July 4th - San Gorgonio Summit - Overnighter

[Sally]

Trip report of Sally, Ellen and Alison to come later (real tuckered out):

Pics now
https://picasaweb.google.com/sallymorle ... directlink

[Sally]

Well, I'm rested up enough to do a TR, so here goes:

With the weather forecast calling for it to be HOT my daughter Alison and I met Ellen at the Southfork trailhead at 5:00 Sunday AM. While we were doing last minute gear adjustments a gal came up to us and told us to quiet down as people were trying to sleep. At first I felt bad until I realized the the gal was Ellen's friend, Moose Tracks Laura.

We got under way at about 5:20. It was already feeling warmish for being so early. We hadn't gone far when we started running into patches of Indian Paintbrush, iris, lupin and lots of other flowers. We made pretty good time. We really kept Alison moving along. She did really great for someone who doesn't get out as much as Ellen and I do.

When we got to Dollar Saddle we had our first break. While we were snacking and resting a steady stream of hikers passed through. Then we were on our way again, headed for Dry Lake View, our supposed campsite. The original plan was to srt up camp at Dry Lake view and then hike to San Gorgonio Summit either that evening for the sunset, or in the morning for sunrise. Well, surprise, when we got to Dry Lake View there were ten backpacks sitting there unattended. It had"Boyscout" written all over it, and as there are onlt two little shelters at that campsite, we felt very uneasy about having any privacy, if you know what I mean. We decided to go on to the Peak (which was my first campsite choice when applying for our permit) and see if there was any space up there.

As we neared the summit the weather started to get a little rough with some sprinkles and strong wind. We were now concerned about whether to seek lower ground to pitch our tents. We made the summit and huddled in one of the shelters for lunch. It was 1:00 and I sent out a SPOT "OK" message to my husband Larry. Then the clouds started dissapating, and after ascertaining that there was plenty of room for us, decided to pitch our tents. There was only one couple we could see that was spending the night up there.

We did a little exploring and came back to camp with big appetites. We melted some snow. Ellen wanted to sample some exotic freeze-dried for her upcoming JMT hike and cooked us up some Pad See You and Shana Masala (a curry that was a bit spicy)

Very tired and contented we climbed the summit rocks to watch the sunset, but we got cold and went back to our tents befor the sun slipped all the way down. I slept great except for being awakened by the wind rattling the zippers on my tent.

When we woke the next morning we were treated to a beautiful sky of clouds and no smog in the distance (as we had the day before.) We had a hearty breakfast and packed up to go. To avoid a large snowfield that lay across the trail we went crosscountry down to where the trail was. We then took the trail that goes down to Mineshaft Saddle and Dry Lake. There were still fingers of snow to cross as we went down the switchbacks. Suddenly there was a helicoptor overhead that appeared to be looking for someone. We were pretty concerned about someone being in distress.

Ellen, would you like to take it from here?
(to be continued...)

[Sally]

I see that Ellen simultaneously wrote about the sequence of events that followed in her post about "Eating Crow on San Gorgonio."

After the helicopter went away we made it to Dry Lake where we saw a beautiful mallard duck family. We watched them for quite some time before continuing on.

Geez, it's so beautiful up there. What a weekend. Thank you Ellen and Ali!

[tinaballina]

great pics sally, glad you gals had a great time.

[MooseTracks]

Great to meet you up there on Sunday, Sally! Sorry about my sick sense of humor. I just love getting a look of shock out of Ellen!!

That was my first loop of Sanny G in summer conditions (only climbed Jepson w/ the HypoxicZombie and Gigamike back in the winter of 08). What a lovely trail! The flowers were amazing, making me look forward to see what's in store in the Sierra in August when the snow finally melts away.

Lovely weekend!

-L

[Lermo]

Hi Sally, Thanks for the RE & pictures! Sounds like a fun trip except of the whole helicopter deal. Poor Ellen. I would have been flipping out.

[Sally]

Thank you, Tina. Hey, are you an auntie yet?

It was great meeting you, too, Laura! I hope you got back to sleep OK! I'm hoping there will still be flowers in the Sierra in September when I am on the High Sierra Trail.

Hi Larry - You're welcome! Yeah, that helicopter thing was surreal.