Exploring the San Mateo Wilderness and Doing it Ultralight!

Clark and I enter the San Mateo Wilderness.

It is now the end of April. I was supposed to be headed to Mt. Whitney for a multi-day climb of the Mountaineers Route this weekend. After my Split Mountain adventure I headed up to Mammoth and again was faced with heavy winds, blasting snow and cold days. Upon my return from that trip I laid a good coat of summer wax on the skis and informed my winter friends I was done for the season. My mind had moved on to warm weather excursions, ATV riding and summer backpacking at Catalina.

As a prep for our upcoming Trans-Catalina Trail (TCT) we needed to get out in some warm weather at low elevation with short but steep inclines. While we are always doing local day hikes we figured an overnighter is what we needed to shake down some new gear and try some new concepts on the trail. We decided upon a 2 day backpack trip within the San Mateo Wilderness in the Cleveland National Forest straddling the Orange/Riverside County line just south of the Ortega Hwy. Our route would start at the infamous Candy Store (Bear Canyon Trailhead) and take us south to Tenaja Falls and Fishermans Camp where we would overnight and return via a different trail following a ridge the next day. The total loop was to be 22 miles and evenly split between the two days.

I have been doing a really good job at lightening my pack on my recent winter trips. I have removed a lot of stuff that I have not touched all season and have done a much better job at not bringing too much food. So many trips ended with a bag full of uneaten food amounting to several extra pounds. With this trip heading out on a weekend with daytime temps in the 80's and nights at 50 it seemed like going light, or ultralight, seemed like a good idea.

Clark's pack on the left, mine on the right at 14.8 lbs!

My major items would be a sleeping bag (Mountain Hardware Phantom 45, 1lb), sleeping pad (Thermorest NeoAir, 1lb),  alcohol stove system with fuel (10 oz.), my new ultralight tent (AppyTrails Mark III, just under 2lbs with Tyvek groundcloth and stakes), 3L Camelback bladder and my REI 18L Flashback to stuff it all in. Yes I had my first aid kit and ten essentials as well but it was a lightweight version. My personal clothing consisted of an extra pair of underwear, socks, long sleeve shirt and a backpacking towel. No jacket on this trip, I would just double up my shirts. I did splurge on a 2.3 oz. backpacking pillow as I had no jacket to wad up for that purpose. I also left the camera at home as hauling a 2.2 lb. digital SLR camera kind of goes against ultralight packing. I would rely on Michelle to take pictures on this trip. Without food or water I was at 8 1/2 lbs.! With food loaded up and 2 liters of water I had 14.8 lbs total to put on my back. This was a new record for me! I even wore a lightweight pair of trail shoes rather than the leather boots I have always worn in the past.  My friends traveling with me had differing tactics. Michelle went lightweight while Clark made up for all of us and traveled heavy. He claims it was the lightest his pack had ever weighed at 40 lbs. which was true, at least this time he did not carry a TABLE strapped to the back of his pack! Even their dog Ranger was required to carry his own load.

Strolling through the woods on our way to the falls.

The trip from the trailhead down to Tenaja Falls was very scenic as the whole area was very green from the abundant rain we had this year. While we did not have grand views of mountains and lakes we did have very nice scenery and enjoyed walking through fields of wildflowers and oak covered trails with small creeks still flowing everywhere. We reached the falls, 8 1/2 miles into the hike, around noon. They were crowded as they can be reached via a much shorter route (less than a mile). We enjoyed lunch at the falls and put our feet in the water. Clark decided he would submerge himself in the rather cold water which wasn't a bad idea as it was warm day.

Michelle, Ranger and I at the top of the falls.

More hanging out at the falls.

We left the falls and headed towards our evening destination, Fishermans Camp. When we arrived there we discovered a Boy Scout Troop of about 20 people had descended upon it before us. Not only were all the descent camp spots taken, we were there to enjoy nature and get away from it all, not camp on top of somebody else. We decided to head down the trail another mile to our next scheduled trail junction and look for a better spot along the way. This proved to be a great choice because once we reached the junction of the San Mateo Creek Trail and North Tenaja Trail we discovered a beautiful camp location complete with a sandy beach along the creek, a babbling brook, shade trees and numerous flat tent areas. We were happy to have found such a secluded location with all the amenities. This location was far superior to Fishermans Camp so the crowd really did us a favor.

My new ultralight tent, big enough for 2 adults.

Now it was time to test out my new tent. Up to now, my ultralight travel had gone very well. The small pack performed perfectly although I did need to lash the tent to the outside of the pack. I had practiced the setup of the tent a few times at home in the backyard to make sure I had it down and had already rigged it with the appropriate cord. I used my trekking poles as the tent poles and had the tent set up rather quickly.  Because it must be staked out I did have to hunt for a less sandy location so that my tent stakes could really hold. With the tent set up I moved in my stuff and was very impressed with how much room this lightweight tent had in it. To save weight, the tent does not have a floor. I had ordered and cut a sheet of Tyvek to make a footprint for the tent and used that. The tent was good enough to keep flying bugs out but not good enough to stop the crawling type. No big deal to me if it means shedding 3 or more pounds out of my pack!

The new tent was very roomy given the low weight.

Clark broke out the radio and the camp chairs, water filter, the cooking pot and heavy liquid fuel stove. I grabbed my iodine tablets and meager alcohol stove and we commenced on dinner. I noticed that a strange thing occurs when multiple people are travelling with different concepts or ideas. Even though Clark had a water filter, I wanted to prove I did not need it and purified my own water. Clark refused to leave his heavy stove behind and just bring a few ounces of alcohol for mine. He wanted to check his new large pack with a heavy load. Michelle's new pack was really cutting into her shoulder even with her light load. I offered to swap packs with her but she decided she got herself into this and was going to get herself out of it. I am not sure if this is a common phenomena or if we are all just the most stubborn people on earth!

Clark, Michelle and Ranger at our lovely camp.

After dinner we sat around and enjoyed the radio along with a few games of Uno, our favorite trailside pasttime. Clark whipped up a batch of popcorn that I was more than happy to eat even though there is no way I would carry a pot or enough fuel to cook it! We finished up our game of Uno and headed to our tents. The frogs were really going off that night. These were not your typical croaking frogs, these were frogs that made very long groaning sounds. With about 3 of them near my tent I was serenaded ALL night long!

Having travelled ultralight I had skimped on a jacket. In the middle of the night that was looking like a bad idea. I was cold and shivering. I pulled my thin backpacking towel out of my pack and wrapped my head with it. It may not sound like much but that was all I needed to be comfortable for the rest of the night.

I was pleased to find that when morning rolled around that I had no moisture buildup in the tent. It was a dry weather pattern we were in but with a single wall tent that was zipped up all night you never know what will happen. We made our breakfast and packed up and rolled out of camp later than we would have liked at 9:30.

Our final picture overlooking San Mateo Creek.

Our first 1 1/2 miles were tough as we climbed 1,300 ft. to gain the top of the ridge behind our camp. The remainder of our hike was very beutiful as we were hiking along the ridgeline for most of the way back. We had views of San Jacinto, San Gorgonio, Baldy as well as the ocean. With temps in the upper 80's and only 2 liters of water in my pack I was hoping to finish before I went dry. We did as we finished a little after noon. We bypassed our optional Sitton Peak side excursion as it was just too hot and we were all ready for a good lunch.

Over a great lunch back in San Juan Capistrano we discussed our experiences. Michelle will return her new pack and go back to a smaller one she has used many times before. Clark the pack mule really liked his new even bigger pack even though he carried the lightest load ever, about 35-40 lbs. I was very pleased with my results on going ultralight with a new pack and tent. The pack was very small and I really had to plan ahead to keep the things I would need at lunch either at the very top of the pack or in my pockets. I just cannot fit anything else in the little pack and will have to use something bigger for Catalina as I will need to carry a little more food, fuel and clothing. If I can keep the Catalina weight to around the low 20 lb. range I will be extremely happy. I think I gave ultralight backpacking a really good try and did well. I am intrigued to see what other tricks are out there to not necesarily reduce weight but rather bulk so that I can get everything in my little 18L pack and even have a jacket next time! The learning never ends.

Backcountry Ski Trip to Split Mountain

Split Mountain, 14,053 ft.

Having done some reading on the California Fourteeners, I thought a winter trip to Split Mountain on skis sounded like a good idea. I want to reach all of the fourteeners in the state and having recently acquired backcountry ski gear I am always looking for an opportunity to get out and use the stuff! My friend Jason was on board before I even finished telling him the plan. Like me, he is always up for a winter trip where skiing or splitboarding is a possibility. We tried to get some others to join us but had no luck. Once again, it was just the two of us for another backcountry adventure.

Split Mountain is located along the spine of the Eastern Sierras between Independence and Big Pine. The typical driving route to the trailhead is supposed to take 1 to 1 1/2 hours on some rather evil dirt roads as you leave Hwy 395. After doing a little research we found an alternate route that may cross private land, but may not and SHOULD not have any locked gates. It is rather tricky to navigate unless you are very good with a map, and fortunately we both are. We made it from the Hwy 395 to the trailhead in a half hour and wondered what everybody was making such a big deal about. No other cars were parked there as this is a rarely used trail even in the summer, let alone the winter!

Jason points the way up the canyon.

Is it rather odd to start a backcountry ski trip when you are standing in the high desert. Dry brush surrounded us and it was warm. We would be heading up the South facing side of the canyon where there was no snow until we got up another thousand feet. Surprisingly the other side of the canyon had a thin layer of snow nearly down to where we were parked but it looked too thin to travel on so we hiked. Having learned how uncomfortable long approaches are in my backcountry boots, I brought a light pair of tennis shoes to start the hike in. I figured I would just leave them alongside the trail when I transitioned to my boots and recover them on my return.

We didn't transition to skis until we were about a mile or more in. The trail to this point is just as others had described it.....crappy! This trail has probably not seen maintenance since the Great Depression and it showed. The lower sections are rocky and often lead you into a thicket of bushes near the creek. When we finally had reached snow it was so soft that were postholing yet it was not continuous enough to ski tour. When we finally reached the point to transition to skis we were both relieved. We did notice that on the other side of the canyon (north facing) the snow ran much further below us. Because of this we decided we would descend on that side which meant we would not be coming back the same way. This forced me to carry my lightweight hiking shoes on up the mountain.

Jason lays down a fresh skin track on virgin snow.

The ski tour was very nice for the next mile or so. Gently climbing and following easy terrain was a joy. Unfortunately one look up told us the story of what was still before us. There was a large climb to the top of the canyon and from our maps it looked like we needed to go to the highest point. We began the long climb up, kickturning our way up the steep slope. As we neared the top it was getting late in the afternoon and the sun had dropped behind Split Mountain. This meant that the snow was now cooling fast and quickly went from a soft, easy to traverse slope to an ice crusted face. I needed to lead as it is easier for me to edge with skis than it is with Jason's splitboard. He followed my track on up.

We finally made it to the top and saw that we needed to do a long traverse along a very icy surface with a slope around 35 degrees. As I had been edging for over the last hour I was getting tired of this. I pulled out my ski crampons from my bag of tricks. Like crampons for boots, these are designed to provide metal spikes along the side of your skis when traveling in icy conditions. I had never used them before and was very glad I had them now! I headed out and was silly how easy these made this. I wished I had been using them for the last hour! The only downside was that they sound like a cowbell as they make contact with the ice. All I could think about was the Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken calling for "more cowbell!" We needed a little humor to keep going this late in the day and that provided it.

We arrive at camp and view our goal, late!

We finally rounded the ridge on our traverse and saw what we had been waiting for, the headwall of Split Mountain. This meant we had arrived at the area we planned on camping, Red Lake. It was totally snow covered so we set up camp where we had some trees for a little wind protection and most importantly, a flat spot for the tent. Jason was not very perky and was ready to get camp set up. We got the tent set up quickly as it was already 5PM and darkness would be upon us within two hours tops. We got that done and anchored the tent very well with my homemade snow anchors, a tip I picked up from Jason. Jason then asked me what my thoughts were on having a fire? We were within the area we could have one, just barely, and it sure would make the cold more tolerable. I said I thought it would be great and he instantly got to work building a nice fire pit on an snowless patch just 15 feet from the tent. Before long we were getting water going on my stove and enjoying the warmth of a fire. There was plenty of wood around which was surprising with all the snow but we came up with enough for the evening without much trouble.

A campfire to lift our spirits.

It was finally time to take it all in. We were surrounded by immense beauty. Split mountain jetting up from Red Lake right before us and we were the only people up there to enjoy it. With a fire to warm us, we stayed up until a little after 9PM, fairly late considering we had up since 2:30AM to make the drive up. We did not want to start the climb from camp up Split Mountain too early in the morning as we needed the sun to work it's magic and soften the icy surface on the snow to make travel easier; and safer.

The night brought some fairly gusty winds but our well anchored tent did perfectly. The forecasted temps for this elevation were to be 10 degrees at night and 29 during the day. That night might have been that cold outside the tent but with both of us in the tent it was running in the high 20's which was not so bad. We both slept fairly well and awoke to a sunshine filled morning and light wind. We got ready to head out and were heading for the summit by 8:30AM. We wanted to let the snow soften yet still allow us ample time to reach the summit and return under good snow conditions.

Me at the top of the false saddle with the true saddle and summit behind me.

The initial travel was a long gradual traverse heading toward the false saddle above Red Lake. The conditions were very icy as the sun had not yet hit this area. Jason was still using his crampons with his board on his back while I was making good progress with my ski crampons. As we started to climb the final leg toward the top of the saddle the weather had turned for the worse. High winds were blowing down the icy slope, clouds covered the sky and the peak and the surface was wind scoured and very icy. Jason was doing OK in full crampons and my ski apparatus was at it's limit. I made my way over to the side of the slope where I could safely transition to full boot crampons and put my skis on my pack. I made it up to the top of the slope to join Jason. From the top of the false saddle we could see the path to the true saddle on the ridgeline before us. It looked even worse than what we had just done. Ice was now blowing with the wind gusts and pelting any exposed flesh. The clouds continued to build and no sun was anywhere in sight. I looked at Jason and said, "I'm done.....".

Jason was a good sport and said, "I can turn around at any time..... I just didn't want to say it first." Fortunately we both recognized the danger in continuing onward. It was already around 11AM and there was still plenty more to go. Getting caught on the summit in what would surely be extreme winds and very icy conditions is not what we had in mind. The descent back to camp was not going to be that great as the sun never softened the snow and it would be another long, icy adventure. We took some pictures and wind readings. The wind was gusting to 40 MPH and the windchill was hitting -8 F. With the wind transporting large amounts of ice crystals I felt like I was inside a snowcone machine! Jason walked up to the 12,000 level next to the mountain for a picture before we packed up and headed down.

Back at camp looking toward the summit.

The downhill portion was a little scary as the slope was extremely icy. I locked the front bindings on my skis as I figured if one came off it would travel 1,500 ft. below to the frozen lake as ski brakes don't work well on ice. While making a turn on the icy slope I had a wipeout. I slid for at least 50 to 75 ft. before coming to a stop. My knee was in great pain. Here I was, in the middle of a steep, icy and windblown slope with my knee in extreme pain and not knowing if I was going to stay put or begin to slide again. I laid there for several minutes. Jason was below me and stopped. I could barely hear him ask if I was alright over the wind. I moved a little to let him know I was not totally incapacitated. I managed to get my skis situated and continued on over to meet him.

My knee hurt but in the binding it was not too bad as it limited the amount of movement. We made it back to camp just before noon. The sky looked even worse up high on the mountain as it was now covered in clouds clinging to the summit. I took off my ski boots and put on my down slippers to limit the weight swinging on my knee. I took some pain meds and settled in for what looked to be a pleasant afternoon by the fire. We collected wood, made meals and melted snow and drank plenty of fluids for the rest of the day. I was upset we did not summit but relieved to be back at camp really enjoying ourselves.

Clear night on Split Mountain.

The campfire once again provided hours of warmth and entertainment. Heating liquids and drying gear was also made much easier with our blaze. As night fell the winds picked up again. We ducked inside the tent again around 9 or so. Many fears ran through my head that night. Would my knee swell up or be in such pain that I could not make it out in the morning? Would the sun come out tomorrow and soften the slope or would it be another hair raising experience as we either downclimb or ice skate our way out with the wind gusting and blowing us around with full packs. In addition, the winds that night were very strong and woke us up multiple times. There were occasions where the wind was actually blowing under the tent. We stuck the anemometer out one of the vents and recorded winds at almost 40 MPH but we had also had worse ones. We stopped as the ice being blown along with the snow was coming in the tent and that was not good. Jason made a very profound statement, "Our lives are in the hands of a couple paper thin layers of nylon and Chinese stitching." We both got a laugh out of it but it was true. Without a tent we would be screwed! We both were exceptionally pleased at how well the REI Arete ASL 3 tent held up to a full side-on wind. We did not even run all the guylines out, just the basics and it still held.

Clothing break on the way down.

Morning came and with the sun came the change in the wind pattern we were hoping for. The gusts were less frequent and much milder. We got up and were pleased to see lots of sun! We were not in a hurry as we needed to let the snow soften so we casually packed up and got our gear ready. We tore down our fire pit and put the black sides of the rocks down. We headed out around 9:30AM. The snow conditions were great and my knee was a little better, certainly no worse than the night before.

We enjoyed 4,000 vertical feet and nearly 4 miles of skiing back toward the truck on untracked snow. This is what backcountry skiing is supposed to be! I did have a few wipeouts as I am not accustomed to skiing with a full pack and I was a little timid on the upper, steeper slopes due to my knee but I finally got into a good rhythm. We skied all the way back to within a 1/4 mile of the truck  taking our gear off and hiking the remainder. I started the descent with 4 layers on top including a down jacket. We stopped a little over halfway down and stripped down to t-shirts as we were roasting! What a difference a few thousand feet and some sun make. I was so happy to see the truck after all the bad thoughts I had the night before. I was also rather tired from the long ski back down and did not bother taking off my pack for my first rest. I just opened the tailgate and laid face down on it and it felt so good!

The end of a great adventure.

I'm tired, I will rest right here!

Every trip is a new learning experience. Most of my backpacking has been where fires were prohibited but I must say that I will seek out more locations where this is allowed as it makes the time around camp much more enjoyable. In the future I will also stake out my tent better even if the wind is not blowing at that time as things change, quickly! Jason and I also discussed that perhaps our trips should be day tours to higher elevations and ski back down to the lower areas for the night. This will mean less wind, warmer nights and perhaps even some steaks on the bbq for dinner! All good lessons learned. I am eager to get out for more. I have a guided backcountry ski trip coming up in 2 weeks and I am sure I will learn plenty on that. At least on that trip we will be staying in a condo so no more frigid nights!

Click here for the complete set of photos for this adventure.

Skiing the Baldy Bowl

With the less than harsh January weather of Southern California, my friend Edd figured it was time for a Brunch on Baldy hike in the 70 degree weather. It is not often we get to climb up Mt. Baldy in the snow with such pleasant temps in January so we figured we would head out and get it done before the weather changed.

As I now have backcountry skis this would be my first ascent on Baldy carrying my skis up and then carving turns down the bowl rather than glissading as I have done in the past. The dilemma I was faced with was what to wear? Sounds like my feminine side coming out I know but as a skier and a hiker I am sometimes put at odds. The main issue I was wrestling with was the boots. Backcountry ski boots are designed to be walked in but typically that is for on snow and not all that far. While they have settings to make them flex and you can buckle them loose to make them more comfortable for walking they are still no comparison to a good pair of regular boots for comfort. I thought about just bringing some lightweight hiking shoes for the approach and then switching to the boots for the climb up past the ski hut. This sounded great but that meant I would have to pack my heavy ski boots in my backpack. Problem is they will not fit in my new ski mountaineering pack and I would have to bring a bigger pack not designed for skis. To simplify things I just went with the ski boots for the whole trip.

As this was a brunch hike I planned on having a really nice meal at the top. I had planned a menu with my friend Jason to include carne asada omelets with jalapeno-muenster cheese, fresh onion and green peppers and topped with fresh tomatoes and avocado. I had also recently rigged up a device for toasting English muffins over my stove and we would have those as well. We were both to bring stoves as I would heat water for tea and then toast the muffins while Jason cooked up our omelets on his stove and pan. I am getting hungry just writing this!

We were to be on the trail by 6:30AM which meant a very early wake-up to get ready and meet my friends before driving up to the trail head at Manker Flats. I had a voice mail on my phone and unfortunately Jason could not make it as he had been out hiking the desert over the last two days and just home at 1AM the night prior. Bad news for me as he was to have the fry pan and stove for the omelets! Fortunately I made a quick phone call and arranged a new carpool and borrowed some time on my friend Edd’s stove with fry pan as my new stove will not fit anything other than a pot.

We got to the trail head in the dark and met up with the others in our group. We set out at about 6:45AM, with me in my ski boots. The hike up to the ski hut was not too bad but my pack was heavy with food for two (except only I would be eating it) and all my ski and avalanche gear. The avalanche danger was exceptionally low but there was evidence of some recent slides so it was better to be cautious.

Making our way up the bowl.

We reached the ski hut in a few hours and the snow below it had slowed us down as we kept stepping through it. We put on our crampons and helmets and grabbed our ice axes and were ready to head up the bowl to the summit. Due to the soft snow the trip up the bowl was very difficult. We sunk quite deeply with every step and had to kick step all the way up. While I had the largest feet and sturdiest boots by far, I also weighed more than anyone else, especially with all my ski gear. This made the climb up rather difficult, but those behind me really appreciated the gigantic platform steps I left for them. We all took turns leading to share the burden of kicking in the first steps.

We finally reached the summit at 12:30PM. I can’t say I was starving (that takes about 3 weeks with no food) but I was extremely hungry! My English muffin and a granola bar I had 7 hours prior was not much to go on for such a climb. It was windy on the summit so we dropped off the top and found some shelter in a tree well nearby. It was finally time to get down to the brunch portion of the brunch hike!

My backcountry English muffin toaster.

I got out my avalanche shovel and made a nice seat to start. I then passed the shovel off to my friends. It is amazing how such a simple tools is so valuable in the snow. I then proceeded to melt some snow and make hot water for tea. With my new MSR Reactor stove, this was done with lightning speed! If you read my blog on my Mammoth ski trip you will understand my frustration with waiting for hot water from snow melt. I then prepared my apparatus for toasting English muffins. It was nothing more than some stainless steel wire I fabricated into a circle with a tail that I could attach to the handle of my pot. A little positioning of the stove to obtain the ideal distance of 8 inches between burner and muffin (determined the day prior in the comfort of my kitchen) and I was toasting. I shared the toasted and buttered muffins with the group as we all share on these adventures. Edd finished with his stove and I proceeded to cook up my feast. With the fresh tomato and avocado topping off my breakfast scramble I easily won the best looking breakfast award! I did share some but my stomach kept me from sharing too much.

Geared up on the summit for a quick descent.

With brunch complete it was time to head down. I mounted my skis while others prepared for the glissade. The snow was soft as it was so warm out. This is nice for glissading the steep slope but not so good for skiing. As we descended I enjoyed the upper sections greatly. Wide open snow fields were great for making big sweeping turns. It felt great even though the snow had the consistency of mashed potatoes! As we neared the ski hut I had a hard time navigating through the rock and bushes on the line I had chosen. Fortunately the others did not see my wipeout as my path narrowed and one ski went over top of a bush mostly covered by snow. Not only did I fall but I broke through the snow and landed in the bush on my back. I felt like a poor turtle turned over and had to jettison my skis and get myself out of the hole I was in which was made more difficult by my pack. I walked the remainder of the way to the ski hut, a few hundred yards.

Back at the ski hut we put away all our ice gear and prepared for the walk back down. Some were complaining of cold feet. I on the other hand had the reverse problem. My boots worked great at keeping my feet warm in Mammoth in near zero degree weather but at that moment in the 70 degree heat my feet were soaked from sweat! I guess it is hard to make a breathable ski boot that works well at zero as well as 70 degrees.

The hike back down from the hut to the trail head always seems twice as long as it was on the way up. I was tired and my feet were now beginning to hurt. I could feel I had a few spots rubbing and they were completely wet. Back at the car it felt so good to remove my boots and let my feet breath. Putting on my tennis shoes was so rewarding as I felt like I was walking on air!

I always learn something on these trips. Long walks in backcountry ski boots suck! My new stove was awesome and could melt snow better than anything else I have ever used. My toaster apparatus worked great and I really enjoyed the hot English muffins on the trail. As always I learned more about the wildly different experiences you can have on snow based upon the current conditions. In the summer this is typically not an issue. It is going to be dirt and rock, just like the last time. In the winter you can have powder snow, warm soft snow, slush, ice, corn snow and you can even have all of these on the same trip! Now throw in the variable snow depths and quickly changing weather patterns and you can see why this is a challenging environment even for the most experienced winter adventurers. I will keep at it and build my skills in a slow and safe manor so I can continue doing this for a long time to come.

Kick Turns and the Crystal Crag

Base camp below the Crystal Crag

What do you think of when you hear about two 40 year old guys heading off for 4 days to live it up? A couple of balding guys in a big red Cadillac convertible heading to Vegas to enjoy wine, women and song perhaps? Well how about we trade out the Cadillac convertible for a 4x4 pickup, we make the destination Mammoth instead of Vegas and we lose the wine, women and song and trade that out for backcountry skiing, mountaineering and snoring and farting in a tent. And by the way, only one of us has male pattern balding and it’s not me!

Once again my friend Jason and I are off to enjoy the snow. We have done Baldy and Mt. Shasta together in the past with me enviously looking at his split board as I have had to walk back down the mountains and he snowboarded the whole way back to the car. Well this Christmas season I decided it was time to do something about it. I researched exactly the gear I wanted, sold a kidney (you don’t really need two, right?) and proceeded to spend my riches on what I thought would be the perfect backcountry ski setup. My wife appreciated that she had to do no shopping for me at all. Boxes would arrive at the house and I just told her to give it to me for Christmas. If only shopping for her was this easy!

I am a pretty good resort skier so the backcountry ski concept seemed like a great way for me to enjoy my love of hiking, mountaineering and skiing all at the same time. I read up on the unique attributes of backcountry skiing of which there are apparently many. Skinning, or skiing uphill, kick turns to facilitate such an endeavor, use of ski crampons and setting a skin track were all new concepts to this downhill skier. My family must think I am nuts for putting on my ski gear and skis in the front room of the house to practice all these new skills I will need. After wiping out the manger scene my wife had set in front of the Christmas tree with my ski tails multiple times I had figured out how to do a kick turn. Now if doing these maneuvers on the snow is as easy as it is on the carpet, I am a master! As I was still a little rusty on my rope handling skills I had learned while taking a snow travel course 6 months prior, I also brushed up on those including butterfly coiling my new rope and making a kiwi coil for travelling in a roped up scenario. Easy to do in the comfort of my home in front of the fireplace, I just hope it translates well to the cold environment on the snow covered slopes.

With just a couple days until our departure the weather at our destination, the Mammoth Lakes area, turned for the worst. Heavy snow and winds gusting up to 75MPH were in the forecast. As I had learned on Mt. Shasta, it pays to be flexible when planning trips in snowy environments. We opted to delay a couple days. The new days had some partly sunny days and light snow in the forecast with minimal wind for the first two days and no wind report for the final two. The temps would be cold with our first night at -5F and the high on the last day of 20F with the rest somewhere in between.

We departed home at 3AM and got up to Mammoth at a reasonable time. We had noticed that my fuel bottle for my 25 year old stove was leaking so we headed into our favorite gear shop in town, Mammoth Mountaineering, and got a new and improved fuel pump for the old reliable MSR XGK and headed over to get our permit. All went well at the Forest Service office and they reminded us of the high avalanche danger (this sounds like the Shasta trip all over again) and off we went to our trailhead.

There's a first time for everything!

As we arrived at the trailhead where they stop plowing the Lake Mary road we looked for a parking spot. The roads were plowed but still snow covered. I saw a spot that looked like I could park in and headed in. Unfortunately as I pulled forward into the snow bank my right front tire dropped off the road and sank about a foot. I tried reverse but my 4x4 with well worn tires better designed for dirt, sand and mud wasn’t going to get me out of this one. Out came the shovel and Jason and I started digging. We tried multiple times but no luck. I always carry a tow strap and after asking a couple people I found a guy willing to give me a tug to get out. I reparked in a much better spot that had become available. This was the first time I had ever had my truck stuck so it was a humbling experience. Already worn out from digging and sweating in the 15 degree temps, it was time to get our gear ready to head out.

We finished packing up our monster size backpacks which consisted of two packs for each of us. Our main pack to haul all our gear to our base camp plus a second, lighter and smaller pack for our ski mountaineering day trips. To use a phrase my Dad has accused the family of on many a vacation in the past, we looked like “Hannibal crossing the Alps!” Unfortunately for us, we had no elephants to carry the load, just us!

The great news is the couple mile trek from the trailhead to Lake George, our intended base camp area, is accessed via a groomed road. Unfortunately, it is all uphill! With the sun shining upon us and our monster top heavy packs on we put the skins on our skis and headed on up the groomed road. If either of us tipped over along the way we would have looked like a turtle flipped upside down, and been just about as coordinated as well!

We arrived at Lake George and set up base camp. Jason instructed me on the fine points of setting up camp in the snow such as stomping out a tent platform to compact the snow and then getting off it for at least a half hour to let it firm up. We positioned the tent to avoid wind blowing in the door and set up a kitchen area complete with snow couch with a great view of the Crystal Crag, a prominent rock feature on the far side of the frozen lake. We enjoyed the sun while we had it as it dropped behind the ridge at 3:30PM. We started with some prosciutto and mozzarella on parmesan crisps complete with Grey Poupon (but of course) that led into an early dinner and hot beverages while we worked on making camp improvements like walkways as the snow was so deep you would sink up to at least your knee if you stepped off the beaten down paths we were making.

It was an early night to bed as we had been up very early that morning. Since the forecast for the night was -5F we needed to do some extra prep before bed. We both had 2 sleeping pads to insulate us better from the snow. We put our water bottles in insulated containers and kept them close us all night to keep them from freezing. It turns out that the homemade cozy for my alcohol stove fits a 1 liter Nalgene bottle perfectly and was put to great alternate use on this trip. Prior to the trip I contemplated my situation as my lowest rated sleeping bag is good to 10 degrees F. I have a silk liner that might add 5 to 10 degrees of comfort but that is still cutting it close and I hate to be cold all night. The solution came to me a couple days before our departure. I also have a 45 degree summer bag that weighs just over a pound and packs down super small. I would bring both bags and put my cold weather bag inside the summer bag and combine the warmth of both down bags. Combined with my new down booties which I wore to bed it worked out perfectly and I not only survived my coldest night in the outdoors, I enjoyed it.

We awoke to a lovely sunshine morning. We fired up the stoves and found Jason’s to be running at no more than a simmer. Apparently it was in need of some maintenance. Why did we both bring stoves you ask? Well if one fails you always have a backup and it was looking like that was a really good idea. We melted snow to fill up our water bottles for the day, Jason cooked up some sausage patties and we worked on more camp improvements and packed our gear for the day. It was forecast to be about 11 degrees that day and with the sun shining it felt good. When we finally set off to ski up a nearby ridge bordering the lake I was down to a long sleeve t-shirt on top as I knew we would be heating up during the climb.

Awesome fresh powder and the Crystal Crag

Me at the top of the ridge above Lake George.

               The uphill ski touring was strenuous but not overly technical. The snow was soft as the powder snow was at least 10 feet thick. We made our way through the trees following the path laid down that morning by a couple on snowshoes. We had selected the route that morning based on the relative slope and safety of the ridge from avalanche danger. We reached the top of the ridge and sat down in the sun for a snack. The views were incredible and even our base camp was in sight as you could see the orange tent although it appeared as merely a small speck in this grand view from high atop the ridge. We removed the skins and converted our gear into downhill mode and I prepared for my first real powder run.

Jason having a rest at the ridge top.

Me taking in the views before our first ski down.

Back down to the lake after our first run.

Heading down the ridge in the deep powder was a learning experience for sure. As this was the first time since I have had good ski skills to encounter such an environment and I found it challenging. My legs got so tired on the trip down I had to stop several times. This was primarily due to the fact that I was going too slow given the conditions and I was having to work very hard to make the turns through the trees. I did not realize how slow deep powder can be and took a very cautious approach for this first run. We made it all the way down to the frozen lake. We had stayed off of the lakes the day prior and that morning as were not sure if they were safe to travel on. While up high on the ridge we had seen several people cross a few of the lakes in the area and figured if we stayed near the edge we should be fine. We made our way back to camp to enjoy another early dinner in the sunshine.

Jason shows off our quesadillas.

By the time we reached camp, the clouds had moved in and blocked the sun we were hoping for. We had plenty of time to cook and whipped up some pork loin and jalapeno muenster quesadillas for an appetizer while sitting on the snow couch enjoying the view. Since refrigeration was not a problem we were able to bring some tastier items than we normally might. We did discover that heating them from rock hard frozen can be an issue. We would rotate between cooking and doing camp improvements to keep warm and be properly fed/hydrated until about 8PM when we decided it was time for bed. The nights are very long and the days short so we had plenty of time in the tent for conversation and prepping gear for the following day. This was our exciting New Years Eve in the backcountry!

In the middle of the night the wind had picked up, Happy New Year! By early morning we could hear it snowing on the tent. When we finally got our of the tent it was breezy and snowing. Our camp improvements were almost entirely covered on snow that had blown in. The tent had a fair accumulation of snow around it as well. Out came the snow shovels and we started digging out. I had to dig down to the kitchen area and then uncover the stove. By leaving it out I let snow and ice build up in the jet and had to bang it a little to clear out the crud. With Jason’s stove relegated to simmer duties only this could be a crisis. I tried to prime the stove and the fuel just bubbled out of the jet rather than squirting like it usually would. I figured the jet had iced up and hoped that a larger amount of priming fuel would be all that it needed to warm up enough to clear. Fortunately I was right and I got the stove humming along and melting snow.

Heading up the ridge in a blizzard.

After a simple breakfast we both got our gear ready for the day. With snow falling and the breeze turning to a wind we layered up a little more than the day prior. We headed out to enjoy the same ridge again as it had proven to be safe and very fun. The track we had laid down the day prior was nearly invisible as the snow that night had filled it all in. We skinned up the ridge into what was turning into a blizzard with visibility down to 50 yards at times. When we hit the top we quickly converted to ski mode and flew back down. This time I carried more speed and the powder skiing was much easier. We made our way down to the very exposed lake and were greeted with wind gusts reaching about 40MPH! As quickly as we could we converted back to ski touring mode and made our way off the lake to seek some shelter and eat a snack. After that we did the same route all over again completing our second “lap” for the day, a first for both of us.

We skinned back to camp in a blizzard. Once again, all the work of the morning dig out was almost completely erased by the snow that had blown in. All I wanted to do was fire up the stove and make hot beverages but we realized we needed more wind protection from the 40MPH gusts driving the snow at us. Jason laid out a new plan and we started by making a snow wall near the vestibule of our tent to protect us. We were initially planning on cooking in the vestibule while we were inside the tent and in our sleeping bags. While building the snow wall Jason realized the tree adjacent to our tent was doing a great job at blocking wind and reduced the blowing snow. We decided to dig out yet another kitchen and snow couch and take advantage of both our snow block wind wall and tree. It proved to be a much better location but lacked a view. I guess you just can’t have it all. We finally fired up the stove nearly 2 hours after returning to camp to finally get a hot beverage. Due to the cold windy and snowy conditions we made this a very quick liquid and soup dinner and were in the tent for bed by 6:30PM. We both hated to go to bed this early as we knew it was going to be a VERY long night but the conditions warranted the action.

We both awoke at midnight and were wide awake. We shared in the joy that the wind had stopped but the snow was still falling. Jason had brought an ipod he could watch a movie on. I normally would be disgusted at the thought of bringing such an electronic device on a trip to the backcountry but I was the student and Jason the master. He knew how long and boring a night in the tent can be in the middle of winter so we watched a movie on the 2 inch screen and shared a pair of earphones, one ear for each of us. He went back to sleep and I paid the price for getting two great nights of sleep by laying there awake for the next four hours or so. To occupy my time I conceived every possible way I could cook the egg, sausage and cheese breakfast croissant sandwiches I had brought along with the available gear we had. In my mind I fashioned a steamer with a blend of the pots and lids we had with us. With my stomach rumbling from our shortened dinner the night before my focus on the cooking task before me was hyper focused.

At first light I had enough of the tent. I sprung out of it to find that I needed to get out the shovel again the dig out the minimal amount of snow that had accumulated in our walkway and kitchen. Having learned from the night before, I left my pot turned upside down over the stove so snow and ice did not accumulate in the burner. I had it fired up in no time. First a hot cup of cocoa and then the breakfast croissants! I cannot begin to tell you satisfying sound my stove makes once lit. I think it is a blend of the smell of white gas burning and the jet engine sound it makes that brings instant warmth and happiness to my soul. This was repeated every morning on this trip but none as sweet as this one, our final day on the four day adventure.

Breakfast croissants at last!

While the water boiled I dug out our tent which was covered in snow on the sides to a depth of between 12 to 18 inches. Light snow was still falling but the wind had finally abated which made the morning even better. I poured us both a cup of hot water to make our morning drinks and got to work on my boiler for cooking the much anticipated croissants. It did not work out exactly as planned but it worked well enough and within 15 minutes we were both enjoying a wonderful breakfast. Funny that at home this would be no big deal at all. Pop the silly thing in the microwave for 90 seconds and done, but not here!

We packed up camp during the light snowfall. Jason informed me it was good backcountry etiquette to fill in the major holes we had dug so we made quick work of that. We threw the monster size packs on our backs and headed out. While it was mostly downhill it still wasn’t easy. The slope was not quite steep enough to ski so it took awhile to make it back to the truck. We had been wondering how snowed in the truck would be given that it has snowed the last three days. Fortunately there was only about a foot surrounding it and it was quick work. Starting my diesel truck was my next worry as it had cold soaked for 4 days and never saw a temp over 10 degrees F. I had treated the fuel so it should be OK. It turned over ever so slowly at first. It started rather quickly but ran so rough and sounded so loud you would have thought you were standing next to a stamp mill in a gold mining town. After about a minute it smoothed out and all was well.

The trip home was most enjoyable as it snowed from Lone Pine all the way down to the 14 and 5 merge. Seeing Ridgecrest, Palmdale and Lancaster in the snow was a really new experience. Given the weather conditions, we did surprisingly well on our return.

I learned so much on this trip. I discovered that you do not need to buy a super cold rated sleeping bag if you have two semi cold rated bags. I found a new use for my cozies from my alcohol stove. The new tent I had purchased for this trip worked out perfectly and was just right for the two of us and all our winter gear. I learned that while hanging out at camp and cooking sounds fun, it is darn cold and your body wants to just get it done. Both of us hauled home at least half of the food we took. I have read plenty of stories of guys on Everest and that about all they eat is soup when they are up high on the mountain. While we were nowhere near the conditions they face, I think I have begun to understand what they are going through. My new backcountry ski gear worked flawlessly which is great as it was the first use on most of it. I discovered that the short days make for long nights in the tent, and that sucks! In the future I plan on getting a stove I can operate inside the tent which can at least make those first morning beverages a little easier as well as offer the ability to retreat from really bad weather and cook inside the tent. I discovered that my wool gloves were great around camp and actually do keep you warm even when wet. Most importantly I found they can be dried by keeping them in your sleeping bag all night! I also learned that I should have left my rope, harness, carabineers, amateur radio and ski and boot crampons behind and saved about 10 lbs. of stuff I never touched!

While learning and discovering new things on this trip, the most important one I think I figured out is that this would be more comfortable if done in the spring when the days are longer, the sun shines more often and the temps are milder. With that in mind I am planning on a springtime trip to Split Mountain to complete another California fourteener. Until then, I will keep practicing my winter skills and hope for good snow but also some warmer temps to enjoy it in!
Click here for the pictures from the whole trip.

Laboring on Mt. Langley, 14,026 ft.

Mt. Langley viewed from the Cottonwood Lakes

With summer coming to an end it was time to try to squeeze in the last backpacking trip of the season. A friend who had done Mt. Whitney with me the summer prior had been wanting do Mt. Langley at 14,026 ft. ever since. A few of us at the office chatted about it and figured the Labor Day weekend would be a nice chance for us to sneak away for a 3 day backpacking trip to another of California’s fourteeners.

Getting our permit proved a little difficult. We had planned on taking the Cottonwood Lakes trail and doing an out and back in either two or three days. When we called for a permit they could not accommodate our group on our selected weekend. It just so happened I was heading by the ranger station in Lone Pine the following weekend so I stopped in to talk with them. They confirmed that we could not reserve permits for the Cottonwood Lakes trail that weekend. I then asked the magic question, “If I wanted to climb Mt. Langley on Labor Day weekend what other route might I take to do it that does have available permits.” Funny how a “no” becomes a “yes” so quickly as I was advised I could head out on the Cottonwood Pass trail and approach Langley from the western side, cross over and exit by way of the Cottonwood Lakes trail. It would be less populated, more scenic, and most importantly, we would be descending the eastern side of the Army Pass rather than going up it which would be much easier. Needless to say, I reserved the permits immediately!

Our group ultimately consisted of coworkers Mike and Clark as well as Clark’s wife Michelle and another friend of mine, Kevin. We had all done Mt. Whitney together the year prior as a day trip and were looking forward to a 3 day backpack trip up another of the easier fourteeners.

Clark and Michelle headed out on the Friday afternoon prior to our start date to pick up the permits in Lone Pine before the ranger station closed at 6PM. They got the permits with no problem and headed up to Horseshoe Meadows to get a couple campsites for the night. I headed up with Mike and Kevin later that night and arrived about 1AM. We all wanted to spend a night at the trailhead to acclimatize as it is at 10,000 ft.

Leaving the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead.

Morning came and we all packed up our stuff. We decided what we had duplicates of and  left some things behind. One water filter was all we needed (more on that later) and we trimmed down on a few other small items. By 9:30 we were ready to go and hit the trail.

The first issue on our hike happened less than a mile in. I always bring my big Canon digital SLR camera on trips up fourteeners as the views are so incredible that I hate sacrificing the picture quality with a lightweight point and shoot. Unfortunately my camera began misbehaving and electronically locking up. I debated running back to the truck and dropping off the 2.2 pound millstone hanging from my yoke strap. Fortunately we made a stop and I removed the battery and memory card and reseated them and all was well.

A little foot surgery for Michelle.

Not too much farther along as we were climbing the Cottonwood Pass, Michelle needed to stop for a foot issue. She had gotten a blister on her foot two weeks prior walking around the Del Mar race track while playing the ponies. It had acted up a week before on a conditioning hike as well. Fortunately we had the technique down and out came some blister bandaids as well as some duct tape to keep them in place. Patched up, we moved on.

Wildflowers at Chicken Spring Lake.

We crossed through the Cottonwood Pass and the huge valley between the Western Sierra ridge and Eastern ridge was before us. Big Whitney Meadow was due west, down in the bottom of the valley and it looked wonderful. We stayed high on the ridge and travelled north to Chicken Spring Lake, our lunch and water stop.

Kevin's pizza masterpiece!

The lake was beautiful and we were all ready for lunch. We dropped our packs and prepared our feasts. Kevin had the most interesting lunch consisting of a fresh made bagel pizza topped with some fresh tomato he sliced up right there. We all agreed that if we had an extra day, spending the night here would be great.

Our first view of Mt. Langley.

We proceeded on, traversing along northward toward Rock Creek and the Soldier Lakes. Our official destination was lower Soldier Lake but from the map it looked a little past our trail we would be taking in the morning up Rock Creek so we decided if Rock Creek had water, we would camp there instead. Having passed on filling up with water at Chicken Spring Lake to keep our pack weight down, we were all running low. Before we had made it to Rock Creek we all went dry. The last 45 minutes or so to Rock Creek were tough as we were all tired due to the 11 mile long hike and we were thirsty!

Michelle cools her feet in Rock Creek.

We arrived at Rock Creek not only to find a wonderful little meadow and the creek flowing but also to discover a great place to make camp just off the trail. We dropped our packs and headed down to the creek to drink plenty of water to replenish our depleted bodies. We all took the opportunity to cool off and put our feet in the water as well.

Big Dipper setting over Joe Devel Peak.

We had a fun evening cooking up different meals, playing a little Uno and finally heading off to bed. We were not looking forward to the elevation gain in the morning but we all were excited to summit. The weather had been great so far and the forecast called for clear skies, little wind with nights around 30 and days just under 50 degrees. The clear skies meant excellent night skies and the stars were plentiful. I set up my tent hoping to get a picture of the Big Dipper setting over Joe Devel Peak later that evening which I was able to get just before falling asleep.

The morning was cold as expected but we were all up by 6:30. It took us awhile to get going and we rolled out of camp at 9AM. Surprisingly the trail up Rock Creek to the Army Pass was not as bad as any of us had anticipated. Bt 10:30AM we had made it to the top of the pass where we would stash our full packs and transition to lightweight summit packs as there was no need to carry stoves, tents and sleeping bags up and back down.

Kevin on a class 3 section.

I had estimated that morning that it would take about 4 hours from camp to the summit of Mt. Langley. We headed out along the ridge leading to the steeper climb up Mt. Langley. The route was easy to follow although no official trail exists. As we approached the steep section, Kevin and I had pulled away from the others. We have all found it best to just hike our own pace at these high elevations and regroup at the summit. We were all faced with a decision, what route to take. Faint use trails were everywhere and you could see people both ascending and descending on numerous different paths. Kevin and I picked one and went for it. We did need to pack our poles away as at times we needed our hands for some easy class 3 work. Before long we were through the hardest part and looking for the highest point ahead of us.

The crew on the summit.

Unlike Mt. Whitney, you do not see 50 or more people hanging out on the summit. Kevin and I headed for what looked like the high point but we only saw a couple people there. We figured it must be it as they had their packs off. We finally arrived, 5 minutes ahead of my SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess) figure of 4 hours to the summit. Here we were at 14, 026 ft., my fifth California fourteener and third this season. The altitude has certainly slowed us down but we both felt good and had an appetite. We ate lunch and celebrated and kept an eye out for the rest of crew who were out of sight.

About an hour later the rest of the crew arrived. They too were very hungry and quite tired, just as Kevin and I were an hour ago. They ate, signed the log book, got pictures taken and were ready to head down by 2:30PM. The wind had picked up considerably from when we had first arrived and lots of smoke was blowing in from the Central Valley from a fire over there. Kevin made a SWAG on our return time to our packs at the top of the pass. When everyone arrived at the packs, his prediction was dead on!

Army Pass. Glad we came down it rather than up it!

We had met some very nice folks on Langley that day. A really nice guy by the name of Dave asked us where we were headed to. We told him we were going to overnight at the Cottonwood Lakes at the bottom of the Army Pass. He laughed and said, “Well the good news is that you only have to go about 20 ft.” We walked the 20 ft. to the top of the Army Pass and understood exactly what he meant. The pass is a darn near vertical wall with one of the lakes at its base. It was hard to envision there was a trail that would take us down this but there was. It was very steep and blocked by some rock falls in a few places but we managed to make our way down.

We had spotted the lakes below earlier in the day and had a good idea where we were headed to camp. We finally found a prime spot near the largest of the Cottonwood Lakes and made camp. We were all hoping for a swim but the sun dropped over the pass about 10 minutes after we arrived at the lake and I did not want to be wet and in the shade. Clark however went for it and fully submerged himself in the frigid lake. His speech was temporarily impaired as the cold water played tricks with his facial muscles.

Back at camp we set up a perfect little kitchen complete with granite counter top and comfy granite chairs. As this was our last night and we did not want to pack out any extra food, we really had a feast. Clark got things going with some freshly made chicken quesadillas that he shared with everyone. We all made our individual meals and did some sharing of those as well. I had brought a raspberry crumble dessert that was a favorite on a recent Cub Scout backpacking trip and all agreed it was great. The coup de grace was when Clark cooked up some fresh popcorn on his backpacking stove. We ate for over two hours that night and capped the evening with another game of Uno.

Clark's Cranberry biscuit.

The morning came and it was time to pack up for the final hike out. Clark made some cranberry biscuits that morning that were quite good. The water pump had developed an issue the day prior and made water purification a little difficult. I had opted to go all natural on this trip and filter nothing while everyone else relied on the filter and later on the purification tablets we had brought as backup. We boiled water as well and topped off our water bladders for the trip out.

The hike out made us appreciate the location we were in that much more. It was so beautiful in the Cottonwood Lakes basin with numerous lakes and wonderful meadows. I would enjoy hiking back into this area just to spend time exploring and playing in the lakes and fishing. It was about 7 miles or so back the parking lot and our cars. In total the trip was around 27 miles. We all got to spend some great time on all new trails for us and are inspired to explore this area in the future.

Full album of pictures from this trip are available here.