Thursday, October 30th, 2008
Mott Lake Backpack - Part 1
We left Hal’s house in Coarsegold at 5:45 am for the 90+ miles drive to Edison Lake to start the backpack. On the way, Hal stopped by the Forest Service Office in Prather to pick up the Wilderness permit in the night box. Our destination was to head to the Vermillon Valley Resort on the western shore of Edison Lake.[7,550'} At the resort, we each paid $18 fare rt. to ride the ferry across the lake to the trail head on the eastern shore of the lake. The dock is normally about 2 miles from the junction with the John Muir Trail [JMT]. Usually you would walk a short distance to the boat landing but since this was a drought year the lake was very low and we had to drive about a mile to reach the lake and the boat. Previously Hal had used this ferry service which we learned, due to the low water level, we would be ferried in two aluminum fishing boats. We were joined by three others for the trip and two boats would be used. We were told that the usual pontoon boat was out of service and the lake was too shallow to use it anyway. The drop off point at the eastern end of the lake was about a mile short of the usual drop off spot which made the distance about 3 miles to the junction with the JMT. We had to walk about a half a mile on the sandy beach to reach the trail. Once on the Edison Lake Trail, we passed up to the north side of Mono Creek in the shade of aspen and pine trees. This was a very lush area and many small streams were crossed. We arrived at the junction of the JMT at the bridge that crosses Mono Creek to the south. We now headed north on the JMT and soon forded the North Fork of Mono Creek, which can be a problem early in the year. The crossing was easy on the well placed stepping stones. The JMT now climbs up a series of switchbacks to meet the junction with the Mono Ck. Trail. Heavy packs and warm weather started to take its toll and we took a rest break at this point. Since joining the JMT we were now seeing the usual crowd of hikers some carrying only day packs. A pack train passed going south on the JMT that was support for the day pack group. It was here that we decided to camp at Pocket Meadow rather than Mott Lake. We were concerned that with the number of packers on the trail and that we might find suitable camp spots hard to find. We decided that Hal should go ahead a see if he could find a spot while Howie helped Bryan get his pack up the trail. Hal took off and played leapfrog with several parties that were also heading for Pocket Mdws. Hal pushed up the trail as much as he could and found a great site at the southern edge of Pocket Mdw. Hal dropped his pack and went back down the trail to where he found Bryan and his pack. Howie had gone down the trail to retrieve his pack. Hal and Bryan finally reached camp and Howie arrived shortly. Our camp had level tent sites, a fire pit, some wood and a flowing stream nearby. Howie prepared a dinner of macaroni and hot dogs. We had a nice and welcome campfire and went out to a wonderful granite slab for star gazing before hitting the sleeping bags. The night was very mild and calm. (8/21/08 to 8/23/08)
Doug Buckmaster
special to Outside All Day
