Trip Report: A Cold, Quiet Merced Circle
Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 1:40 pm
My Merced backpacking trip was from Nov. 29- Dec. 6
I returned to civilization on 12/6 after 8 short days and 7 very looonnnng nights in the Merced River country. It was very cold and quiet, and nearly all new country for me, as I have always avoided the Yosemite High Sierra Camp areas, and had never made it into the Clark Range. After 8,000' it was on again-off again with the snow shoes, especially on the north-facing slopes. Due to the paucity of snowfall so far this year the post-holing was never more than knee-deep, so I found that simply walking like a moose in the boots alone was the best method in all but the deepest areas. The average depth was just to boot tops. I am glad I decided not to take crampons, as the iciness on the south slopes and melted out rock was manageable with caution. There are two real risks I saw in traveling on this year's thin snow. The first obvious risk is breaking through the unstable ice covering lakes and streams. The second is the potential to punch through the unconsolidated snow found around big, jagged boulder fields. There is a real risk of damage to one's lower leg at the bottom of these holes. I test ahead of me with my lengthened Whippet/ski pole, and never jump from a height into a snow-covered boulder area.
[My first effort at including a Caltopo.] (Cl. to enlarge) The Red fire & tent symbols represent my camps, except for my camp at Vogelsang, which is marked with a "C." My route on trails is marked in Blue, and the black arrows show my clockwise circle- up Fletcher Creek, and back down Lewis Cr. The Green lines are for off-trail ventures. Black triangles mark mountains significant to the trip, and the Blue circles denote the off-route passes I used to get across the Clark Range. I hope to keep improving on these maps.
I chose my new, light summer boots, full gaitors, my smallest snow shoes, and the Whippet tool. I also brought extra warm socks, and plastic bags for a vapor/water barrier, and I'm glad I did because the boots were soaked nearly every day! My original pack weight for 7-10 days was 37 lbs. [The topo map is a useful item, but one has to actually take it out and look at it.)
On the third day I crossed Vogelsang Pass, and climbed up Fletcher Peak on the way, for wonderful views. Bears broke the trail for me on many occasions- saw their tracks (only!) nearly every day.
Some are definitely still out and about, and I felt their presence, along with the many coyotes, whose tracks also shared my trails. All I saw for animals were a crowd of deer in the Valley, including some sharp-antlered bucks, and the giant gray squirrels around Happy Isles. Higher up it was just Chicarees, one Pika, and some nice bird life, including Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Townsend's Solitaires, and the other usual locals- Raven, Clarkies, Chicadees, Juncos... I did see a huge mixed flock of approximately 100 ducks on Merced Lake, mostly Mallards and Scaups, and in the forest there were small flocks of American Robins.
My two favorite actual animal sights were these 3 round, white Ptarmigans, who let me walk right up to them, and one big Red Tailed Hawk circling close above me in brilliant morning light. [Having the binos on me was again well worth the weight.]
I started and ended this trip at Happy Isles, so for a few hours on each end of the trip I was among friendly crowds, and in between-- no one for 7 full days. I had a really fine time even without a dog; that was the greatest lack, but a second was the lack of a headlamp (left in the car), so I had nothing but firelight throughout the trip.
I had a campfire almost every night (rule is 9,600' or below for YNP), and learned to stockpile more small kindling bits, which I could use to create brightness when I needed it. I found ways to read by firelight, but breathed in a lot of smoke for it, since I maintain smallish fires. The nights were sometimes so long that I would arise and rekindle a fire in the early morning hours to wile away the time- full moon and star-gazing, and reading. I had cold, clear, and blessedly windless weather till the very last cloudy night. I only used the tent on 2 nights, slept out the rest, and stayed warm enough. I guess the coldest nights were low teens, as water in the pot formed a thick frozen layer in 20 minutes.
I feel these late coming winters can be used for easy winter mountaineering rather than just cursing the lack of snow for ski touring. I had ambitious plans to try to also climb Simmons Peak for fun, and Parson's Peak to hunt for a sight of the recently re-introduced Bighorn Sheep population.
I wanted to climb Fletcher Peak for the insight it would give me into the surrounding area, which I have long intended to explore on skis from the TM Ski Hut. I only managed the climb of Fletcher, but it proved to be a good vantage point to glass the slopes all around Parsons Pk.
View of Parson's Peak with no sheep to be seen, "Hanging Basket Lake" in the foreground.
On this trip I adjusted my planned route in a couple of sensible ways, but also made a mistake almost too lame to admit. But I am among friends right, and no one will do more than call me a jackass, which is a name I am fond of. I will provide my weak excuses along with photo documentation of my stupidity.
The Clark Range was a happy surprise. There are some wild crags to the east of Mt Clark, like "the Obelisk," and Mt.Clark itself is stunning, as is my own errant "Red Peak." The granite slopes, lakes and colorful geology of the Red Peak Fork were wonderful, and I loved the view eastward from high in the Clark Range. Being nicely separated, as a kind of "island range" within the Merced watershed, the Clark gives a unique, long clean view of the mountains to the east.
View east from the Clark Range-- Mt. Rodgers to the Minarets.
From Happy Isles the trail passes by the two famous, but dormant falls, and Liberty Cap. I should have taken the JMT just to the west, as the "Mist Trail" is an interminable series of killing steep stone steps. (This photo is taken from the south, on my way back.)
The forest around Little Yosemite Valley is a mixture of healthy and diverse conifer forest, and a mosaic of fire events. This old sugar pine is 24 feet in circumference!
Incense cedar trees coming back from the dead.
I returned to civilization on 12/6 after 8 short days and 7 very looonnnng nights in the Merced River country. It was very cold and quiet, and nearly all new country for me, as I have always avoided the Yosemite High Sierra Camp areas, and had never made it into the Clark Range. After 8,000' it was on again-off again with the snow shoes, especially on the north-facing slopes. Due to the paucity of snowfall so far this year the post-holing was never more than knee-deep, so I found that simply walking like a moose in the boots alone was the best method in all but the deepest areas. The average depth was just to boot tops. I am glad I decided not to take crampons, as the iciness on the south slopes and melted out rock was manageable with caution. There are two real risks I saw in traveling on this year's thin snow. The first obvious risk is breaking through the unstable ice covering lakes and streams. The second is the potential to punch through the unconsolidated snow found around big, jagged boulder fields. There is a real risk of damage to one's lower leg at the bottom of these holes. I test ahead of me with my lengthened Whippet/ski pole, and never jump from a height into a snow-covered boulder area.
[My first effort at including a Caltopo.] (Cl. to enlarge) The Red fire & tent symbols represent my camps, except for my camp at Vogelsang, which is marked with a "C." My route on trails is marked in Blue, and the black arrows show my clockwise circle- up Fletcher Creek, and back down Lewis Cr. The Green lines are for off-trail ventures. Black triangles mark mountains significant to the trip, and the Blue circles denote the off-route passes I used to get across the Clark Range. I hope to keep improving on these maps.
I chose my new, light summer boots, full gaitors, my smallest snow shoes, and the Whippet tool. I also brought extra warm socks, and plastic bags for a vapor/water barrier, and I'm glad I did because the boots were soaked nearly every day! My original pack weight for 7-10 days was 37 lbs. [The topo map is a useful item, but one has to actually take it out and look at it.)
On the third day I crossed Vogelsang Pass, and climbed up Fletcher Peak on the way, for wonderful views. Bears broke the trail for me on many occasions- saw their tracks (only!) nearly every day.
Some are definitely still out and about, and I felt their presence, along with the many coyotes, whose tracks also shared my trails. All I saw for animals were a crowd of deer in the Valley, including some sharp-antlered bucks, and the giant gray squirrels around Happy Isles. Higher up it was just Chicarees, one Pika, and some nice bird life, including Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Townsend's Solitaires, and the other usual locals- Raven, Clarkies, Chicadees, Juncos... I did see a huge mixed flock of approximately 100 ducks on Merced Lake, mostly Mallards and Scaups, and in the forest there were small flocks of American Robins.
My two favorite actual animal sights were these 3 round, white Ptarmigans, who let me walk right up to them, and one big Red Tailed Hawk circling close above me in brilliant morning light. [Having the binos on me was again well worth the weight.]
I started and ended this trip at Happy Isles, so for a few hours on each end of the trip I was among friendly crowds, and in between-- no one for 7 full days. I had a really fine time even without a dog; that was the greatest lack, but a second was the lack of a headlamp (left in the car), so I had nothing but firelight throughout the trip.
I had a campfire almost every night (rule is 9,600' or below for YNP), and learned to stockpile more small kindling bits, which I could use to create brightness when I needed it. I found ways to read by firelight, but breathed in a lot of smoke for it, since I maintain smallish fires. The nights were sometimes so long that I would arise and rekindle a fire in the early morning hours to wile away the time- full moon and star-gazing, and reading. I had cold, clear, and blessedly windless weather till the very last cloudy night. I only used the tent on 2 nights, slept out the rest, and stayed warm enough. I guess the coldest nights were low teens, as water in the pot formed a thick frozen layer in 20 minutes.
I feel these late coming winters can be used for easy winter mountaineering rather than just cursing the lack of snow for ski touring. I had ambitious plans to try to also climb Simmons Peak for fun, and Parson's Peak to hunt for a sight of the recently re-introduced Bighorn Sheep population.
I wanted to climb Fletcher Peak for the insight it would give me into the surrounding area, which I have long intended to explore on skis from the TM Ski Hut. I only managed the climb of Fletcher, but it proved to be a good vantage point to glass the slopes all around Parsons Pk.
View of Parson's Peak with no sheep to be seen, "Hanging Basket Lake" in the foreground.
On this trip I adjusted my planned route in a couple of sensible ways, but also made a mistake almost too lame to admit. But I am among friends right, and no one will do more than call me a jackass, which is a name I am fond of. I will provide my weak excuses along with photo documentation of my stupidity.
The Clark Range was a happy surprise. There are some wild crags to the east of Mt Clark, like "the Obelisk," and Mt.Clark itself is stunning, as is my own errant "Red Peak." The granite slopes, lakes and colorful geology of the Red Peak Fork were wonderful, and I loved the view eastward from high in the Clark Range. Being nicely separated, as a kind of "island range" within the Merced watershed, the Clark gives a unique, long clean view of the mountains to the east.
View east from the Clark Range-- Mt. Rodgers to the Minarets.
From Happy Isles the trail passes by the two famous, but dormant falls, and Liberty Cap. I should have taken the JMT just to the west, as the "Mist Trail" is an interminable series of killing steep stone steps. (This photo is taken from the south, on my way back.)
The forest around Little Yosemite Valley is a mixture of healthy and diverse conifer forest, and a mosaic of fire events. This old sugar pine is 24 feet in circumference!
Incense cedar trees coming back from the dead.