Attendance

Sunday, August 26

We all arrived at the Scouthouse for a 7 am departure. There were two crossing groups for this Longterm. Ours started at Silver Lake and went to Tuolumne Meadows while the other group did the opposite. Our group loaded up into two cars and drove to the Lone Pine. Three of the scouts investigated fishing licenses and fishing gear. We then headed to the Lone Pine Ranger Station, picked up the Wilderness permit, and were off to the next rest stop to eat our sack lunches.

Next we made a stop in Bishop to pick up fresh french bread and fill up on gas. It was then off to the Silver Lake campground which is just past June Lake. We dropped the scouts and equipment off and then drove the cars to the rendezvoused point at the Saddlebag Lake turnoff. The timing was perfect! Both groups swapped cars so the cars would be at the correct spot when we came out.

We drove back at the campground, picked up the scouts, and headed back to June Lake for a pizza dinner.

Monday, August 27

We woke up at 6:30 am and had breakfast in camp. We headed to the Rush Creek trailhead which is just across the road from the campground. Some scouts walked across with their packs while we moved the cars over. The trailhead was at about 7200'.

We got on the trail at 9:30 am. It was sunny and hot with no shade but everyone was excited to actually be going. Since we were on the east side of the hill, going clockwise, it seemed like the sun just followed us throughout the day, beating off of the rocks. There was an occasional tree so at least we had shade for the rest breaks. A working tram, presumably put in by the power company goes straight up the hill to Agnew Lake. We crossed the tram rails several times and checked it out each time.

Lunch was at the gaging station just below Agnew Lake. There was a large shade tree there which we all enjoyed.

From Agnew Lake we had to climb to Gem Lake which was our destination for the day. Another hot climb but at least there were some nice views looking back toward June Lake. (Luckily the forest service had reworked the trail to eliminate the grueling switchbacks that should have been just before the dam.) By the time we got up to Gem Lake we all felt like we were totally "spent". The heat and the 2000' climb had taken its toll on us. While walking to the far end of Gem Lake, we saw a deer on the trail just 100' ahead of us. Exciting!

Camp was at the end of Gem Lake in the packers campground. We got there about 5:30 pm and were the only ones there. We set up the kitchen next to the lake (away from the camping area) as several scouts fished and others jumped into the lake to clean off. Dinner was spaghetti and french bread. Yummy!

The bear canisters were left by the hitching posts as we head the bears do not like horse dung. Our extra food was double hung in bear bags.

Tuesday, August 28

Another leisurely up at 7:00 am. Breakfast was oatmeal and granola. We hit the trail at 9:30 am.

We hiked up to Waugh Lake which wasn't as bad as yesterdays hike as there were mostly trees to shade us. Along the way we passed by Buck Lake which had several mallards swimming around. Cute. It also had a small dead fawn floating in it. Sad.

Due to our slow progress, the group decided to sacrifice part of our lay day and stop prematurely at Waugh Lake. Besides, this lake looked like fun too. Unfortunately, we missed the actual end of the lake which is were the best camping was supposed to be. It is hidden visually and there are inconsistencies in the maps. By the time we realized the errors, we were too far past the end and no one wanted to go back.

We proceeded on for a while and eventually camped in a nice secluded shady meadow at about 9900'. We arrived at about 5 pm. Dinner was chicken a la king followed by a cobbler.

Since we were almost above the tree line we figured bears should not be a problem. We still double hung the extra food in bear bags.

Wednesday, August 29

Breakfast was eggs with bacon bits. We quickly hiked up past our planned camp at 10,200' and stopped just before Donahue Pass. We arrived at noon and were at about 10,500'. Any higher and there would not have been any trees. On the way up we met several nice couples from the U.K. that were hiking from Yosemite Valley to Mammoth. It must be a popular trek.

There were a few trees so we picked out a nice stand and ate lunch under them. After lunch the scouts headed out for some fun. Two hiked up to Donahue Pass and the others went to play in the stream. I washed socks and relaxed under a tree while enjoying the southern view. You could see forever.

This was the day we were supposed to encounter the other group but they never showed up. We're hoping they are ok.

Dinner was Spam. Everyone enjoyed it as usual. Real solid food.

Due to the lack of trees (and bears) we critter bagged for the night.

Thursday, August 30

We had an early up at 5:45 am. (Sunrise was at 6:15.) We had a quick breakfast of oatmeal and granola and hit the trail at 7:45 am.

We only had about 1 mile and 500' to get to the pass. It was an easy hike and we made it to the pass at about 9:00 am.

Sean decided he didn't want to do the peak so Mr. Combs stayed at the pass with him. The rest of us took off with day packs at 9:15 for the peak. We went around the small hill to the right to get to the saddle next to Donahue Peak. That turned out to not be a good plan as we had to almost completely climb over the hill to get to the saddle. The right side of the hill has rock outcroppings which are not easily navigated. Luckily the hill was small, we were fresh, and it was cool.

Once at the saddle, we traversed around the left side of Donahue Peak, slowly gaining altitude, until we were at the far side of the peak. The rock scrambles were fairly easy but not as fast as normal cross country walking. It turned out it would have been easier if we had maintained constant elevation until we reached the far side of the peak and then climbed straight up. That way we could have avoided the rocks and walked on normal ground almost the entire way. The far side of the peak is a rock/scree mix so it is easy to climb. (And easier to come down!) That is obviously how Captain Donahue made it up on horseback.

We arrived at the top at about 11:25 and ate lunch while enjoying the view of Lyell Canyon to the north and Whitney to the south. Beautiful. There were two small forest fires visible down in Lyell Canyon.

We signed the log book and then left a little after noon. The first thing we noticed on the way down was a small petrified chipmunk. At least that is what we thought it was. The scree was kind of fun and it only took about 15 minutes to descend 1000' off of the peak. We decided to skip the rock scrambles and go for a longer walk instead which worked out just fine. We stopped at the lake at the saddle and refilled water. This time we chose the other side of the small hill and it was definitely easier. We got back to the pass at 1:45 pm to find Sean waiting for us but no Mr. Combs. He returned at 3:00 pm. We took off at 3:15 into Lyell Canyon knowing it was all downhill from here.

About 20 minutes later we encountered the other group coming up Lyell Canyon. They apparently had a sick scout which put them back a day. We exchanged keys, camp site information, and a few adventure stories. They were nice enough to give us a little fuel as we were running low. After a few quick photos we parted company. A few dark clouds were rolling in.

We proceed down the canyon past two beautiful lakes and finally into the bottom of the canyon. The trails were terrible. Rather than stop at the footbridge campground, we decided to proceed on to where the other group had camped. It sounded too good to pass up. We arrived in the area of their campground about 7:30. After a little scouting around, we wadded across the river to a stand of trees surrounded by a meadow on two sides and the forest in the back. We started setting up camp at 7:45 pm. It was nearly dark. After setting up the tents, no one wanted to eat a full dinner so all we just ate Top Ramen and went to bed. This was supposed to be the hardest day but didn't seem like it, only the longest.

The other group had gotten hit by a bears two nights in a row when they stayed here. We put all of our food in the bear canisters and put the trash in a trash bag and hung it from a tree.

Friday, August 31

This was a lay day so we all slept in. The bears must have been sleeping too as the trash bag was untouched.

The traditional pancake breakfast was started about 8:30 and didn't end until almost 11 am. Two scouts decided to run the 7 or 8 miles to Tuolumne Meadows and back. They ate a pancake each and headed out. Everyone else stuffed themselves on pancakes.

After breakfast, the other three scouts went fishing in the stream. I relaxed in camp. One of the two forest fires was just ahead of us in the canyon. According to the signs we saw yesterday, it was started by lightning and the park service is letting it burn out. A helicopter few over and circled the fire for a while. Apparently it was ok because they never came back.

After all of those pancakes, no one was interested in lunch so we just ate the candy bars.

A park ranger came by and we discovered we had lost our Wilderness Permit. The ranger took down all of the pertinent information and said she would look it up when she got back to the office. She also made us move two tents as they were "too close" to the stream, even though that was up for debate. The trash bag in the trees also had to go as all food and trash must be in the bear canisters.

Two scouts and I then burned what trash we could during a brief rain shower. It would turn out to be our only rain - and not much of one at that.

Dinner was chicken stew and chicken with rice followed by chocolate fudge mousse. We jammed everything into the bear canisters and went to bed early in anticipation of tomorrows early up.

Saturday, September 1

We had an early up at 5:30 am. We decided to skip the cheese omelettes and had leftover granola instead. We rock hopped back across the stream this time and were on the trail at about 8 am.

The going was fast as we were following the stream downhill to Tuolumne Meadows. The closer we got to Tuolumne Meadows, the more people we saw. The last couple of miles were jammed with people. We arrived at the Tuolumne Meadow Lodge at noon. A free shuttle bus came by at just the right time so we took it the last 1/2 mile down the road to the trailhead parking lot. The cars looked awful good. We piled in and checked out showers at the lodge. There was a waiting line so we went to Lee Vining for our showers. After the showers, the other car stopped at three ranger stations while we went straight to the banquet.

After linking up in Bishop at Sizzler we stuffed ourselves and then walked over to Baskin Robbins. After some ice cream we headed home. The last scout was dropped off at his home at about 11 pm. A great time was had by all!

Submitted by Tom Thorpe

Longterm Journals