TR: The Art of Backpacking in the Rain (Lamarck > Evolution Basin > Davis Lakes)

[giantbrookie]

What a great trip report. This would be a great report even without those wonderful fish, but the fish are frosting on the cake. By the way, speaking of rain, Dawn always says that she brings the rain with her when she backpacks with me and the memories of taking shelter in deluges began with our first father-daughter trip in 2017. This year, however, was different for us, because rain fell on us only during one night, when we were already in our tent at Branigan Lake one night, All other trips have been remarkably free of rain and I suppose the lack of the usual thunderstorms has been reflected in the number of cloud-free images of the Sierra on Sentinel over month or so preceding this more typical cycle. The moisture that hit you took at an additional day and change to get up to Ebbetts Pass where it fell only as a refreshing rain/hailstorm within minutes of the car while Lee and I headed for home.

Anyhow, the account and the photos are really magical, even some of the "standard" views. Something about entering Seki over Lamarck Col has always been special to me. Nothing says "Welcome to Kings Canyon NP" more than that view when you crest out at the top of Lamarck Col. The Lamarck Col area inspired one couple to name their son after the area. Judy and I met the little guy (then 7) crossing Lamarck Col in 1996 and he remains the strongest 7-year-old hiker I've ever seen (even including Dawn). Judy and I contemplated naming our kids after this region too. In addition to this region, we have special affection for the interior which also lies on the old Mt Goddard 15' quadrangle. Davis Lake is at the heart of "Goddard country" and my only visit to the lake came with Judy in 1994 on our memorable trip (with very poor fishing results, actually) that we called "Ring Around the Goddard". Well, as you can tell, Judy and I opted for more "conventional" names for Dawn and Lee, but this area remains our favorite. Thanks again for a great report and reminding me of why that will always be my favorite part of the High Sierra.

PS love the Day zero camp, too, which brings back fond memories for me and Dawn (approximate area of Day zero camp for us in 2020 prior to our Pine Creek-Italy-etc. trip).

[scottmiller]

Nice to see Davis Lake. That was on our itinerary one year, but coming from Martha Lake we made a bone-headed navigation error and ended up so far off course, and had traversed so much annoying terrain in the process, that we gave it up. Beautiful photos.

[Fly Guy Dave]

Awesome post! Thanks for taking us along for the whole thing. Nice goldens, too!

[windknot]

Thanks all for the kind words, and for being willing to stick it out to the end of a very long post!

Question. Did you use any mosquito repellent of any kind apart from the Picaridin? Like Permethrin clothing etc. or headnets?
P.S. Your photos show up without being logged in and are clear and sharp (really nice), so you must be using a off site server. I that Flickr by any chance?
Thanks! ~ Michaelzim

Michael -- we brought some backup repellent options (my wife prefers eucalyptus spray, while I brought the nuclear option of 100% DEET -- break-window-in-case-of-emergency sort of thing) but didn't end up needing to use them. We brought headnets too, and my wife wore hers for about 10 minutes at one point passing Evolution Lake. Otherwise I think we got really lucky, mosquito-wise.

And thanks for the photo compliment -- all photos are hosted on Google Photos! I've been posting reports to HST for 17 years and I do not at all miss the much more laborious earlier era of posting photos: moving SD cards from cameras to computers, downloading the files onto the hard drive, individual post processing, uploading to Webshots/Photobucket/Flickr, then finally inserting them into a post one at a time. Now all I have to do is wait for photos taken on my phone to sync with Google Photos once I get back home, move them all into a publicly accessible folder, a relatively small amount of post processing, and then grab the individual links to put into the report. (The Pixel series has top of the line picture quality among phones, and my Pixel 6a has a 12MP F2.2 ultra-wide angle camera in addition to the standard 12.2MP F1.7 wide angle camera, so I've noticed the post processing needed is much more minimal now than when I used to use point and shoots.)

[michaelzim]

Windknot... Thanks for the clarification on the mosquito front. Also the photos - which you make sound too easy to not be tempting! However, so as to not highjack this into a photo discussion can you please see my post to you in the "Photography/Videography" section as to just how you did it all so easily. (Coming up in a few minutes there)...
Thanks ~ Michaelzim

[Harlen]

Matt, what a great route, and fine success with the fish. You will always wipe us out in the fishing department, but we may have gotten the better of the weather. We were out at almost the very same time, and we just had the rain and hail in the night. Great post! Thanks again, Ian.