Eagle Lakes Trailhead to Fordyce Creek, Grouse Ridge area, Tahoe National Forest. April 23-24, 2014
First trip of the year!
Organized through a local Meetup group, our group of six met at the Eagle Lakes trailhead at 9:30 on Wednesday morning. It was good to see my friend Laura, the trip organizer, again.
I'm in the middle, in a striped shirt.
I had hiked this very trail with her 5 years ago and this go-around was a lot easier, with a lighter load on my back and on my body. Two couples, one retired, and one not, were the other four merry hikers, with a charming Airedale terrier thrown in for cuteness.
It was 40 degrees at the trailhead. It did not freeze at night, as far as I could tell.
The first section of our hike is on (legal) off road vehicle trails. On a weekday, it was very quiet, but we did see a handful of 4WD heading for Driveline Hill. One of the drivers was happy to explain what they were doing. The black truck in the background made it up with only one or two false moves.
Then we crossed a beaver dam and left the drivers to their fun. I think our hike was about 4 miles, with our campsite just after the bridge over Fordyce Creek.
We had a lovely campsite among pines very near a wide gravel beach on Fordyce Creek. Campfire, marshmallows, tall tales. The usual.
The next morning felt warmer than the night before. We hiked out after breakfast. I was home by 2pm. So it was a well-spent 30 and 1/2 hours (including driving time).
View from my hammock
Gear chat!
I tried out my new homemade G4 pack: excellent. I carried a load of just 18.5 pounds, including food and water.
My new hammock sock (also homemade) worked well, keeping the wind off of me for my afternoon nap and retaining a little extra heat at night (the night was totally calm).
My food choices were good, but I got a little tired of the trail bars I'd made. I need more variety for snacks than that. I might go back to having distinct lunch food instead of just more snacks.
After using Coughlan's squeeze tubes on and off since they were introduced in 1975, I finally had a failure of the the little plastic slide/lock thing that keeps the end of the tube closed. I'll see if I can get them to send me a spare or two. I love my squeeze tubes! It may have been the slider was too close to the contents, it may have been expansion of the contents from driving up to 5000 feet, it may have been from being squashed in an Ursack. Don't know.
I had leftover Fritos while waiting for my breakfast flakes to soak. I LIKE Fritos for breakfast!
I could not find my wool Navy watchcap, so I used my Primaloft insulated cap at night for sleeping. Not warm enough. I eventually figured out that my head was cold, and folded a bit of the quilt over. Toasty!
I also tried out a simple ball-type cap for hiking instead of my usual giant Tilley. I liked the cap, but I didn't like having to put sunscreen on the back and sides of my neck, getting white smears all over my nice new pack straps. I will check out some of the caps with flaps, or I may go back to the Tilley T4. My original reason for trying out a cap with a brim only in front was to avoid the interference between a large brim and a pack that sticks up. My G4, as I loaded it this trip, is not tall enough to bump the back of my hat.
I left my cellphone at home on purpose (does not fit in my pack's hipbelt pockets - no one to blame but myself), taking just a digital point and shoot. I did miss having a backlit book to read at night. I'll try using just the cell phone for both camera and entertainment next time.
I also tried out my old cool-weather bicycling tights as pants for the hike in. Comfy and maybe just a bit warm (40 degrees at the trailhead in the morning). No pockets. Aaaaargh! I want my pockets! I hiked out in some quick-dry nylon shorts. With pockets! Much better.
I tried out an REI snowstake as a potty trowel. Great!
I did my usual of loosening the laces of my shoes and tucking the tongue out of the way for my "Sierra Slippers" - making it easy to slide them on for those midnight shrubbery runs.
The things I brought that I didn't use:
My silnyl rain chaps, the Packa, a head bug net, my possum down gloves, and my small Platy soft bottle.The wrist warmers were just enough to keep my hands warm at night.
Things I didn't bring:
I could not find my lightweight fingerless (I cut the tips off) fleece glove liners when I was packing, and I thought I'd miss them. I didn't, really. I use them to keep some of the sun off my hands and for extra warmth.
I missed having my time-temp dangler (records high/low). I'll toss it back in the gear box.
I decided to try packing up to hike out by stuffing my hammock and associated quilts, and sock, as one item in my pack. it worked well, especially since my tree straps were dry and sap-free. This will come in useful on trips of more than one night.
Here's a link to my gear list (no weights) on Google Drive. Anyone should be able to view it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6_...it?usp=sharing
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