target will be mid to late August this year of 2017, about 3 or 4 weeks late. However even at those higher elevations, there are some local exposures that dried out early and are already well ahead of nearby areas that snows covered. Thus this summer wildflower synchronization is low. The epic hail storm however absolutely destroyed any blooming flowers in my local zone.

The morning after my trip, I spent a day shooting wildflowers along the Kaiser Pass road on both north and south sides of the summit. Wildflowers Tuesday August 9 were peaking with an abundance of lush plants as good as I've ever seen. And on the wet north facing slopes, there are many plants still at bud stage yet to bloom.

The PCT stream crossing at the North Fork of Mono Creek at 8200 feet should not be waded, though is only of moderate difficulty at thigh depth but rather one ought use the large log just downstream about 50 feet that is from the trail unviewable behind water birch. The main Mono Creek crossing at Second Recess is still considerably difficult. One very strong HST hiker I met with water shoes and trekking poles crossed with much effort at the trail crossing. There is a log jam one could cross near the Laurel Creek junction but would then need to cross country through awkward terrain down to Second Recess.

David