TR 7/16-21Humbled by heat, Falls Creek, N Yosemite (part 1)

[cgundersen]

Hi John,
OK, I've added to my mental notes of route advice to check before targeting Edyth/Branigan. And I concur that topo maps can hide a lot of nasty terrain between those benign looking contours. I'm still wincing from the horrible time my wife and I had getting DOWN to the Avalanche Pass trail from the Sphinx Lakes a few years ago. After others chimed in that they had not had it so bad, I concluded that we probably chose the wrong option at every possible decision point. Just the way it is sometimes! But I'm in no hurry to go back. Oh, but I was going to comment (as I think someone else did) that much of the Pine Creek trail has been rejuvenated and it no longer has quite the killer steps. Cameron

[giantbrookie]

Oh, but I was going to comment (as I think someone else did) that much of the Pine Creek trail has been rejuvenated and it no longer has quite the killer steps. Cameron

Yeah, I descended the Pine Creek trail in 2020 with Todd and Dawn and I barely recognized it, because those hated giant steps (and not enjoyable Giant Steps, like Coltrane's) are gone. I would agree that Pine Creek is now a much more sensible trail that doesn't punish short folks so much.

My worst recent encounter with "stuff not on topo" was actually in May 2021 on my solo trip to Laurel Lake (w side trip to Vernon), when I figured on saving time by cutting off trail from the northern crossing of Frog Creek SW to the shore of Laurel Lake on the seemingly benign gentle ridge that bounds Laurel Lake to its SE. There were all these tiny nano-ridges that don't show on the map and there were some patches of really nasty, thorny brush as well as some impressively difficult patches of deadfall. What I estimated would take 10 minutes took about three times that. Who would think, looking at the map, that the gentle little ridge would be such a pain to hike over?

[robertseeburger]

Loved the trip report..nice rainbows!

This is a reminder of just how isolated many parts of northern Yosemite can be. I have never been to Branigan..and always wanted to get there.
Never been to Edyth either. But I have been to Avonelle, Ardeth, Bearup, and those all had the pleasant feel of total isolation..right near the PCT.
Branigan is on the list! (Although I hate the climb from Hetch Hetchy to Beehive!)

[Harlen]

Thanks John for another fishing and hiking classic. I reckon many of us are now pouring over the maps trying to string together elegant, or at least makeable routes connecting Lakes Vernon, Branigan and Edith. It looks like a bit of a struggle. We loved your narration of this trip with Dawn, but missed the photos by, and of Dawn-- or did she take the nice photos? Nice to see the Rattlesnake at a safe distance, I guess they made your bushwhacking more exciting from then on? Did you see the Bears, or any sign of them John? Finally, regarding wildlife, how much did your packs weigh carrying fish on the way out? Did your knee and new ankle blister suffer?

Regarding breakages of the reel, sternum strap and your ankle skin, I have done them all too. The missing sternum strap can be replaced nicely with a bandana, the ankle skin-- according to kpeter, by Second skin and Spenco wrap-- is this preferable to the old moleskin? Re. the reel, this summer I learned either the strength of 6 lb. test line, or the relative weakness of the bail. I had to remove a tangle, and thought I could just break it by hand, against the bail of the reel, but instead the damn bail snapped! I hope that Dawn made the same mistake, which will make me feel better, though she has young age as an excuse.

As others have said, great writing, and we look forward to the book.

[giantbrookie]

We loved your narration of this trip with Dawn, but missed the photos by, and of Dawn-- or did she take the nice photos? Nice to see the Rattlesnake at a safe distance, I guess they made your bushwhacking more exciting from then on? Did you see the Bears, or any sign of them John? Finally, regarding wildlife, how much did your packs weigh carrying fish on the way out? Did your knee and new ankle blister suffer?
Regarding breakages of the reel, sternum strap and your ankle skin, I have done them all too. The missing sternum strap can be replaced nicely with a bandana, the ankle skin-- according to kpeter, by Second skin and Spenco wrap-- is this preferable to the old moleskin? Re. the reel, this summer I learned either the strength of 6 lb. test line, or the relative weakness of the bail. I had to remove a tangle, and thought I could just break it by hand, against the bail of the reel, but instead the damn bail snapped!

Actually Dawn took most of the photos. Seeing a rattlesnake before one goes thrashing through brush would make most folks a bit more jittery, but I guess I'm so accustomed to it in the Coast Ranges I tune it out. I think about it before I plunge into the brush but I forget about it (more or less) while in the brush. I figure that I'm not exactly flying through and over the brush as a deer would so snakes have time to get out of my way. Although we saw lots of bear trails, and followed them, and saw a ton of bear sign, we never saw a bear. There was a lot of evidence of bears at Lake Vernon and the ridge above, but zero at Branigan Lake. I only carried out 6 fish in the 13-14" range on the last day, so this was the first time in recent memory that my pack coming out was in fact no worse than even (may have been lighter; ate a lot of food from pack) compared to what I hiked in with on day 1. Because it was a heel blister I only felt it on the little uphill segment between Lake Vernon and the Moraine Ridge trail junction. Dawn took the descent much slower than I would, so that preserved my knees, unlike my two solo hikes in this area in May 2021 (backpack) and June 2 of this year (dayhike) when I really flew down the trail but ended up with fairly badly swollen knees.

As for Second Skin I think I need to try it. I haven't used mole skin in ages mainly because I found it wasn't effective. On the other hand, I didn't bring anything for blisters because I haven't had one since the May 2021 Laurel-Vernon solo trip on which the main cause of blisters was me not properly drying out my feet after the wet Frog Creek crossing.

As for breaking your bail, that sounds like one of those reels with a very delicate bail. I always choose my spinning reels to have a robust one owing to the fact that one is likely to drop one's reel on a rocky place or bang it against a rock or the like when in a backcountry situation. A lot of the fancy spinning reels with plastic auto-cast levers and stuff like that are too delicate for backcountry stuff.

Finally I provide photos of Dawn and me atBranigan Lake

1628campbranigantwolevel.jpg

1071BraniganSelfie.jpg

1067BraniganPlank.jpg

[cgundersen]

Dang; I learn something new every day. I get planks, but had not run into the inverted variety. What next? Cameron