Hoegee's Hike

Today, I went on a hike with my son Caleb. We went up to Chantry Flats, which is finally open. We got there around 10:45am, found a parking spot then hiked down around 11:00am. We made it into Hoegee's around 12:15. It was a 2 mile hike from Chantry Flats to Hoegee Campground.

The weather was beautiful in the canyon. It was a good 15 degrees cooler in the canyon than up on top at Chantry. We found a gold mine on the way in which I had never seen before. We were going to take Upper Winter Creek Trail on the way out but decided to hike back the way we came. We made it back to Chantry at 2:30. Overall, it was a very nice hike with Caleb. This was my first hike after coming down out of the Sierras. It was an uphill hike to the campground. We gained about 800 feet elevation in about a mile and a half.

Caleb is a great little hiker. This was his first hike into the woods. He had previously hiked to Echo Mt. with me.

Sierra Trip 2006

Well, if you are reading this post on August 14, you know I am back home early. The 2006 Sierra Trip was scheduled from August 12 ~ August 21. The trip was 60 miles from North Lake through Piute Pass down through Evolution Valley and Evolution Lake, Muir Pass then out through Bishop Pass.

The first day of our hike was 7 miles from North Lake, 9350 feet through Piute Pass, 11,450 feet to a creek feeding Golden Trout Lake. The second day of the hike was 11 miles to Muir Junction at about 8,900 feet.

I only made it through the first day. I made it as far as Piute Lake, 10,958 feet. It was the last lake before Piute Pass. It was beautiful. I would have had to ascend another 500 feet to make to the top of the pass. I don't have a picture of the lake but I do have a beautiful picture of a lake just below it, Loch Leven, 10,748 feet. It is a beautiful lake.

The reason I had to come down was a combination of reasons with the main reason being altitude sickness. I also was having high blood sugar results so I didn't want to be further down the trail and be taken out then. So, I decided it was best that I come out on the first day. It was a very hard and emotional decision because I wanted to finish the hike, the scenery was beautiful, and I had never not been able to finish a hike. It was a very emotional decision for me.

I owe a lot to Arnold Gaffrey who was a bigger help to me then words can ever describe. There aren't enough words to express the thankfulness and gratitude I have for him in helping come down off the pass.