Day 80: East Fork Carson River - Wolf Creek (mi 1028-1041)

Somehow everybody woke up amazingly intact today, largely thanks to the glorious feast we had on the 4th of July, the night before. The weather was agreeable, so we took a leisurely time making a generous portion of oatmeal and breaking camp. Redcoat developed some blisters on the hike in, and did a fairly aggressive job at lancing them. I offered some Second Skin (my favorite) in hopes that it would replace the now absent first-skin. The day started with a good, 1,500-foot climb out of the East Fork Carson River drainage around Boulder Peak. Grandpa, his pack at least 3 liters of fine wine lighter, led the charge up the hill and I tailed him. We had a good conversation and stopped to regroup at a small stream on the first topographic bench we encountered. As it turned out, PCT alums Mountain Goat and Beam were out for the holiday weekend on a yo-yo trip from Sonora Pass and were doing trail magic for thru-hikers along the way!

Trail magic at the top of the climb! Mountain Goat and Beam (Class of '09) had fresh goodies for thru-hikers in the shade.

I indulged in a cold Coors Banquet as the day warmed up and our friends gathered up the hill. As fellow Bay Area residents, we chatted with the veteran thru-hikers about various Bay Area-related things as well as the trail ahead. They informed us of a bowling alley in Chester, just after the trail midpoint, that was a definite destination.

Group photo at the trail magic.

The hike continued its upward trajectory for quite some time. We stopped by a small stream for water and snacks as we shifted around Boulder Peak, then climbed up and on top of the ridge and shifted back away from the granite-dominated landscape back to the red, rocky soil of volcanic origin similar to what we encountered at the outset by the pass. We had sweeping views of Sonora Peak to the south, a good shot of the upcoming basin by Disaster Peak, and a large assortment of talus and rubble piles around the trail to gawk at. The lake that was supposed to be at the base of Disaster Peak where we were supposed to lunch was no longer there, and appeared to have filled, and turned into a wet meadow. Drat. Under Construction, Grandpa and I discussed our options and carried on to the next water source, a stream about a mile north. On the way, we stopped to indulge in a quick glissade down a small snow patch. It was lots of fun.

Grandpa leads the charge with a belly slide down the last of a tiny snow patch just before lunch, shortly after we discovered that the lake we were to lunch at had filled in since the maps were originally surveyed.

Under Construction follows suit with a slide in the hot afternoon sun.

In ones, twos and threes everybody else staggered into lunch, having completed some 2,500 feet of climbing on the day at high elevation with minimal acclimation. Blood sugar was low, and people were generally ready for a break. Shoes were removed and people reclined as they started to shove food in their faces. People were far less outwardly-enthusiastic as they waited for the desire to hike to come back. Smiles and I tried to cheer them up - the hard part was done! Minimal climbing left! Not much left after getting to camp tonight! Whether it worked or not was debatable, but there was no mutinous behavior and we all continued on in the cooling air of the afternoon. The views were grand, and everybody pushed on.

Grandpa trudges on through the wilderness under quite a heavy load after lunch.

Redcoat jams down the trail.

Smiles, Salamander and Redcoat dropping down from a small divide as we headed towards Wolf Creek.

FurrCracker, Grandpa, Under Construction and Redcoat in front of a small, unnamed summit north of Disaster Peak.

Descending into the Wolf Creek Drainage.

The well-drained volcanic soils supported low vegetation with either deep roots or low water demands.

Chalice time while contemplating the trail ahead.

Redcoat is ready for the day to be over, and ready for some fishing in Wolf Creek.

Dr. Slosh, Grandpa, Under Construction and FurrCracker with the pumice and ash spires of Arnot Peak in the background. A nice example of a hillside meadow.

After the final descent into the Wolf Creek drainage, I explained to Redcoat, FurrCracker, Grandpa and Under Construction my theory on the longest mile (the last mile into camp - always the worst within-day mile) and they agreed. Redcoat was looking forward to some fishing in Wolf Creek, but sadly we were too close to the headwaters to do any decent fishing. The camp was quite a bit smaller than the one the night before, but everybody was too tired to care. It was large enough for tents, and had a fire pit. 'nuf said. Now that the work was done, we could get to the serious business of the day: dinner. Salamander had MORE steak, which I had forgotten about, and we draped a couple huge sheets of foil across FurrCracker's grill (coming in handy for the second night in a row - would be nice if they made a UL grill, though...) and sauteed up some carne asada for tacos. We didn't lack a thing - beans, sour cream, tomatoes, onion, guacamole, more corn on the cob... it's too easy to get used to eating like this!

Candid shots of the carne asada pile and hikers devouring dinner at camp!