Friday, October 31st, 2008
SIERRA BACKPACK — COTTONWOOD LAKES AREA / 4.0
Sun., 8/3 - Dawn brought a beautiful sunrise on Cirque Peak at 6:00 a.m. (We had missed this spectacular treat Saturday by sleeping too late). Water again was heated for cooking and beverages. The muesli was delicious once again, but also very filling so we ate little else. As we ate and began to pack up our gear, a mother duck escorted five really large ducklings along the edge of the meadow right in front of our camp until they all were out of sight, unconcerned by our presence. Packing continued. It seemed like we had more stuff to take home than we brought with us. Marvin did pack out a branch, the head of which looked a lot like a duck. We departed precisely at 8:37.
Our trail climbed briefly out of the lake basin, then we began the relatively slow, approximately five-mile descent to the cars. Occasionally, we recognized some features from Friday’s hike, but the meadows seemed greener and the wildflowers more vivid today. Two fat marmots (“fat” is sort of redundant) were stretched out in the sun on a huge boulder, with another marmot on the next boulder. We met a lot of hikers on their way up, and some passing us as we headed for home. For example, there were 14 Sierra Club members in one group and about 20 Scouts, formerly called Explorers, on a work party. Some in these two groups were without backpacks. We met their two pack trains later. They certainly were going to eat well. At another rest stop and stream crossing, a big family with two young goats and an adult billygoat in training to be pack animals came by us. They had trouble coaxing the young goats across the log bridge. They weren’t helped by a blond lab that was loving the water and three young boys who were totally at home in the wilderness. (We had trouble getting Marvin to try the log, too. He selected the rock-to-rock alternative.) Just before we got to the car, and after a long walk through an area with very few features we remembered from Friday, a young man passed us wearing zoris and carrying an empty ice cream freezer. He was from Thatcher School’s (Ojai) Golden Trout Wilderness Camp. We had seen a lot of their tents and some of their Outward Bound campers earlier. We got to the cars at exactly 2:00 p.m. and tanked up on cold water from a unique pump faucet. The gear was packed away and we began the drive down the switchbacks to Hwy 395.
Once down the mountain, we headed south about 10 miles to Olancha’s Ranch House Cafe. There seemed to be a lot of locals there, and we were disappointed to see that the Mason jars which always had been used for drinking water had been replaced by plastic tumblers. Progress. Three of us had big salads. Mark ordered Indian fry bread with butter and honey. He got an Indian fry bread burrito. He enjoyed it nonetheless. We said our goodbyes to Matt and all headed for home. Marvin drove from Olancha to Lost Hills where we again filled the tank, stopping on the north side of Hwy 46 this time. Odometer: 443.0.
Interestingly enough, we got 29.9 mpg for the trip. I drove the last segment from Paso Robles to Cambria, arriving in Cambria at 9:30 (539) to complete an outstanding trip. (My new hip had made getting into the mountains possible once again).
Doug Buckmaster
Outside All Day Contributor
