Nick and Bob's Annual Backpacking Trips

For the past four years Nick and I have done a backpacking trip in various high mountains of California. These trips are much more than 6 days on the trail for Dad. They start almost a year in advance pondering new places to go and explore. Then comes the spring gear guide in Backpacker Magazine where I dream about the new lighter, better equipment. I also start priming Nick for the upcoming trip. The trailheads are usually at least 5 hours of driving away, in new parts of the state, which actually seem to be very different states. I forgot to mention the pre trip trip Nick and I make down to REI in Berkeley to stock up on freeze dried food, fuel, and other incidentals. In order not to embarrass myself too much, I take a few long warm-up hikes in addition to the usual 3-4 hour jaunts.

After the trip I can't wait to download the photos and relive the whole thing. A few days on the trail with no outside communication, phones, TV, alcohol, news, puts one into a new state of consciousness. You listen to the water, wind, and birds. You try not to do anything stupid like stumble into a stream and soak your sleeping bag, or let a hot spot on your foot turn into a raging blister. Moleskin is the backpackers best friend.

The following pictures and descriptions should give you a pretty good idea of life on the trail. The pictures below are from last years 6 day trip in the South Warner Wilderness.

Nick and I drove to the far northeast corner of California to the town of Alturas (motto - Where the West Still Lives) where we gorged on our last real food. From there it wa a 45 minute drive up into the South Warner Wilderness.

Day one, with about 38 pounds of gear, starting out at about 6,000 ft. elevation.

This was where we camped out the first night. It would be 3 days before we see the only other people we saw on the trek after the first hour out. That night, Nick woke me up as he noticed the full moon was undergoing a full eclipse. We slept without a tent on this night. The cliff above Patterson Lake here is almost a thousand feet high.

Looking down at the lake from up near the top.

That's Nevada's Black Rock Desert (home to the Burning Man Festival) in the far distance.

The ridge we followed. The base of Eagle Peak, the high point at around 10,000 feet, is at the top of the picture. We circled it on day three.

Water was a little scarce on the west side of the range. The trip was a 38 mile loop that went along the west side of the ridge for the first half and returned on the east side of the ridge. The two sides were remarkably different. The east side was much steeper, had more water, and was more heavily forested. The trail was very faint or non existant in some stretches.

This was a swath of destruction made by an avalanche. You can see where the large tree in the back had been battered by downed trees as they swept by. A large area of its bark is missing.

We were prepared for rain on this night, as thunder clouds had been threatening.

There were many areas of past volcanic activity. I read that these mountains have recently been an area of high interest among geologists. Nick and I puzzled over the variety and beauty of the rocks that were coming off the mountain.

We followed fresh "cat" tracks on the trail for over a mile. They were from either a very large bob cat or a small mountain lion. We had the feeling that it was watching us.

Nick enjoys getting artsy with the camera.

Playing cards on an old bedframe that cowboys or hunters must have packed in long ago.

Hmm. Just where are we, anyways.

A pretty spot on day four.

This must be an awesome waterfall earlier in the summer.

This was the beginning of a rather violent storm we got caught in. The wind was blowing the rain sideways, lightning was going off, and we couldn't find a passable campsite for about two hours.

The sky cleared right before sunset. That night, in dead calm, a large tree came down near our tent. It was terrifying hearing it give way with cracking, rocks tumbling down the mountainside, branches snapping, while being zipped in a mummy bag, inside a zipped tent, inside a zipped rainfly. There was no escape. It sounded like it could have been 50 feet away and must have lasted a full 10 seconds. The next morning we couldn't see it, but we were in a small area that was hard to look around.

We hiked out the next morning and made haste to a folksy restaurant in Alturas. This concludes the glimpse of our 5 days on the trail last August. I can't wait for this year's trip!