June 30 - July 3, 2004

Photography by Bernie plus several by Stan

Trip Organizer: Bernie (N6FN)

At 10,255 feet, the Mosquito Flats trail head provides a high starting point, minimizing much of the elevation gain normally required with hiking in the Sierras.

A short distance from the trail head is the sign indicating entry into the John Muir Wilderness.

Originally a mining access road in the 30's, the Little Lakes Valley hiking trail is relatively level, motorized travel being restricted many years ago.

 Chickenfoot Lake, at 10, 789 ft and 2.6 miles from the trailhead would be our "base camp".   Elevation gain and loss along the trail is minimal, making for easy hiking to the lake.

View of the Sierra Crest from Box Lake

On the way to Chickenfoot Lake, which is at the far end of the valley, the trail skirts: Mack, Marsh, Heart, Box and Long Lakes.  Each of the lakes are destinations in their own right and are populated with brown, rainbow and brook trout.

After setting up camp at  Chickenfoot Lake and having lunch, Bernie climbed a ridge near camp to try and make 2-meter radio contact with Jeff, who would be hiking in several hours behind us.  Even though the ridge provided good  radio coverage of the valley, Jeff did not respond, apparently he had not yet reached the trail head.  Knowing that Jeff, a very experienced backpacker,  could easily find our campsite, we decided to hike to nearby Gem Lakes.

Gem Lakes, which lay at the base of the Sierra Crest, consist of one large lake and two smaller ones.  After visiting the larger of the Gem Lakes,  Stan, Cheryl and En headed back to camp while Bernie tried his luck fly-fishing the lakes.

While Bernie was still out fishing, Stan who had been monitoring 147.555 on the radio, was able to contact Jeff and guide him into the campsite by giving him our GPS coordinates.

By about 4 pm, storm clouds were gathering on the peaks above, and it looked like we would have some inclement weather for the evening.

Cheryl and En, early morning

Our Wilderness Permit required the use of "approved" bear canisters in the Little Lakes Valley drainage.   Counterbalancing food bags from trees is not considered adequate.

By late afternoon Cheryl and En were not feeling well.  Both had headaches, were a bit nauseous and retired to their tents to rest.  Apparently they were suffering from a bit of altitude sickness and perhaps from not drinking enough water during the day.  Plenty of water was available, they had just not felt the need to drink. 

As we were finishing dinner it begin to rain,  lightly at first and later with gusto, with  some sleet as well.  Everyone got into their tents as quickly as possible. 

The rain continued on and off all evening and well into the night, but everyone stayed dry in their tents.  Sometime after midnight the sky cleared. 

 In the morning, the tents were covered by a thin layer of ice--the rain and condensation had frozen during the night.  Much to his surprise, Stan discovered that the lid to his bear canister was frozen shut.  (You need to turn the canister sideways or upside down to prevent rain from collecting in the crevice around the lid.)

A bit of prying and heat from Bernie's alcohol Pepsi-can stove allowed Stan to retrieve his breakfast.

After breakfast, Stan, Cheryl, En and Bernie retraced the route of the previous day to the Gem Lake spur trail and then continued hiking the main trail over Morgan Pass.  

Jeff, being a bit more ambitious, decided to climb to a snow filled saddle below Peppermint Peak.  His intent was to scout how difficult it would be to travel cross country to Spire and Split Lakes.

The views from Morgan Pass, elevation 11,155 ft,  are superb, you can look back towards the Sierra Crest and Little Lakes Valley or down towards Upper and Lower Morgan Lakes.  There were still some snow patches which we had to cross on both sides of the pass.

At the far end of Lower Morgan Lake we came across an old line shack.  It was fun to try and guess who had stayed here and why.

Retracing our route back to Morgan Pass we stopped a short while for lunch at Upper Morgan Lake.   From our vantage point above the lake we could see trout occasionally swimming by and feeding on the surface.

Upon reaching Morgan Pass we tried to reach Jeff by radio, but were unsuccessful -- his radio must have been turned off or he was in a bad spot for reception.

By the time we got back to camp, Cheryl and En were exhausted and decided to take a nap.  In camp Stan  managed to contact Jeff by radio, he had been to the saddle but excessive snow made him decide not to descend the other side.  His route back took him to Dade and Treasure Lakes below Bear Creek Spire.  Dade Lake was still frozen over.

While Jeff was making his way back to camp, Bernie took the opportunity to fly-fish Chickenfoot Lake.  Fishing was fair for rainbows and brook trout.  By late afternoon storm clouds were rolling in.  After dinner it started raining again.

As they had done the evening before, while in their sleeping bags,  Stan and Bernie monitored the Bishop Amateur Radio Club's nightly 9 pm net.  Due to our remote location, they were unable to check in, the signal from the Bishop Silver Peak Repeater being just strong enough to copy.

Early Morning Reflection

It quit raining and the sky cleared before midnight.  About 1 am Bernie and Cheryl went out and enjoyed a beautifully star studded sky with a full moon shining on snowy mountain peaks.

Morning Reflections at Chickenfoot Lake

After enjoying the lake's reflections from different angles Stan, Cheryl and Bernie returned to camp for breakfast.  

At times the mosquitoes were a bit bothersome, primarily when in camp when the wind was calm.   They were not a problem when we were hiking, or in camp early in the morning, or late in the evening when it was cold.  When there was no wind and the sun was shinning, you could get eaten alive if not prepared.  Standing still you were a target! Fortunately we had come prepared with Deet repellent  and mosquito head netting to fend off these pesky critters.

We took our time eating breakfast and packing for the trip back.  Some time was needed to dry out the tents from the previous evening's rain.  Once the sun hit them they dried very quickly.

Less than a mile back towards the trail head, we parted company with Jeff; he was going to spend one more day before going home.  After saying our good bys, he set off cross-country to Ruby Lake, which is along the Mono Pass Trail, where he intended to spend the night.

As we got closer to the trail head we started encountering "herds" of people day hiking into the valley.  Not only was it the weekend, it was Saturday, the 3rd of July--the mother of all weekends!  The trail head parking area was filled to overflowing and cars were lined up waiting for people to leave.  What a zoo!  We were glad we had gone mid week; the trail head parking area had been almost empty when we started our trip and we had seen very few people in the backcountry.

A few miles down the road we stopped to shower and change into fresh clothes at the Rock Creek Lake Lodge.  After several days on the trail that really feels good.  From there it was a big lunch at Jack's Pancake House in Bishop and then on home.

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