Mt Whitney Training University Falls 02/28/2012
Date: February 26, 2012 To get to the Falls you drive 11.8 miles outside of Georgetown on Wentworth Springs, to the yellow logging gate. There is limited street parking. During the high season this trail is well traversed by tourists from near and far, and inevitably, each year, someone is Life-Flighted out of the Falls. It’s a popular spot because in the summer months the river runs shallow and people can slide down the first two falls (but there’s always a risk of cracking your head open on the granite). What many people do not know is that the third fall is too much of a drop, and people have died attempting it. In the last week or so, my husband and I had decided we would be tackling Mount Whitney without our son. We had done research on the altitude and some hairy parts of the trail involving rope guides and slippery slopes and decided it wasn’t worth it to take him. Nonetheless I am continuing my training with my son, who weighs in at 18 pounds and is nearly the exact weight I’ll be toting up to the Summit. Shannon and Eric and I (Hubby was sturgeon fishing) had intended on starting around 3pm, but it was closer to 4pm when we hit the trail head. The plan was to do the hike down in less than an hour and once at the Falls have dinner. I had just purchased a new Flash Jetboil and a few dehydrated meals. We would then trek back up, hoping to be to the car by 6:15. But after only the first ½ mile we ended up on a ¾ mile detour, as my greyhound bombed off down a trail at the first Y, and since she runs about 45 miles an hour we were not able to recover her, except to follow her down the trail head. Eventually we caught up to her and started back on the trail to the Falls. Tuck was in my new Deuter wire frame pack and had fallen asleep. Technical aspects as follows: It’s 2.8 miles in total from the yellow gate at Wentworth Springs, with two 300 feet declines, and then a final 600 feet to the Falls. The trail is an old logging road, and thus wide enough for large vehicles. It’s a half mile to your first turn- a sharp left at the Y marked 12N67B, you will then traverse around the mountain ridge and will have a stellar view of the snow capped Sierra Nevada’s. This is where I need to add a note to the city slickers – If you want to come up to El Dorado County to enjoy our back country and wilderness areas, please leave your spray paint at home. The big blue spray paint marking the trail everywhere is a real eye sore for the rest of us that live here, and make directional references out of wood carvings. Traveling another mile downhill you will reach the irrigation water ditch, here you need to turn right to follow the ditch for about another mile. You will come to a point where there is an opening in the forest, and a tree is marked “Falls” turn left here and begin your 600 foot decent to the Falls. This area is narrow, steep and rocky, it’d be best with walking sticks, but without them take the trail down the wash out in the middle. During your trek, keep an eye out for the Suzuki Samarai wreck and also the old Chevy wreck. They are gruesome and look like something out of a horror movie, great photo opp. At the bottom of the decline you hit a shallow part of the river and follow the trail to the left, after a few more feet you will see the Falls in all their glory. At the top of the Falls decent, we were losing day light rapidly, but were too close to turn back, as Shannon and Eric had never seen the Falls. We had already anticipated that we would be completing the last leg of the trail when dark was setting in. The trail was desolate. We quickly snapped off a few pics at the bottom of the Falls and started our trek back up. We had about 15 minutes of daylight left, and wanted to make it to the wide part of the trail where we would have stable footing before we lost light completely. Eric packed Tuck out for me. < At the top Tuck began crying. He is not a fussy baby, so we knew something was wrong. I did a quick diaper change, a few swigs on his bottle, repacked him and continued on. We were moving a quick clip without daylight, it was getting darker by the minute as the moon was just a sliver. Tuck began screaming, without daylight and with the restriction of the pack against his legs, his body temperature dropped rapidly and he was literally freezing. A snow storm was expected to hit the Sierra’s late this evening and the weather was shifting quickly. Eric took off his sweatshirt and created a sling over my shoulder for which I wrapped Tuck in, at this point I hiked him the remaining 2.5 miles and 1,000 feet out of the Falls in my arms. It was a team effort, with Eric taking the wire frame pack and Shannon carrying the bottle to comfort him as we hauled up the mountain in the dark. I had strapped a small LED light to my frame pack earlier in the day, and Eric used that to guide us. At some point, about ¾ mile from the car, Dennis, the Golden Retriever fended off a wild animal, which held us up briefly. We made it back to the car 2 hours and 45 minutes after our start time, at 7pm, and it was pitch black. I quickly shot a text off to my husband that I was “OK.” We stripped Tuck’s clothes off and put him in front of the car heater, within a few minutes he was warm and giggly again. The Falls is a moderately strenuous hike in daylight, but by the time we reached the car, the temperature had dropped 6 degrees to freezing and CalTrans had parked the snow plow just down the road from us in anticipation of the storm. Needless to say we didn’t get to try out the Flash Jetboil or the Pasta Primavera…we’ll save that for our next hike. But at nearly seven miles round trip starting at an elevation of 4,049 and fighting daylight and freezing temperatures, we feel like it was a great training experience for Mount Whitney.
4 Comments Mt Whitney Training - Gerle Loop 02/23/2012
Date: February 21, 2012 Trail: Gerle Trail, Coloma Temp: 63 Degrees Mileage: 3.00 Loop Elevation Gain: 100 Feet Time: 40 minutes Today, trail blazers Shannon and Eric joined me on a trail I’ve done many times in the past, however, the last time I took the trail I was faced head on with a rattlesnake curled in the center of the trail and the forest was hissing with a crazed rattle. I figured this was a safe trek this time of year, since the snakes are in hibernation. The Gerle Trail actually begins at the horse trailer lot at Magnolia Ranch, but does offer a Connector Trail (aptly named) over to the Cronan Ranch Trail system which will lead down to Salmon Falls Bridge. We opted for the extended route of the Gerle Trail which starts at the parking lot and heads towards the Connector Trail. This entire trail system is very clearly marked and features a large map of the trails at the parking lot. The 2.5 mile Gerle Loop will stay at a mildly higher elevation and weave its way around the mountain back to the parking lot, however if you venture toward the river at the sign marked “Gerle Trail, South Fork American River” you will wander down and then venture left. You will trek through a tremendous amount of blackberries and river rocks, aka snake zone, but this time of year the blackberries are virtually non existent. This trail is used enough that the berries are never much of a problem. The trail widens out and heads up towards a permanent bathroom structure and then weaves around the mountain following along the river bed. The river runs slow and is very peaceful, the last time we did this hike my husband ended up taking a swim. We put this loop at 3 miles due to the extra distance the extended path to the river offers. Either way this trail is more of a nature stroll than a hike, but still offers beautiful scenery and I consider it to be very safe for solo hikers (taking typical area precautions). Mt Whitney Training - One Eye Creek 02/20/2012
Date: February 19, 2012 Trail: One Eye Creek Trail Temp: 51 Degrees Mileage: 5.68 Miles RT Elevation Gain: 1,000 Feet Time: 2 Hours We attempted this trail this past summer and the overgrown poison oak and mosquito’s sent us running back to the car. My husband saved it on his “must do” list because there is a rapid moving creek (with fish potential) and spectacular falls. The trail is accessible by taking Traverse Creek to Bear Creek, then turning right on the County road 12N81. Head up the dirt road for about a half mile until you reach a wide point where the road splits. Technically you can continue to drive to the trail head as the path is wide enough but I’m fairly certain it isn’t to be used by the general public. We park at the first sign and walk about a mile to the trail head, which is clearly marked 11E12 One Eye Creek Trail. In the summer vegetation grows heavy for the first quarter mile of the official trail, but this time of year the path is clear. Keep in mind though the trail appears clear because the poison oak is dormant, you can still get poison oak from the branches. I recommend long pants for this hike. The trail by its nature, running along the ridge of a gully is very shaded, which makes for a really cool trek down. About half way down the trail you will come across an abandoned mine shaft where the trail becomes very narrow. It’s very neat to see from a distance but looks treacherous and terrifying up close. After the shaft the trail descends rapidly and you will encounter many switchbacks. The elevation decline is deceiving until the return back, but is well worth the trek. The trail appears to end where the creek widens and is almost river-esq in movement. This time of the year, the trail should end there, because the rest of it would be under water, but due to the lack of rain fall, the trail is easily passable. It runs along the creek bank and up to some jagged rocks, just past that you will find a beautiful waterfall. The light was perfect for some really nice landscape shots. The way back is intense and steep. This hike is really nice for its remote factor and lack of over usage, yet it’s still very well marked. Mount Whitney Training - Slate Mountain 02/14/2012
Date: February 13, 2012 Trail: Slate Mountain, El Dorado National Forest Temp: 56 Degrees Mileage: 3.00 Out and Back Elevation Gain: 3000 – 3892 Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Snow dusted the Sierra’s on Friday afternoon, and after talking with the Ranger station we decided to postpone Mount Whitney until Spring. My brother in law decided to drive down to our house from UNR on Saturday afternoon because we knew at the elevation I live at we’d have more luck finding passable trails. After an incredible dinner of lobster bisque (made from scratch) and shrimp scampi, my husband pulled out the Crystal Basin Silver Fork Ranger Map, and identified a few trails. While we could have hiked a few trails right off the highway (such as Ellicotts near Uncle Toms), we selected the Sugar Pine Loop off in Blodgett Forest. We started our journey to the trailhead Sunday morning at 9am. The weather was partly cloudy and a brisk 49 degrees. We turned off Wentworth Springs Rd at Highway 13 in Quintette, and after traversing old logging roads we came across a locked gate (Nov-May). There was no snow on the trails, but admittedly this is unorthodox for this time of year. At that point we went back out to where Highway 13 (12N64) crosses 12N60. We drove down 12N60 to a trailhead at the intersection of 11N85 and 12N60. There is a large turn out and some well traveled motorcycle trails. Six of us (plus the baby) began our hike at the trail head marked 72. The hike begins at the bottom of dark canyon, where the Cedar grows enormously high. The path is very secluded, sans a few quads and motorcycles. Due to the nature of its location, and the dirt roads I recommend bringing two vehicles in. The trail was well marked for the first .5 until it ran into road 12N76. At this point we could have trekked down 12N76 to a 2.2 trail but instead we followed 12N76 up the road, another .6. The road takes you up a steep incline and around a sharp switchback. At the top of the road we came across a locked gate which leads to the stop of Slate Mountain. We passed around the gate (easily passable on foot) and continued another .4 miles until we reached the satellite station atop the mountain. The view was absolutely stunning. From this vantage point we were able to see Crozier Loop Road, all the way to Folsom Lake, the view is nearly 180 degrees. The storm was rolling in and it literally felt as if we could reach up and touch the cumulonimbus clouds forming above the mountain. We intend to go back and attempt Sugar Pine Loop again in the fall, and though we did not get the distance we’d hoped, we certainly got the elevation gain, and we were able to start talking about the type of gear that we’ll need. | Michaela's Author Disclaimer:Here you'll find Michaela's ramblings, occasional pearls of wisdom, excerpts from her upcoming fiction book, and an RSS feed to her legitimate news articles...consider yourself forewarned some of this is straight nutty! ArchivesApril 2012 CategoriesAll ![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate my RSS feed")  |
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