One way you can tell that you are middle-aged is when hiking downhill is more painful than hiking uphill. (Can I get an “Amen”?)
Last week I left you wondering how we were going to leave White Chief if not by the same trail we used to get there. Trail Guy loves loops – I might start calling him “Loopy” – no, bad idea. I call him Trail Guy, but about 40% of the time he is Off-Trail Guy.
He pointed up to a ridge above and to the west of lower White Chief canyon and said if we climbed it, we’d drop down into Eagle Meadow. That is in the area of the Mosquito and Eagle Lakes junction. He said he knew it wasn’t hard, because he had explored there last year.
Sure, Off-Trail Guy.
That is Timber Gap in the middle distance. We are higher than it, because we are looking over the top of it to the Middle Fork drainage of the Kaweah River. I got a little bit behind Trail Guy and PC because of a serious distraction.
Explorer’s Gentian are my favorite flower! That color just slays me. The one on the left is a little odd – normally they have 5 petals. They appear in August and like to bloom and grow in damp places.
Not hard at all. Just go up. Pick a clean route. Keep your goal in mind. Don’t step on a wasp nest. Watch out for rocks that are rocky. Just sashay up that little ridge!Whoa. We have to go down really really far now. Into those trees, and we will catch the trail down from Eagle and Mosquito Lakes, right? Eagle Lake is off the photo to the left, behind the trees. Trail Guy, are you SURE this will work?? I’m not in favor of getting bluffed up.Here is Eagle Creek, flowing through Eagle Meadow. It is really hard to get lost in Mineral King. The danger is in getting bluffed up. This wasn’t a bad route, and we hit Eagle Meadow just like Trail Guy planned.Here is Eagle Creek, just before it disappears into the sinkhole.This never photographs well. Eagle Creek flows into a deep hole. You can see the bottom of the hole – the water just disappears! (Don’t you hate it when someone says “this is a bad photo”? Then why are you showing it?? Because it’s all I have!)Now we are back on the familiar Eagle/Mosquito/White Chief trail. It’s about 1 mile back to Mineral King. Again, there’s Timber Gap in the distance, this time above us.
Shannon, getting “bluffed up” means you find yourself on a cliff with no apparent way off. It can happen as you work your way down or up a mountainside without benefit of a trail. You think you have chosen a wise path, and then there you are with a big fat drop-off in your face, or a wall that you cannot climb. “Bluff” means a steep cliff or bank.
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Shannon, getting “bluffed up” means you find yourself on a cliff with no apparent way off. It can happen as you work your way down or up a mountainside without benefit of a trail. You think you have chosen a wise path, and then there you are with a big fat drop-off in your face, or a wall that you cannot climb. “Bluff” means a steep cliff or bank.
Oops, meant to say – what does “bluffing” mean. Sigh, that’s what I get for commenting late at night.
LOVED the pictures. What does “bluffing mean?” Have you explained it all ready and I’m just asking stupid questions?
Actually, Diane, I wasn’t! I do think that when it gets scary, but this wasn’t scary.
… ok … gotta ask … were you mentally thinking ‘Are we there yet?’?
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