SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA
JOHN MUIR WILDERNESS
BLUE LAKE / SABRINA BASIN
AUGUST, 1991
INTRODUCTION
I did this hike with my friend Jill and her
dog Mike. The trailhead is found out of Bishop, California.
The distance we traveled wasn't that far, but the scenery
was outstanding. We had good weather the entire time, which
helped make this a very leisurely few days.
Wednesday, August 21, 7:22 a.m.
We are at Blue lake. We left Sabrina Basin trailhead at
3:22 yesterday afternoon. It took until nearly 8:00 p.m. to
get here. My pack was very full, Jill's was not very
comfortable (my red pack), and the elevation gain was about
thirteen hundred feet in three miles, not bad under normal
circumstances, but for some reason, this was a tough one.
We found a bear proof tree and swung a rope over it and
then set up camp. By then it was dark. We ate a light
dinner consisting of soup and a bagel, followed by tea and
hot chocolate with a little Amaretto in it. We went to bed
about 10:00 p.m. Since we arrived here so late, we took the
first campsite we came across, which ended up being not too
far from the trail where it crosses the outlet of Blue
lake. Not an ideal spot but with a flat area for the tent
and a kitchen rock. This particular spot has been used
heavily since there are campfire remains all over (which
Mike has seen fit to lay in thereby adding more black
patches to his coat than he normally has). Another less
desirable remnant of other campers stays here is the smell
of horse piss. Particularly in the vicinity of our tent.
Zipping the door shut seemed to eliminate most of the smell
though. We both slept fairly well last night. My pad was
inflated to the proper level and my bag was warm, even when
I opened it to cover Mike with part of it early in the
morning. I awoke about 6:30 a.m. and let Mike out to pee.
He went out but didn't have to go, so he lay in front of
the tent until I got up about fifteen minutes later. We
retrieved the food bags and made some coffee. By this time
Jill was waking up. I made breakfast for her and brought it
to where she was siting on a rock soaking up the sun and
watching the lake. So far I've seen three other people
around the lake, a couple this morning not too far from us
and someone a few minutes ago on the west side of the lake.
Thompson ridge looks impressive and inviting, similar to
the ridge above Ruby lake last weekend. Glacial action is
very evident through here. We've discussed where we'll go
today, possibly staying here at Blue lake.
Wednesday, August 21, 9:15 p.m.
In our tent. Mike is asleep and Jill is settling in. Eyore
(the stuffed animal Jill brought along) is watching me. We
decided to stay at Blue lake today. We took a scouting trip
to see if there were any decent campsites on the west side
of the lake. We found a good spot and headed back to pack
up and move here. We set up camp and had lunch. We are
camped on the west side of Blue lake directly opposite the
trail junction to Emerald lakes. We have a nice level spot
for the tent, a lone tree that provides shade through the
day and a beach nearby that Jill spent about an hour trying
to swim in this afternoon. The view here is unsurpassed.
Thompson ridge is directly across from us. Jill and I spent
time today discussing possible routes to the top of the
ridge. After Jill finished swimming (she got very cold
suddenly), we lounged around camp under the shade until
about 3:30 or 4:00. We then headed up the trail towards
Donkey lake. We left the trail to explore the water flowing
into Blue lake. We found several drops preceded by little
meadows. At one point we removed our shoes and walked
upstream for awhile. It's very beautiful up there. The
mosquitos got to be pretty bad and we decided to head back.
We crossed over the solid granite slabs we crossed getting
here and soon found the trail. By 6:00 we were back. Just
before the Emerald lake junction we encountered a man with
three kids and a dog. Two were under 10, the other about 14
or 15. He asked us about the route to and campsite
possibilities around the inlet to Blue lake. The younger
ones were exhausted. They had full sized frame packs and in
my opinion were overburdened. I directed them to other
campsites a little further up. About thirty minutes later
they came back and camped just below us. We had a little
snack and some lemonade and then some soup. We watched the
moon rise over Thompson ridge. We then cleaned up camp and
decided to come to bed.
Thursday, August 23, 9:00 a.m.
Yesterday we hiked to Dingleberry lake. We left about 11:15
a.m. and finally got there about 1:15 p.m. We stopped for a
while at Emerald lakes. Jill attempted a swim because the
water was a little warmer, but only succeeded in getting
her legs wet. At the larger of the Emerald lakes we found a
cut-off pond that was once connected with the main lake. In
it we found several large trout along with many little
trout. My immediate thought was to try and remove them from
their certain fate, but soon realized this was a survival
of the fittest situation, as Jill pointed out.
We stopped on a ridge above Dingleberry lake to have lunch.
Dingleberry lake was very pretty with only a few campsites
near the water. We hiked to the inlet of the lake to rest
and read & write. It turned out that the mosquitos
liked this area also. We didn't stay very long and decided
to slowly head back. Mike's feet were beginning to bother
him, and a little detour we made which took us cross
country over loose granite really took it's toll on his
feet. At one point he just stopped and watched me continue
on. I was headed for what looked like a little knoll over
looking Sabrina lake and Bishop creek canyon in the
distance, but once I got there, another knoll lay ahead of
me. I retreated. Jill was becoming concerned about Mikes
feet and we discussed how we could doctor them up to make
it easier for him. We made it back to the trail which was
easier on his feet and came back to camp about 5:30 p.m. We
lay out on our favorite rock near the waters edge and drank
tea mixed with lemonade. We made an early dinner to beat
the mosquitos. We both washed up, put the bear bags up and
then watched the moon rise over the ridge while sipping
Amaretto. We retired soon afterward and lay in bed watching
the stars for over an hour. Mike was very anxious to get in
the tent and once in there, was out like a light. We awoke
around 4:30 a.m. and talked for a little bit. Mike made his
way up and into my bag once again. We didn't get up until
nearly 9:00 a.m. We had a big leisurely breakfast, and are
now laying in our kitchen soaking up some sun. It's windy
today and the sky is very clear. Crystal clear. The water
is quite blue with little white caps showing from the wind.
It was warmer last night and also this morning. It's not
uncomfortable though. My shirt is off. Mike's feet are
still sore. We will be hiking out today.
Friday, August 24, 5:30 p.m.
Yesterday Jill was finally able to swim in Blue lake. We
lounged around most of the day talking, eating, dipping and
reading. At 3:30 p.m. we started to pack up. While I was
finishing with the tent, Jill went down to our beach for
one last dip. By 4:15 she got up enough courage to try it.
She swam four short laps and was ecstatic. What she
hesitated over for three days, she finally overcame. Once
this was done, she dressed and by 4:30 we were on our way
out.
It was sad leaving. This had been one of the most pleasant
short backpacks I had ever done, and the spot we had
overlooking the lake was second to none. We had three
beautiful days, each a little different in character than
the others. As we were packing up, a couple moved in next
to our site and as we walked past the lake we saw several
others settling in for the weekend. We agreed that being
here during the week and leaving on Friday was a good
choice. We hadn't seen many people near us the whole week
and it was now beginning to get crowded.
As we reached the end of the lake and faced the ravine we
had come up three days before, I was amazed at the number
of switch-backs there were. I didn't remember this many.
Being so tired at the time, I guess I wasn't as impressed
as I was now. The trail construction was exceptional. In
many places there were carefully placed stairs made of flat
stones, or actually cut into the granite. As we hiked down
I began to count the number of uphill sections we
encountered. By the trailhead, I had come up with five not
so significant, short in length uphill sections. This told
me that our coming up here was indeed one long uphill
climb, a solid cause for the slow speed and extreme
tiredness we all suffered from. In simple terms, this trail
is a mother. The hike down was fairly constant and even at
the slower than normal pace we were going, we reached the
trailhead in two hours and forty-five minutes. We took some
pictures by the trailhead sign as we had done last year,
and headed down the road another seven tenths of a mile to
where the truck was parked.
Not wanting this trip to end, we decided to drive to
Mammoth Lakes rather than head home. We stayed at Tamarack
Lodge on Twin Lakes. The following morning we rented a
canoe and paddled around Twin Lakes before lunch and then
reluctantly drove home. Not a bad ending to a nice little
vacation.