Attendance

Sunday, August 27

Hiked from the parking lot to Franklin Lake. This is about 6 miles with about 2500 ft. elevation gain. This was a fairly hard day, but everyone made it with no problems such as blisters. We left the trailhead about 9am and arrived at Franklin Lake about 3pm. There were about 7 or 8 people that decided to jump in the lake, but none of them stayed in too long. The weather was clear and calm with mild temperatures. There were no other campers at the lake.

Monday, August 28

Hiked from Franklin Lake to Franklin Pass. Started about 8am, reached Franklin Pass about 10am. Nine people climbed Florence Peak. We got down from the peak about 1:30. We were planning to have lunch, but a storm was rapidly approaching from the northeast. Because the storm looked dangerous we decided to postpone lunch and get down off the pass as quickly as possible. The hike down to Rattlesnake Creek took place in hail, which turned into rain. When we got down everyone was hungry, but as soon as we stopped everyone got cold. We shared some crackers and hunks of salami, and made our way to Forester Lake. Here we stayed at a great campsite that has been used in previous long terms. It was drizzling lightly, but we got a fire started and collected a big pile of firewood. This was good, because it kept us warm during our bear watch that night.

Tuesday, August 29

This was a layover day at Forester Lake. A late wakeup and a breakfast of pancakes that lasted until 11am was a welcome respite from the previous day. The day was damp with drizzle, but it was not enough to dampen spirits. The fishing crew caught a few small trout which were delicious. It was decided that the next day's hike would be to Lost Canyon, rather than Big Five Lakes. Then there would either be a short day up Lost Canyon, or another entire layover day.

Wednesday, August 30

We got a bit of a late start on Wed, but got to the trail junction up Lost Canyon about 2:30. It was looking like it might rain, so we started looking for a campsite. We found a great one just short of the trail junction to Big Five Lakes. We set up camp, got a fire going, and had dinner. There was much happiness in camp when an exercise in food/bear cannister shuffling got all the food and smellables into the cannisters, and we didn't need to have a bear watch. The feeling of happiness was made greater by a decision to have a complete layover day the next day.

Thursday, August 31

Our layover day in Lost Canyon dawned sunny and soon warmed up nicely. The experience of the previous days weather made us wary though, and anyone wishing to wash clothes quickly got to work. The scouts didn't need any clean clothes however, and quickly found a nice little swimming hole in Lost Canyon Creek. The swimming hole was small, but it was right next to some big sun warmed rocks that made a good place to lay after a quick dip in the chilly creek. A leisurely afternoon even had some people taking naps. We went to bed early, because tomorrow was to be a long tough day, how tough we just didn't know.

Friday, September 1

We got up at 5am, and were on the trail before 7am. The hike up Lost Canyon was spectacularly beautiful. At the head of the canyon we hiked up the switchbacks to Columbine Lake. By the time we got to Columbine Lake we were in thick clouds and the hail was quickly turning to snow. By the time we got to the west side of Columbine Lake, it was snowing heavily, the wind was blowing, visibility was poor and we had lost the trail. At this time we came to a flat spot in the rocks where we pitched 4 tents, grabbed our sleeping bags, pads and water bottles and jumped in the tents.

Once we were in our tents it took a while for some of us to warm up, but eventually everyone got warm. By about 2pm the snow had stopped and there were occasional breaks in the clouds. We broke out the food and had lunch - making an exception to the rule of no food in the tents. Some people got out and stretched their legs. Dr. Rose and Mr. Chalk did more that stretch their legs, they hiked up to the top of Sawtooth Pass where Mr. Chalk unsuccessfully tried to use his cell phone. They returned about 4pm. We made some Top Ramen, set up a couple more tents and turned in for the night.

Saturday, September 2

The idea Sat morning was to let the sun hit us before we got up, but most people were already up by that time. It was cold and crunchy - none of the snow had even begun to melt. We started the climb up to Sawtooth Pass with a section of rock that required some to climb without packs, but after that the going was clear. We reached the pass in less than 2 hours and started down the scree field on the other side. The trail down, if it can be called that, was indistinct. We managed to get most of the way down before we came to a difficult spot where we were required to climb down some slippery rocks. At the top Mr. Monahan and Mr. Ingelman were waiting for Sean Chalk and Mr. Chalk to climb down when without warning Mr. Ingelman slipped and fell on Sean. They slid a short way and stopped just short of a 10 ft. drop. A call for help brought some older scouts, and with their help we got past this area to safety. A ranger happened to be in the area, and heard the call for help also. She came up to see what happened. As an EMT, she gave Sean and Mr. Ingelman very thorough examinations and pronounced them good to go. The ranger then led us a short way to Monarch Lake, where we had lunch. The trail down from there was good and easy to follow. We hiked down to the cars where Mr. Young had been patiently waiting all day. We arrived down about 4pm. After loading the cars we went to the Silver City Resort and got showers. By about 8pm we were at the Sizzler in Visalia. A great banquet was enjoyed by all.

Submitted by John Monahan

Longterm Journals