Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Chamberlain Basin 2017 Day 6

Getting up before the sun while the moon still shines.

But it got bright quickly. 

Still lots of snow patches around here, though none over the trail. 

I enjoyed that there were more flowers in this July trip than last year's August trip.

Here's one of the springs mentioned in the guidebook. I didn't get a picture of it last year. 

Just off trail are two deeper ponds of water where we actually collected from. Lots of insects in there and other debris, so it really needs to be pre filtered before putting it into a squeeze bag. 

Just about the last of the day's snow sightings, just as the sun was starting to shine on us. 

The junction down to Mosquito Springs.

The "old outfitters camp" at Mosquito Springs. The guidebook claims it is smelly, but I didn't find it objectionable. 

Looked like a pretty nice place to camp, to me. 

The water was a bit downslope from the fire pit. 

A little bit past the junction, we ran into some other backpackers. The little white triangle next to Ambrose in the picture is their tent. 

I'm betting they wouldn't have passed me if I'd been hiking by myself, but they passed me while I waited for Ambrose. I chatted with them a little bit and found out that the guy of the male/female pair had been heading out the day Ambrose and I headed in, and had, in fact, passed us on the Big Creek trail as he was guiding a group that had flown into Chamberlain and hiked out. 

Ambrose was actually hiking pretty fast, for him. Much better than last year. 

The moon was still out. 

Heading up, shaded by the ridge.

I love those paintbrushes. 

Another burned out section, with more soap root flower. 

Someday I'll follow that old trail and see where it used to lead. 

Heading up to the day's high point.

This section seemed a lot shorter than last year.

I made it!

This would be the spot for lunch. 

Ambrose made it!

I convinced Ambrose to stop here so we could walk over to the left and see if we could spot Sheepeater Mountain in the distance. According to the guidebook, it was out there, but last year I couldn't see far enough because of haze. It was a beautiful view, but I still couldn't pinpoint Sheepeater. 

Switchbacking down. 

The trail gets really steep in these switchbacks. 

The permit box was all broken! We did tell the ranger about this back at Big Creek when we got there. 

Ambrose, out of the wilderness. 

We had enough daylight to make it to the car, but we chose to stay and spend the night here. Part of the point of this trip was to get experience in longer trips and staying out for the full seven days was more important than getting days with bigger mileage. Besides, it seemed like such a nice little spot. 

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Chamberlain Basin 2017 Day 5

Heading out from Sheepeater Lake.

Much easier to get back to the trail this year compared to last year's safari.

I do love the sunrise in the water. 

These look like snapdragons to me. 

As the sun rose, I climbed. 

Still snow up at Sheepeater Ridge. 

The trail only gets a little steep. 

We're going to Chicken Peak! 

Ambrose made it to the junction. 

One last look down at Sheepeater Lake. 

Way off in the distance, there's a section of a regular rectangle. That rectangular area is a part of the Chamberlain Airstrip. 

The trail moved from burned out areas to green ones with plenty of tall trees for shade. 

I remember finding this outcropping on the map last year, too.

Looking back at the speck on top of Sheepeater Mountain that is the lookout. 

Look closely - can you spot the deer?

Ambrose was happy that I was right about where the next water was. 

I missed this sign last time - not really surprising considering its state. 

Along with these rocks, I believe it marks what the map calls Fourway Junction. But the trail doesn't look at all maintained. 

No storm clouds on the horizon this year.

The way the guidebook writes about this stream, I expect it to be so much more than the muddy trickle it is. 

The views on this trail uplift me. 

This stream's a little better, but not great. 

More climbing!

First sight of Chicken Peak. 

That snow is awfully close to the trail over this saddle. 

No trails down in that valley. 

Snow keeps getting closer. I put some in my hat to keep cool. 

Getting closer to Chicken Peak. 

And finally, the question is answered - will there be snow on the Chicken Peak saddle?

Yup. 

Big snow. 

Still haven't made the time to actually go to the lookout and see it up close. 

Ambrose surmounting the snow. 

I hiked ahead and got water at Chicken Spring so by the time Ambrose arrived, I just handed him a bag full of water and we were off to the night's campsite. (Not at the side of the trail this year.)

The hour was getting late, but we were almost to our stopping point. 

Just another 500 or so feet to climb. 

This saddle was a decent place to camp, but not as good as I thought it would be. There really wasn't a great flat spot to pitch the tent, but I managed.