On the trail to Deadwood Peak
Saturday, Sep 19, 2015
Our drive to Lake Tahoe on Friday night got us in late, around 11:30pm, and I couldn't settle down for sleep until about an hour after that. As a result we weren't too keen to get up early Saturday morning to start an all-day hike. But that was one of our reasons for doing the long drive Friday night-- we were in the heart of the mountains already and didn't have to set out early. It was a pleasant 40 mile drive through high mountain passes from Lake Tahoe south to our trailhead in the Blue Lakes basin just below the Carson Pass.
Here you can see Deadwood Peak, elev. 9,848', in the distance beyond Upper Blue Lake. (Deadwood is actually the one to the right of the notchy peak in the center of picture. The notchy one is 300' lower in elevation but looks taller here because it's closer.)
This picture also shows the effects on the ongoing drought in California. Normally that bush in the foreground would be at the edge of the lake, not 100+ feet in from the shore.
We set off on the trail to Deadwood Peak at about 11:45. It wasn't the trail to the peak, per se. There is no official trail to it; we'd have to cross-country the last 0.75 mile or so. But for now, at least, we had a well maintained trail to follow.
Not far in from the lake we crossed the boundary into the Mokelumne Wilderness. I always take note of these wilderness signs because they remind me that I'm where I like to be. They might as well say, "Now entering your happy place."
Shortly after this a decidedly un-happy thing happened, though. I dropped my camera and broke it.
The camera slipped out of a mesh pocket on my daypack, falling about 3 feet to the ground. I've dropped cameras from that height before. The damage depends on what they hit. Frequently it's dirt, which just results in a few scratches. But this time my camera hit a rock, shattering the rear LCD screen. My first thought was, "Well, there's $800 down the drain."
The camera's not a total loss, though. It still takes pictures just fine, like this one of Granite Lake, 2 miles in from the trailhead:
I'm able to adjust settings and compose pictures using the digital viewfinder. Thankfully this model camera has two ways- correction, had two ways- to see what I'm doing.
Continued in Part 2....
Our drive to Lake Tahoe on Friday night got us in late, around 11:30pm, and I couldn't settle down for sleep until about an hour after that. As a result we weren't too keen to get up early Saturday morning to start an all-day hike. But that was one of our reasons for doing the long drive Friday night-- we were in the heart of the mountains already and didn't have to set out early. It was a pleasant 40 mile drive through high mountain passes from Lake Tahoe south to our trailhead in the Blue Lakes basin just below the Carson Pass.
Here you can see Deadwood Peak, elev. 9,848', in the distance beyond Upper Blue Lake. (Deadwood is actually the one to the right of the notchy peak in the center of picture. The notchy one is 300' lower in elevation but looks taller here because it's closer.)
This picture also shows the effects on the ongoing drought in California. Normally that bush in the foreground would be at the edge of the lake, not 100+ feet in from the shore.
We set off on the trail to Deadwood Peak at about 11:45. It wasn't the trail to the peak, per se. There is no official trail to it; we'd have to cross-country the last 0.75 mile or so. But for now, at least, we had a well maintained trail to follow.
Not far in from the lake we crossed the boundary into the Mokelumne Wilderness. I always take note of these wilderness signs because they remind me that I'm where I like to be. They might as well say, "Now entering your happy place."
Shortly after this a decidedly un-happy thing happened, though. I dropped my camera and broke it.
The camera slipped out of a mesh pocket on my daypack, falling about 3 feet to the ground. I've dropped cameras from that height before. The damage depends on what they hit. Frequently it's dirt, which just results in a few scratches. But this time my camera hit a rock, shattering the rear LCD screen. My first thought was, "Well, there's $800 down the drain."
The camera's not a total loss, though. It still takes pictures just fine, like this one of Granite Lake, 2 miles in from the trailhead:
I'm able to adjust settings and compose pictures using the digital viewfinder. Thankfully this model camera has two ways- correction, had two ways- to see what I'm doing.
Continued in Part 2....