The Flickr app will not play the entire video (at least on my iPadand iphone) I suggest watching on the Flickr website instead flic.kr/p/2iTrhnR
Music in this Video listed in order of when you hear it:
Earth - Mirage
Mark Orton - Guitar Twenty Eight
Daniel Bachman - Other Shore Reprise
Jeremy Soule - Under an Ancient Sun
We started at a trailhead on Glacier Point Road in Yosemite, 7000ft, we then hiked 6.2 miles to Ostrander Lake, 8500ft, where we spent the first night. The next morning we did a cross country hike up and over Horse Ridge, 9500ft. That was my favorite part of the hike. It was basically boulder hopping from one car sized rock to the other. The view from the top was spectacular. After hiking down the far side of the ridge we emerged on a trail just slightly west of small narrow lake, 8600ft. We then hiked east and up another climb to a trail junction, 9000ft, after that it was just .3 mile to Buena Vista Lake, 9000ft, over all we hiked about 5 miles that day. After a night at Buena Vista we continued on to Royal Arch Lake, 8700ft. We continued on through swarms of mosquitoes to Johnson Lake, 8300ft, then to Crescent Lake. That section of trail the mosquitoes were so bad we could not stop moving otherwise we would have lost most of our blood to the them. We could see and hear the clouds of the mosquitoes over the lakes and in the meadows, and around us the clouds where 3 times thicker. We were going to spend that night at Crescent Lake but because the mosquitoes were so bad we consulted the map as quickly as possible and decided to continue on to what looked like an area of exposed granite on top of a ridge line, 8400ft, overlooking Grouse Lake, 8200ft, where we hoped because of the exposure there wouldn't be as many mosquitoes. When we got to the exposed ridge there was not a single mosquito. Sweet relief ! We ate a lunch of spam and crackers and decided to spend the night there.
I found wild onions there, they were delicious, so much better then the spam. In all we hiked about 6 miles that day.
We needed to pump water after lunch so me and 3 others from the group gathered up the water bottles and started the walk downhill to Grouse Lake, which we soon realized was not on the trail, after coming across 2 people hiking the other way who were also looking for the lake. We found a creek that flowed the direction of the lake and I suggested we just pump there, but the others were on a mission to find that lake, so we followed the creek downhill through mosquito infested marshland to the lake. There was no shade so it was hot, humid, and full of those little blood suckers. Once I pumped my portion of the water I decided to head back to camp. I got back to camp and removed my shoes and socks and took a nap.
A few hours later the rest of the water pumping group returned and told us they got turned around on their way back and they climbed the wrong ridge on the opposite side of the lake, it wasn't until they got to the top that they realize their mistake.
The next day we were going to hike 5 miles to Turner Meadows, 7500ft, but we were not sure of the mosquito situation there and they decided, upon reaching the meadows, to continue the last 5 miles back to the trailhead (by the way, there weren't any mosquitoes at the meadows, the rest of the group just wanted to get out a day early.) In all we hiked 10 miles that last day. Overall it was a great backpacking trip, I slowed my pace down for the last 2 miles because I didn't want it to end.
The next day the group went home and I still had another week. I did a solo 2 day hike to May Lake where I photographed a thunderstorm over upper Yosemite valley. Then I spent 3 days on the eastern side of the Sierras. I spent a day on Benton Crossing at Hilltop Hot Springs where I photographed 5 different thunderstorms. The next day I spent in Bishop and watched the sunset from Pine Creek. That night I photographed 4 more thunderstorms. I spent that night at Keogh Hot Springs, where I watched the sunrise from the natural hot creek that is not part of the resort. From there I headed home, stopping at Fossil Falls and Red Rock Canyon State Park.
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Tags: backpacking hiking camping wilderness wandering yosemite national park yosemite national park wilderness mountains landscape lake ostrander lake buena vista lake horse ridge cross country talus wild flowers
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So apparently the Flickr app doesn’t like to play the last 2 minutes of the video, but the website does so check it out there, flic.kr/p/2hs9MhA
Video filmed with a chest mounted GoPro
first song by James Blackshaw
second song by Earth
© All Rights Reserved
Part 6
After a short nap on top of the pass, I explored a little bit to just make sure I wasn't missing another way down. I wasn't. I have to go back the way I came, so I began retracing my steps back down to Merriam Lake. Going down hill is always quicker and easier than going up, and I got back to the lake with plenty of time to spare before the sun set. The mosquitoes where already out in full force so I immediately set my tent up. I tried this time to get some late afternoon and sunset shots of the lake but the mosquitoes forced me into my tent early again.
Through the mesh of the tent I watched the sun creep towards the ridge line until it sank behind it and I was swallowed by it's shadow. The waterfall I had climbed alongside earlier filled my ears with a constant roar that wavered in the shifting breeze, while the shadow of the mountains stretched further across the cirque reaching its fingers into every crack and crevice and gripping tightly every grove of twisted tree. Once the whole of the land was wrapped in shadow the sky burned with fire, the sacred trees standing witness to the ancient ritual of flaming sky. Soon the flames died down and the glowing embers of stars shown as the firelight faded.
Filmed with a chest mounted GoPro
Music by James blackshaw
Apparently the Flickr app doesn’t play the last 2:30 of the video, but the website does, watch it here: flic.kr/p/2hu5J2D
Tags: backpacking camping hiking wilderness mountains high sierra lake wilderness wandering
© All Rights Reserved
Once again the app doesn’t play the last 2:30 of the video, check it out on the website flic.kr/p/2hwcQmX
I tried to match the music to how I was feeling when I was there, for as beautiful as the forest was it was really hard to enjoy it because of the mosquitoes. The first song is by Ensemble Pearl: Ghost Parade. The second is by James Blackshaw: Transient Life in Twilight
The recording in the middle was recorded at that location, same with the walking sounds. filmed with a chest mounted gopro.
part 7
Morning came, and I slept in, but I still rose before suntouch. No mosquitoes were awake to bother me yet so I made breakfast in the short time I had before the swarm arose. While it rehydrated I packed up. Before I finished the sun crested the ridge and with it came the little blood suckers. I saved my tent for last so I could eat my breakfast in it. Once I finished I quickly packed it up and began my hike for the day.
...
If Royce-Merriam pass was impassable and the other pass I had originally planed on doing looked like more trouble than it was worth, my last option to avoid the mosquito hell of French and Piute Canyon is Feather Pass, which I have done before while on the Sierra High Route. However it is several miles away and is at a higher elevation than Royce-Merriam. I would hate to get there and find it also to be impassable due to snow, so I guess I'll head back the way I came in, but I do not know where I will stop for the night, it all depends on mosquitoes. I have several options; there are many lakes that rest along the Glacial Divide that I'd love to see (Honeymoon, Packsaddle, Payne, Wahoo), I really want to get up to Goethe Lake and over Alpine Col into Darwin Bench and Canyon. I guess I'll figure it out as I go, after all I have a whole week out here.
...
I climbed up and over the hill that separates Merriam from the meadow lands, then I crossed them and the many wandering streams that bound them. Then I found the trail and took it downhill into the forested French Canyon. As long as I kept moving the mosquitoes weren't a problem, but that in and of itself was a problem because it made taking breaks very unpleasant so I made them as short as possible and only long enough to take a quick sip of water.
The forest floor of the canyon was carpeted in beautiful flowers, the majority of which were white and lacy, though in places were clusters of purple and lone red or yellow ones grew here and there and a patchwork of light and shadow played upon the earth beneath my feet. Soon I reached the trail junction where Piute Canyon joined French. The mosquitoes where the thickest and worst here. The creek that the trail had been following, though not closely, split into many rivulets that had to be crossed. Once on the other side, the Piute Canyon trail began to climb uphill while around it the forest thickened and the light no longer played upon the earth for the branches above were woven to thickly.
I still was making good time and the miles passed beneath my feet. To my right (west) flowed Piute Creek, though with as much water as was flowing through it right now it could easily be mistaken for a river. Soon I came to a sign that pointed across it that read “Honeymoon Lake”. There was the sign, but no trail could I see through the thick forest. Bush whacking through this place to find the lake did not appeal to me especially with the swarm that gave me no relief so I continued on uphill along the well worn path.
I started getting frustrated, cursing the swarm, flailing my arms wildly in the air to vainly shew them away while yelling out loudly at them to leave me alone, but the buzzing and biting continued on as though it was the air itself.
At a creek crossing a pair of shoes sat atop a rock with nobody around and no pack anywhere, just the shoes. I filled up my water bottles as quickly as I could though not quickly enough to avoid getting several bites. Then I continued on.
A few switchbacks, another creek crossing, then the forest opened and the trees receded. A breeze breathed upon me and the sun shown down. I paused, the swarm had diminished but was still there biting. I pushed on. The mountainside, bathed in sunlight and windswept, was dotted with single, sparse trees here and there, and after a while I paused again... nothing, not a single mosquito buzzed around me nor landed looking for a place to bit. I immediately took my pack off as well as my mosquito net, my gloves, my shirt, and my zip-off pant legs, and the wind cooled my skin. I walked over to a large flat rock shaded by a lone pine, took my shoes and socks off, layed down, and rested for the first time since I began walking hours ago. I walked 7 miles before my first break, a personal record.
After a well deserved break and snack I continued, soon reaching the meadowlands of Humphrey's Basin. I refilled my water at a gushing creek amongst wildflowers and chatted with a couple who were there when I arrived, then I moved on. The wide open basin beneath the watchful gaze of Mt. Humphreys was, for the most part, mosquito free, a few still lingered but compared to what I had endured earlier the one or two didn't bother me. The dusty path was a well worn rut cut into the rolling landscape of green and yellow grasses and scattered boulders that had been left behind centuries ago when the glaciers that carved these monuments of stone receded.
Before me in the distance rose the saddle of Piute Pass and behind me the growing cadence of footfalls sounded, getting louder as they approached, I stepped off to the side to let unknown hiker pass.
“The climb outta here's a bitch, especially with all them mosquitoes back there.” Said the hiker as he approached.
I turn to look and was able to put a face to the footsteps I had heard.
He was dressed in blue, a fresh beard on his face and a hood pulled over his hat.
“Yep. I know.” I said, as he caught up.
“I climbed 2000 feet yesterday with this big ol' smile on my face.” he continued.
“Nice!” I congratulated him, then asked, “Where are you comin' from?”
“Sallie Keyes Lake.” He Answered.
Then he noticed my cameras dangling around my neck, “Dude, nice camera set up you got goin' on! Is that film?”
“Yes,” I answered. “A film camera, a digital camera with three lenses, and this Go-pro.”
“Nice! What kind of film?”
“High contrast Black and White.”
“Very Cool, I'd love to see how those turn out.”
I then pulled out my map and he showed me where he had come from.
“Wow,” I remarked, “you've come a long way.”
“Yeah, I'm hurting.” he replied.
“So where are you headed?” I asked.
“Just over the pass, though I was suppose to go over Bishop Pass a few days from now. My girlfriend was gonna pick me up there.” Then he added, “What about you?”
“I don't know,” I answered, “The mosquitoes are horrible; they were bad at Golden Trout, and at Merriam, and they're probably gonna be bad at Piute, so I don't know where I'm going to go tonight, I'm thinking of heading out.”
“I'd do the same but I don't have a way into town.” He explained.
“I'll give you a ride,” I said.
“You are a lifesaver, lets do it!”
After more talking he introduced himself as Chase and said he was from the bay area and asked where I was from and if I post my photos anywhere. We then began hiking together up towards the pass. With as far as we had each gone and how sore we were becoming we renewed each others energy and endurance with our company, enough to continue on joyously in our climb to the top. He had one ear bud in and the other dangling, bouncing off his chest and was listening to an audio book of The Lord of the Rings. We talked some more about different topics until I asked him if he had a trail name.
“No not yet, what about you?”
“Ansel.” I answered.
After a while longer I said, “So I've been thinking and I think I've got a trail name for you.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“Frodo.”
“I like it!”
We reached the top and rested before heading down the other side. The sun was low and a warm light graced the canyon that lay before us. The lakes of Piute, and Loch Leven and all the little tarns in between shown like sapphires nestled amongst the rocks and trees.
flic.kr/p/2hy1far
Tags: hiking backpacking camping wilderness wandering high sierra mountains forest wilderness
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Filmed with a chest mounted GoPro
Part 9
I spent 2 nights and a day in town at the hostel trying to figure out what to do. The Owens Valley is too hot to really do anything and enjoy doing it. So I bought some bug spray and decided to go back into the high mountains. This time I will stay high along the crest of the Glacier Divide, hopefully there will be less mosquitoes up there.
Around midday I drove back up to the trailhead and began back on trail. Big cotton ball clouds had begun to form. Hours later I reached Piute Lake and set up my tent. There where some mosquitoes but it was not as bad as what I had gone through on the first half. The clouds thickened and darkened and rain seemed not far off. I prepared my pack for the weather, then headed out looking for some good photography. I found a spot near the outflow of the lake that would be great in the morning light and then I headed up to the meadowlands near the inflow to explore. The dark clouds began to disperse and the possibility of rain was scattered to the wind.
music by
Jeremy Soule
Howard Shore
James Newton Howard
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