Quick TR 5 Days from Lake Sabrina 8-12 to 8-16-21
Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:38 am
Well, I usually like to plan longer trips. Being retired, I dont like the "overhead" of packing and driving up to a trailhead and driving back, plus the inevitable difficulties of day 1 and day 2 with fatigue. So, I prefer to have longer trips ( 10-14 days) where I endure the difficulties of day 1 and day 2 but free totally free on days 3 thru X. But...personal circumstances did not allow a longer trip.
I had hoped to make a loop trip from Lake Sabrina, over a pass that is not named, through Ionian Basin, and back of Echo Col.
I have joked in previous posts that every year I try to make it to Ionian Basin, and every year I dont make it.
It looks like this year is a repeat. Oh well.
So, I had a permit for 12 days, but now I had only five days. What to do? I developed an improvised plan using the permit.
The plan was to do a small portion of the intended 12 day trip, going over the pass, also seeing Echo Lake, which I had not been to since 1980.
So, I left home at 8AM, got to Lake Sabrina at 2PM, and was hiking by 2:30.
A view of Lake Sabrina..the water level doesnt look as bad as I thought it might. I think it was lower in 2015. And a classic view of Mount Thompson over Blue Lake. I am used to seeing more snow on the glacier.
I climbed Mount Thompson in a day hike in the early 1980's, after having seen this view, and after reading that Norman Clyde had climbed Mount Thompson 50 times. If he liked it that much, then it must be a good peak to climb and it was. I saw his signature in the register. I made it to Dingleberry Lake by early evening and was satisfied. Tired but not too tired.
The next couple of days would be cross country. The first step was to get to Bottleneck Lake. It looks easy on the map but there are several
"micro cliffs" not visible on the map. The ranger who issued the permit to me suggested ( without me asking..this was valuable) that I go up the trail a ways from Dingleberry Lake and cut back rather than going straight up to the gap between Dingleberry and Bottleneck. I did this and a path presented itself.
The next step was to go from Bottleneck to Shober Hole Lakes. A few across Bottleneck to Fishgut Lakes. Here is the largest of the Shober Hole Lakes. And finally I made it to the Upper Shober Hole Lake where I camped. Not many people get here. I had my usual day 2 blues (fatigue) but made it OK. Sunset. I think this lake basin has kind of a unique amphitheater like look. The objective now was to go over the "shoulder" between Upper Shober Hole Lake and Darwin Bench. I had seen a post by Leor Pantillat ( sp?) that showed that this was doable. I had originally planned to do this as a backpack, but now time dictated that this be a day hike.
So I headed up toward the shoulder. ( I say shoulder because there are passes, on both left and right, that have steep cliffs and are higher than class 2.
However if you go up in between, I thought you could keep it at class 2, which was the case. I remember seeing a post from Wandering Daisy where she found someone who missed Lamarck Col and came over the steep northern pass and it was very difficult.)
Here is the objective..looking over upper Shober Hole Lake. I cut left and then right and went basically over the high point in the middle. A picture going up the shoulder.
And another. I went straight up the center and returned a little to the right.
I believe there are many class 2 options to do this. Mount Darwin comes into view near the top. I had some illusions of climbing Mount Darwin but decided it would take too much time and I wasn't physically up to it, plus the previous two days there had been late afternoon thunderstorms. A view back toward Shober Lake Basin from the top. North Palisade and Mount Sill visible on the horizon.
I had hoped to make a loop trip from Lake Sabrina, over a pass that is not named, through Ionian Basin, and back of Echo Col.
I have joked in previous posts that every year I try to make it to Ionian Basin, and every year I dont make it.
It looks like this year is a repeat. Oh well.
So, I had a permit for 12 days, but now I had only five days. What to do? I developed an improvised plan using the permit.
The plan was to do a small portion of the intended 12 day trip, going over the pass, also seeing Echo Lake, which I had not been to since 1980.
So, I left home at 8AM, got to Lake Sabrina at 2PM, and was hiking by 2:30.
A view of Lake Sabrina..the water level doesnt look as bad as I thought it might. I think it was lower in 2015. And a classic view of Mount Thompson over Blue Lake. I am used to seeing more snow on the glacier.
I climbed Mount Thompson in a day hike in the early 1980's, after having seen this view, and after reading that Norman Clyde had climbed Mount Thompson 50 times. If he liked it that much, then it must be a good peak to climb and it was. I saw his signature in the register. I made it to Dingleberry Lake by early evening and was satisfied. Tired but not too tired.
The next couple of days would be cross country. The first step was to get to Bottleneck Lake. It looks easy on the map but there are several
"micro cliffs" not visible on the map. The ranger who issued the permit to me suggested ( without me asking..this was valuable) that I go up the trail a ways from Dingleberry Lake and cut back rather than going straight up to the gap between Dingleberry and Bottleneck. I did this and a path presented itself.
The next step was to go from Bottleneck to Shober Hole Lakes. A few across Bottleneck to Fishgut Lakes. Here is the largest of the Shober Hole Lakes. And finally I made it to the Upper Shober Hole Lake where I camped. Not many people get here. I had my usual day 2 blues (fatigue) but made it OK. Sunset. I think this lake basin has kind of a unique amphitheater like look. The objective now was to go over the "shoulder" between Upper Shober Hole Lake and Darwin Bench. I had seen a post by Leor Pantillat ( sp?) that showed that this was doable. I had originally planned to do this as a backpack, but now time dictated that this be a day hike.
So I headed up toward the shoulder. ( I say shoulder because there are passes, on both left and right, that have steep cliffs and are higher than class 2.
However if you go up in between, I thought you could keep it at class 2, which was the case. I remember seeing a post from Wandering Daisy where she found someone who missed Lamarck Col and came over the steep northern pass and it was very difficult.)
Here is the objective..looking over upper Shober Hole Lake. I cut left and then right and went basically over the high point in the middle. A picture going up the shoulder.
And another. I went straight up the center and returned a little to the right.
I believe there are many class 2 options to do this. Mount Darwin comes into view near the top. I had some illusions of climbing Mount Darwin but decided it would take too much time and I wasn't physically up to it, plus the previous two days there had been late afternoon thunderstorms. A view back toward Shober Lake Basin from the top. North Palisade and Mount Sill visible on the horizon.