06/19-06/21, 2009 Solo backpack trip over Browns Pass to Texas Creek
I left work early at 3pm and arrived at the Denny Creek Trailhead around 6pm. Shortly after arrival I began hiking and did so for just over an hour. This brought me past the Hartenstein Lake cutoff and nearly to the base of Brown’s Pass. The weather was generally clear with typical Spring-like scattered cumulous clouds. Given the late hour, I camped near the trail in thick woods and had an uneventful evening… Though hanging my food bag brought its own challenges rooted in the fact that a miss-aimed throw of my line rock resulted in a tangle which necessitated some creative line retrieval tactics which culminated in the use of a stout stick for a handle and ALL of my 200# of weight (that reflective line is STRONG!)
The next morning brought more clear skies but the weather was clearly changing as the temp was comparatively low and it seemed as though the skies were more hazy and moist. I left camp around 9am and made it up and over Brown’s pass – with a slight detour to Brown’s cabin which I had recently read about in “Above Tree line” a story about a CSU professor that stayed in it for half a year back in the 80’s. It was good to experience this area but a bit disappointing to see that the cabin has collapsed upon itself and is clearly no longer usable. The climb up and over this pass was pleasant and the weather was nice but I could see (and video) the fast movement of clouds and weather from where I came to where I was going in the Texas Creek drainage. The other side of Brown’s pass provided my first “real” stream crossing in many years. By this I mean that there was no easy way across and I had to remove my boots, roll up my pants and put on my camp/water shoes. Despite fairly deep (knee deep in places and shin deep everywhere else) and fast water, by using a stick for stability I was able to negotiate this crossing with little more than VERY cold feet to show for my efforts. Right after this crossing I turned up Texas Creek and headed for my ultimate goal of Lake Rebecca. By noon the clouds had consolidated into solid overcast and at 12:30 it started to rain. I was prepared for typical high mountain weather and put on my rain/wind jacket and poncho. This kept me dry for a while – until the winds picked up. Because I was determined to see Lake Rebecca (the primary goal of this trip), I forged on, getting wetter with each step. Most of this wetness came from the plants I brushed against and the soggy ground that my boots were trudging through. At the Magdalene Gulch trail turnoff, I was met by many horse riders and their guide. They appeared to be in training for a summer’s worth of their own guiding. Their leader told me that the Lake Rebecca trail continued on the other side of the river (requiring another water shoe crossing) but I checked the map and found that he was either wrong or trying to mislead me – not sure which but I found the faint trail to Lake Rebecca a bit further up canyon and on “my” side of the river. From here the trail grew progressively faint, wet and soggy and the overcast obscured everything overhead. As a result, I couldn’t navigate as well as usual with my “DED Reckoning” techniques. I went one canyon too far east and ended up following Texas Creek to its terminus instead of getting to Rebecca. By the time I realized this and turned around it was windy foggy and sleeting/snowing with visibility reduced to less than 1/4 mile. The wind reduced my raingear’s effectiveness to near zero and I was literally dripping wet and my boots were filled with water. At this point I could only think about getting into my comparatively dry tent. I hiked back down following animal trails that avoided the marshy valley floor until I was just above the Magdalene Gulch trail turnoff. I set up camp in the first area where my small tent would fit. My single person tent is of a two wall design with the first wall being mostly mosquito netting. Despite setting up my tent in near record time, it was very wet inside before I could secure the fly. I had to spend a fair amount of time mopping it to a merely moist state before I could bring out my dry sleeping bag and clothes. After securing my soaking wet pants, jacket, hat and poncho on top of my pack and under my small vestibule, I ate a simple meal of cold items (cheese, crackers, Pepperoni slices and chocolate) and went to sleep. I didn’t wake up until 2am and noted that it was not raining. This was my chance! I got up and put on my Zinetics water/camp shoes and to my great surprise they were dry! I took care of business and got the poncho rigged as a tarp over the tent entrance. I hung up my wet gear on a small bush under this poncho in the hope that they might dry a bit and went back to sleep.
I awoke with the sun to see that the weather, while not rainy, had not changed and rather than risk more rain I packed up my wet gear (tent, etc.) and left. To my surprise, the pants, hat and jacket had dried to a merely damp state. Because of this dampness, I put the pants on over my long johns in the hope of keeping a bit warmer. I left this camp around 6:30 am with a wet, heavy pack and made my way through much soggier terrain than I had seen on the way up. Each stream crossing had become a challenge with the increased water height but I succeeded in crossing all of them without having to resort to the use of my water shoes… not that this mattered with my still soaking wet boots and feet. At the Texas Creek Crossing, the water was significantly deeper and I was a little concerned about its crossing as I changed into my water shoes and rolled up my pants. Just as I was about to begin this crossing, two brothers arrived and we all agreed that it was better that all of us were there in case one of us had a problem in this crossing. As it turned out the crossing was uneventful but still very cold. The weather began clearing up and continued to do so for the remainder of the trip back to Denny Creek. By time I arrived there, I was in shorts and a tee shirt and still too warm – what a nice change from the soggy cold day before!
SPOT messages indicating camp sites:
FIRST NIGHT
SPOT OK from Jens Peter Aarnaes. I am fine at the coordinates contained in this message.
ESN:0-7367303
Latitude:38.8426
Longitude:-106.3555
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/20/2009 02:34:02 (GMT)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.8426,-106.3555&ie=UTF8
SECOND NIGHT
SPOT OK from Jens Peter Aarnaes. I am fine at the coordinates contained in this message.
ESN:0-7367303
Latitude:38.8847
Longitude:-106.3469
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:06/20/2009 23:57:44 (GMT)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=38.8847,-106.3469&ie=UTF8
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