Who's been naughty"

Who's naughty?

posted 57 minutes ago by Paul Wagner   [ updated 56 minutes ago ]

The Top Ten LNT Naughty kids in the backcountry Santa keeps a list, and so do we.  And the people who do these things in the back country aren’t going to find any presents under the tree from me this year! 10.  Micro-trash on the trails.  Yeah, I know it means you would have to bend over and pick up that tiny piece of foil.  But if you don’t, it will be there for years, telling everyone else on the trail that you were too lazy.  Not a good message to send.   We collect a pocketful of this stuff on every trip. 9.  Horses.  If you are going to leave no trace, a horse is a very bad piece of equipment.  They damage trails  and trample campsites into hard-packed pavement.  8.  Fire rings.  OK fine, if one is there, go ahead and use it.  But please don’t create another one thinking that the person behind you is going to appreciate it.  We don’t. If you absolutely NEED a fire, pick a campsite that already has a ring.  7.  Denuded campsites…from those same people who need a fire every single night, and will strip the bark off trees, hack off branches, and police the ground until there is nothing left but packed dirt.  Sorry, but if you want to camp that way, go to a car campground and have the time of your life.  In the wilderness, we’d like you to leave no trace.  6.  Cutting switchbacks on the trail…because you are cooler than everyone else, and you get to damage the trails all by yourself?  Those trails will now erode into ruin, and somebody will have to fix them, instead of doing something more helpful.  5. Carving your initials (or anything else) anywhere in the backcountry.  Please.  Write your name in yellow snow…but not on anything more permanent than that.  We don’t want to know that you’ve been here.  That’s the whole point. 4. Leaving stuff behind.  I don’t care if your tent leaks, pack it out.  If your fleece has a hole in it, pack it out.  There is no fun in getting to someplace beautiful and finding that some jerk decided to abandon his or her garbage in it.  3.  Fishermen who think that they are special and can leave monofilament, powerbait containers, or other crap along streams and lakeshores.  The fish remember this stuff, and so do we.  2.  Toilet paper.  There is nothing worse than arriving at a beautiful spot and finding the ground and bushes littered with toilet paper the rodents have dug up.  Nothing. Pack it out. 1.  Habituated wildlife—there is no question about it.  The worst thing that can happen to a wild animal is for it to become habituated to humans.  A pox on everyone who feeds (intentionally or not---there’s no excuse) or otherwise accustoms a wild animal to humans.

Our favorite trail of the summer!

Emigrant Wilderness...between Pingree Lake and Big Lake

Our website:

You can read these posts and a LOT more at

https://sites.google.com/site/backpackthesierra/home

Simplicity

posted an hour ago by Paul Wagner   [ updated an hour ago ]

In this world of mass materialism, there is something very calming about the process of backpacking.  After all, if you are going to have to carry it all on your back...it's a good idea to pare down the material goods to a bare minimum.  Weight is, after all, your enemy.  And while we do take along a  few minor luxuries, in general we like to think that we keep things pretty simple.    So what are the basics for food, water, shelter and clothing for a week in the Sierra in the summer?  A tent and sleeping bag for shelter.  A change of underwear and socks.  A water pump and a few plastic soda bottles for water.  And tiny gas stove, aluminum pot, and plastic cups and bowls are the kitchen.  Add the food to eat, and you are good to go.  Everything you need will fit in a medium sized suitcase--maybe even a small one.   That's the STUFF.  But that's only half the story.  The other half of the story is what you do with it.    There is a kind of rhythm to backpacking.  Each of us hikes to our own cadence, and at our own pace.  Doing that for a few hours is certainly a good way to get rid of any urban anxiety you may bring to the trail.  And we've camped together now for 35 years.  That means that when we stop, we have a very clear idea of what needs to get done.  The tent gets set up, and the bags and pads installed inside.  Somebody usually needs to pump some water.  So those items are always the first to come out of the pack.    M usually likes a quick rinse in the local body of water--to freshen up.  P usually waits for that, and fishes instead.  After that, we have time to set up the kitchen and decide what we're going to eat that night.  But there is relatively little that really needs doing, and what does need doing is relatively simple and easy to do.    Which means that there's not a lot of wasted motion, or unnecessary fretting.  Colin Fletcher compares it to a kind of feeling of Zen...at peace with the world, each action following the previous one simply and directly.  The first day on the trail it all comes back.  And by the second day, you really wonder why the rest of your life is so complicated. By day three, you can't remember the rest of your life.   Which is, after all, why we backpack at all!

Plan B

posted Dec 14, 2010 3:19 PM by Paul Wagner  

 

We're always just a little amazed at the way some people approach backpacking routes and itineraries:  as if they were written in stone, and must be obeyed to the letter, come hell or high water.  Yowza, that's a bad idea!  Particularly in the case of high water...if the water looks too dangerous, go somewhere else!

 

Of course, if you  are trying to do the whole PCT in one season, you better keep moving, and in the same direction.  But otherwise, we're big believers in taking it as it comes. 

 

We start every trip with a clear idea of how we'd like to start...and maybe where we'd like to go. But we always know, in the back of our minds, that we don't really have to follow the plan.  In fact, we've had some of our best trips when we decided to do something different.  And we look for ways to get off the main trail just for a little adventure.

 

Heck, in some cases, we didn't have a choice.  We ended up exploring Cherry Canyon and the Boundary Lake area of Yosemite (you'll find that in our favorite lake section!) because our initial permit was for the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne--and a major forest fire there closed the area for weeks.  So we went to plan B.  We had to buy a couple of extra maps at the wilderness center---and then had a great time.  That's Boundary Lake at left...

 

This last summer we decided to hike the generally trail-less lakes of southern Emigrant Wilderness:  Pingree, Big, and Yellowhammer Lakes.  We didn't have a strict day-to-day plan, and we thought we'd just play it by ear, and see how far we'd get.  First day, to Resasco Lake, was a tough climb but a great hike.  And the second day we found the going so easy (and the route-finding so clear) that we made it all the way to Big Lake by lunch, and Yellowhammer soon after that.

 

Perfect!  Who knew it could be this easy?

 

Except that Yellowhammer Lake wasn't our idea of a great campsite, for lots of reasons.  So we looked at the map, and decided that we could probably climb right up the ridge to Leighton Lake from Yellowhammer.  An hour later, high on the granite cliff with our water supply dwindling quickly, it became clear that we weren't going to make it to Leighton Lake.  It was hot, dry, dusty, and we were discouraged.  We didn't want to go back to Yellowhammer, and we couldn't make it to Leighton. 

 

 

But below us, like a blue-green jewel in the forest, was little 5 Acre Lake.  We slithered down the cliff through the Manzanita, and set up camp at what turned out to be our favorite spot of the whole trip.  At right is the photo of 5 Acre Lake, taken from up on the ridge towards Leighton Lake.

 

And the next morning, after more work with map and compass, we found another, easier route to Leighton Lake that worked perfectly. 

 

And if it hadn't, we had a plan B for that day, too. Now THAT'S good trip planning!

Unbearable

posted Dec 11, 2010 6:15 PM by Paul Wagner

A hot topic on the news and on some of the backpacking discussion boards these days is the interaction between humans and bears.  It seems that a lot of people are concerned about running into a bear in the woods...and they seem to base most of their concerns on the recent news stories about bears invading homes, cabins, and the like.  So we thought we'd clarify a few things.   1.  Wild bears in the woods seem to avoid people with astonishing ease.  Over the past three years we've hiked over 500 miles in the Sierra, and seen exactly two bears on the trail.  Both immediately moved in the opposite direction when they saw people.  And in talking and writing with loads of other backpackers, we hear that same story over and over again.  Truly wild bears avoid people.   2.  Tame bears are a different story.  And this is where it gets interesting...and sad.  Because bears that live near people, either in campgrounds or inhabited areas like ski resorts, quickly learn that people have a lot of food.  And like most wild animals, easy food is a big attraction.  So bears that live near campgrounds or resorts quickly learn to leave the wild food alone, and base their diet on human food.  Which is a huge problem.  That food is much higher in calories, and so the bears grow bigger, have more cubs, and generally become a much different animal---including one that is not so afraid of humans.  And then it gets ugly.  Cabins get invaded, bears get shot, and everybody loses.  Especially the bears.   3.  Some things seem to work to limit the damage.  Bear boxes--big sturdy steel ones--protect the bears by making human food inaccessible.  And since they have been installed in campgrounds and parks, bear issues have really gone way down.  That's a good thing.  But how do you to that to a house or cabin?  Do we need to enact new building codes that insist on steel doors on all cabins in the woods.  That seems excessive, but there doesn't seem to be any easy answer.  And nothing seems to protect bears from really stupid people who leave food outside the boxes.    4.  We do have one easy answer.  If you want to avoid problems with bears in the woods, avoid people.  Go where there are few people, and you will find no problems with bears.  And there are other benefits as well--like the fishing is better, and the sunsets are quieter...and well, you get the idea.

 

 

 

Disposable weight?

posted Dec 7, 2010 9:52 AM by Paul Wagner   [ updated Dec 7, 2010 10:03 AM ]

If you've read this blog much, you know that we spend a fair amount of time trying to pack light.  Lighter packs mean happier hikers in our book, and we definitely enjoy the benefits of leaving heavy items at home.  On a recent 8 day trip, our packs weighed a total of about 58 pounds---that's for TWO people.  P carried about 35, and M another 23.  And the good news is that each day they got even lighter!   But we have a bit of an ethical dilemma.  We use a very light (3ml) ground cloth under our tent as a vapor barrier.  It keeps the tent drier, and also keeps it a lot cleaner.  And usually it lasts for a season or so before the holes get large enough that we trade it in on a new one.    But that means we throw out the old one---and that isn't exactly sustainable hiking.  Leave no trace?  Every year we leave a sheet of 3ml plastic in our garbage can at home.  And we're not happy about it.  SO this year we are looking at a slightly heavier ground cover--one that would last for more than one season.  Maybe forever?  That would be perfect.  But it will weigh a bit more.  hmmm.   Anyone else fighting these battles out there?

 

 

 

Dehydrated Food and flying burritos

posted Nov 2, 2010 10:54 AM by Paul Wagner

We've been backpacking for quite a while now, and we have to admit that there has been a general improvement in the quality of freeze dried food over the years.  When P first started backpacking in the 1960's, he used to take a lot of pasta and instant rice, and a series of sauce mixes.  He'd catch trout every night for dinner, and mix it with the sauce over the pasta.  Ever had Trout Stroganoff?  Trout Cacciatore?  Trout Goulash?  Those were the days...or not.   But these days you can get some pretty exotic menus right off the freeze dried shelf, from Salmon Diavolo to Katmandu Curry and everything in between.  We're not convinced this stuff is great, but it is edible, has some flavor, and seems to contain enough calories to keep us alive.   We add a bowl of Miso soup to start, and fill out the menu with some dried fruit, an energy bar or two, and maybe some dark chocolate M&Ms for dessert.  That's dinner!   And we tend to select these for their calories as much as for their flavor--although we were very happily surprised by a recent Biscuits and Gravy meal that had well over 400 calories per serving and tasted...pretty darn good.   But a few months ago we bought a food dehydrator.  We didn't really know how it would work, or how well, but we'd thought we'd give it a try.  And the first thing we dehydrated was a burrito from our favorite local taqueria.  We sliced it thin, laid it out on the trays, and left it overnight.  Unfortunately, we didn't take the trouble to weight the thing beforehand, so when it was dry, we didn't have a good idea of how much water to add later.   But that didn't stop us.  We took it along on our last trip and were just a little hestitant about how well it was going to work.  When we found a lake with fish, we decided to try the burrito--that way, if it didn't work, we had a backup plan.  We boiled the water, tossed in the shredded burrito, and let it sit.  Fifteen minutes later, we opened up the pot and started eating.    Ay chihuahua!  This was the best meal we ever had backpacking!  Wow !  Rich, flavorful, and yummy!  The tortilla had turned into a kind of pasta, but the rest of the thing was pretty much as it had been made by Tania's Taqueria.  It was delicious.    So now we're hooked.  We're trying all sorts of things, and not all of them work.  But we've started to look forward to dinner on our trips in a whole new way.  And that's a good thing!

Got a match?

posted Oct 22, 2010 7:41 PM by Paul Wagner

We've been hiking, packpacking, barbecuing and camping for the last fifty years, and we've always used matches to light our fires and our stoves.  Cigarette lighters were for smokers, and we've never smoked.  It never even occured to us to buy a lighter.   We bought matches, kept them dry, and sometimes strugglesd to light them in damp or windy conditions.  But that was all part of the adventure.   And then, one day, P suggested that we just buy a couple of cheap BIC lighters at the store---because we were having trouble finding matches.    Well.   Simple, effective, and much more efficient.  No wonder smokers use them!  Now, so do we!

 

 

 

 

Fall Hiking in Yosemite

posted Oct 19, 2010 10:00 AM by Paul Wagner   [ updated Oct 22, 2010 7:40 PM ]

Just back from a wonderful three days in Yosemite, where we had a lovely time taking hikes that we would normally avoid. Yes, these were trails that had been worn down over the summer by hordes of tourists, but in October we saw only four people a day on these trails.  How nice is that?    Our first hike was to Elizabeth Lake, which is just over two miles from the Tuolumne Meadows campground.  You might expect that this trail would very popular, and it is in the summer.  But on this trip we saw only two people, and had the lake to ourselves.  (This is also a fall-back route to get into the back country via Nelson Lake, for those of you who may wonder about last minute wilderness permits.) Lovely hike--a nice climb for the first mile, then an easy stroll up the valley to the lake, which sits underneath the imposing Unicorn Peak.  And yes, there were some nice brook trout in the lake.   Since we had time, we also climbed up to the top of Lembert Dome...and saw a total of four people on that hike.  We shared the stunning views of Tuolumne Meadows and the surrounding peaks of the Yosemite high country with a young German couple...and nobody else!   The view from Dewey Point   The next day we hiked part of the Pohono Trail, from the trailhead at Glacier Point Road down to Dewey Point and back.  We saw a total of six people on this amazing eleven mile hike until we got back to Taft point in the afternoon, where we finally saw about twenty people who were marveling at the fissures and Taft Point.  But Dewey Point has some of the best views in Yosemite, and we ate lunch there in splendid solitude. It was a magical day.    On the way back we really enjoyed the various fungi that came out after the recent rains...a real show!   Finally, on our last day. we drove up to White Wolf (closed for the season) and took the short hike to Lukens Lake.  Again, this is a trail that attracts a ton of people in the summer, but on this day we met only one other couple--they were on their way in as we were hiking out.  And yes, there were fish here too.   The only downside to the trip was our lodging in Curry Village.  We agreed to try this as an experiment, and would have to rate it a full-blown failure.  Too many people, too close together.  The tent sites in the campground have far more privacy...and when a drunken guest kept us up most of the night with her wretching and heaving, we knew it was not our kind of crowd...   Next year, we'll just go camping.