June 20th – Father’s Day
Today is the day that we honor Dads. For they are often the ones who give us our first experiences out of doors, camping, walking in the woods and backpacking.
Ever hiker we have met has a slightly different source of outdoor knowledge and inspiration, but for many it starts with their father. I know in my case that is where my love, and understanding, of the outdoors began. Distant, though not dim, memories of early trips and teachings fuel today’s desires to seek the adventure, solitude and lessons of a long hike. Thanks to Dad, who started me down this path may moons ago!
Otherwise it was a day of false starts and fearsome fords.
Last night someone, or something, stole our cookset. John and Steady help us search. After about a half an hour Steady finds our “Pot Cozy” on a faint animal trail a couple hundred yards upslope from our camp. From the behavior pattern as well as recent tracks, we suspect a coyote was at play, but have no firm evidence.
Today we crossed two of the trails most notorious fords, Evolution and Bear Creek. Both were raging but were tamer than ten years ago and we made it through safely, legs wet and cold, but packs dry.
After reaching the low point between the passes we descended further to try and find some hot springs. We aborted our attempt at soaking our sore legs when we reached the dangerous, if not impossible, ford of the San Joaquin River, still swollen by the spring snowmelt.
Our side trip made the climb to the next pass even longer, switchbacking even more steps on our walk up. Catching up to Crazy John and Steady at Senger creek, we stopped for lunch.
The final approach to Seldon Pass levels out for a while passing by lovely lakes and meadows and allowing the legs some rest. A few short switchbacks and with the top in sight, distant mountains rise above the lakes for a final farewell. The top of the pass, protected by rock walls and shrubs makes for a nice rest. To the north are distinctive views of Marie Lakes, recognizable from frequent photographs.
It’s another blissful descent through passing by beautiful lakes with freshly unfrozen waters holding the promise of spring. After the knee-jarring drop over rocks and boulder we come to a meadow and a poorly marked trail junction. We take a wrong turn, another false start, and are on our way to Rose Lake. After a quarter mile of uphill (when we should be going down) we realize our mistake and backtrack.
The second notorious ford, Bear Creek, soaks the shorts and is rather cold in the evening shadows, otherwise it is an easy crossing. After fording Bear Creek, as the mosies and darkness descend upon us, despite tired legs, we quicken our pace to make a few more miles before making camp along side Bear Creek. Again, we are trying to set ourselves up for the next day, this time to be able to climb over Bear Ridge to where the morning ferry awaits.
Tonight we camp alone for the first time in almost two weeks. Since we are out one night longer than anticipated we are pulling together dinner from “emergency soup” a few scraps of leftover noodles and remnants of lunch snacks, followed by fantasies of cheeseburgers that tomorrow will bring.
