1999 OUTDOORS

   Spring brought about some great weather and a trip to Mississippi Lake in Henry Coe State Park. The trip was 23 miles round trip with some strenuous hills. We were rewarded with grand views of the Diablo Range. The wild life is diverse with many birds, reptiles, deer, and wild pigs. In fact we saw what was the largest pig we had ever seen. It was estimated at around 500 lb. Thankfully, he did not notice us. The fishing was great as usual. I caught 25 bass before lunch on Saturday. A 3/8 oz. white spinner bait has always worked well here. While we took one day to go in, we split the return trip into two parts so as to get home at a decent hour to tie up loose ends with school work and not to be too tired getting back to the grind.

Joel is the advisor for the environmental club at our school. As a reward for his members, we took 5 of them to Sword Lake in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness for a three day-two night trip. This was the first backpack experience for a couple of them. The trail from the Wheats Meadow trail head is a fairly flat 4.5 mile hike through some beautiful forest to the lake. The fishing is poor, I only caught 2 brook trout the entire time we were there. The real fun was the swimming and diving from the rocks. There is some fun scrambling over the granite in the area with views of Spicer Meadows Reservoir and the Dardanelles Cones.

   Towards the end of June I did a couple of solo hike / climbs near Sonora Pass off Highway 108. One was to Sonora peak, 11,459 ft. This is a short, but steep at times, hike. The worst part was the sun cupped snow that softened as the day progressed. A couple of days later I started at the same trail head, but went further north to Stanislaus Peak, 11,233 ft, a 6 miles round trip. The hike would have been more pleasant with less soft snow. The climb included some scrambling and work through some loose talus. The views of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness to the north and west and theEmigrant Wilderness with Leavitt Peak to the south were wonderful.

The highlight of the year happened on July 7. I was able to fulfill a long time dream of summiting Mount Shasta. Joel, his brother Dan, and I met on July 5 in Mount Shasta City. After a good meal we double checked all of our equipment and had a good nights sleep. The next morning we had a hearty breakfast and set off for the Bunny Flat Trail head. After the usual paperwork was finished we were finally on our way. The stroll through the woods to Horse Camp was very pleasant as we talked to several day hikers along the way. After partaking of the fresh spring water we continued on our way. There was no snow along the trail, although the loose rock and soil made for some slippery spots, until we reached 50/50 flat. Here we trudged through soft afternoon snow to reach camp at Helen Lake. The views were fabulous and we drank in the beauty that was all around. After setting up camp we visited with several of the other climbers who were there. After a restless night, excitement over the the next day, we were up at 5, had a hot breakfast and started out at 6 am. Hind sight tells me we should have started out sooner. We headed up Avalanche Gulch, went to the right of the Heart and up through the Red Banks. At Misery Hill the winds became pretty strong, but not so much as to hold us back. We finally summited at 1pm. The view was awesome. The number of people at the summit was also quite a surprise. After the usual pictures and visiting we headed back down. The glissade was very exhilarating, although the snow was getting a little mushy as we neared camp. We packed up and headed back to the cars, tired but with wonderful memories.

   In August Joel and I drove to Carson Pass on Highway 88 and headed north along the Pacific Crest Trail. After a few miles there is a side trail that heads to Round Lake. It is a pleasant walk through forest and meadows. The only drawback were the mosquitoes that were starting to get heavy. We saw one other group on the trail. We set up camp and were pleased that there was only one other camper at the lake. The evening fishing was hot as we caught and released quite a few little Cutthroat trout. Flies, especially mosquito and black gnat patterns, worked best. The next morning we set out for a day hike to Dardanelles Lake. This lake is crystal clear and surrounded by granite. We found out why there were so few people at Round Lake, they were all here. The place was quite populated. Fishing was slow as I only caught a few Brook trout using a small gold Kastmaster. The east side of the lake is quite shallow and one can wade quite far out. The water temperature was very nice for swimming. We returned to camp with plenty of sunshine left to explore and scramble on the hill and rocks to the west of Round Lake. Quite a few other people had found the place while we were out and about and the second night felt more crowded. The evening fishing was just like the first night. Both of these lakes can be reached by shorter walks off Highway 89.

  Later in August I took two day hikes with Lynn, my wife. The first was to Round Top Lake in the Mokelumne Wilderness. It is located at 9300 ft and is a 6 mile round trip from the parking lot at the at the summit of Carson Pass on Highway 88. The scenery is beautiful as you pass Frog Lake and Winnemuca Lake. Looking to the west  one can see Caples Lake and the Kirkwood ski area. To the north one can catch glimpses of Lake Tahoe. Round Top Mountain at 10,380 ft looms above. We had a nice hot lunch and I managed to catch my first Golden Trout.

   A few days later Lynn and I took our baby and headed for Calaveras Big Trees State Park off Highway 4 a few miles east of Arnold, CA. We hiked the South Grove loop which is a 5 mile round trip. The trees are huge and very awe inspiring. This is a heavily traveled trail and was quite dusty late in August.

   With the return to school / work in September, a crimp was put in my ability to get out. Luckily Veterans Day fell on a Thursday and our district gave us Friday off also. Lynn, Joel and I headed for Lava Beds National Monument  in far Northern California. We visited Petroglyph Point with its ancient rock carvings and Captain Jack's stronghold where we learned about the Modoc Wars. The main reason we went Lava Beds are the many lava tube caves around the monument. We visited Skull Cave, Symbol Bridge, Big Painted Cave, Catacombs Cave, and Frozen River Cave. Skull, Big Painted, and Frozen River all had ice in them, although not as much as I have seen in the past. The warm fall and lack of precipitation has probably held back the formation of ice in the caves. Frozen River had the most spectacular ice I have ever seen when I visited in December of 1997. Symbol Bridge has many ancient Indian Pictogrphs. Catacombs is the longest in the park. We spent several hours in there and maybe saw half of the cave. There are always plenty of deer to be seen here and, if there are not too many people, the coyotes will serenade you at night. If you go, make sure you have head protection. Knee and even elbow pads can be helpful if you plan on going into some of the tight places.

I hope you have enjoyed sharing my past year in the great outdoors. If you think you might like to join in on any of the future trips or have any suggestions for a fun or exciting trip, drop a line to me Dan Harris or Joel Ward.

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If you have comments or suggestions, email me at DHarris25@excite.com

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