The next morning we awake cold and anxious to get
on our way. Last night the temperature got down to 32º F.
Burrrrrr. I'll have to layer my clothing better to stay warm during
those frosty evenings. We have a light breakfast and lots of coffee
as we pack our gear. We are ready to travel at 9:45 am.
The very first section of the trail is nasty,
narrow, rocky, super twisty and then we climb a little. Notice as
Turtle Man turns into his side rails5 while making the left. Then
it's up and over8 through 11 probably the largest boulder garden we
see on the trip. Looking back we can see Huntington Lake12 in the
west as we approach another nasty section of loose, teetering and
rocky terrain.
Coming up and over we catch
a glimpse of Deer Lake16 below in the valley. The next section,
although downhill, makes you stop a think how glad you are going in
this direction. This section would beat me to death if I had to
climb up it. Moving along the trail we encounter narrow and very
rocky sections22, 27, 29 nearly non-stop along the way.
We arrive at Lake Camp Lake30, 31 at 12:18 pm and
break for lunch. Here, especially for this time of the year, the
lake is very shallow and is surrounded by pines and the neighboring
high peaks. A couple of stone fire rings are here indicating
camping has occurred, however, not much room for vehicles and
friends. Very primitive, but cleaner than usual in appearance. With
the air temperature now a pleasant 80º, we turn our attention
to our next destination.
The trail continues to serve up narrow turns
though rocks34, trees38 and other obstacles. We encounter our first
stream and makeshift log crossing at East Fork Creek 45 flowing out
of Ershim Meadows. Here we feel relieved that the trail, or so we
think, has mellowed out some. We soon realize that this trail has
more of the same boulder climbing, narrow off chamber sections
through tress and fallen58 debris. We are both watching our
odometers in anticipation of Ershim Lake. The constant work of
driving this trail has made us eager for a long awaited
rest.
The time now approaching 4:00 pm, we
finally arrive at the Ershim Lake Campsite. Here unmistakably,
carved into old split logs is "ERSHIM LAKE" and "EL. 9080" and yes
we still be above 9000 feet. This campground, although very
sheltered from the many trees, offers many camping areas with Giant
Designer Tables and Benches62 as well as fire rings. Here too are
toilets for your convenience, but still toilet paper was evident
outside the perimeter of the campground indicating peoples lack of
sanitation etiquette. The lake was beautiful and clean. One can see
through the surface several feet deep. No trash evident in the
water, what a relief. The lake begins to take on a deep blue color
as the sun sinks beneath the tree line and the air temperature
drops 15º in minutes. We make preparations for our evening
meal. Beef Stroganoff, Green Beans are the main choice for tonight.
With a nice campfire going to warm our bones, we relax, enjoy our
meal and plan our next leg of our journey.
• Day 3 - East and Summit Lakes
We awake as the sun glistens over Ershim Lake as
it tries to shake off the overnight temperature of 36º. Again
we have a light breakfast and our morning coffee… gotta' have
our coffee. We secure the gear in the trucks, be sure the fire ring
is cold and fire up our rigs. At 9:55 am we are off to our next
destination.
Soon we are crossing another
creek66, which according to the map is 'Big Creek' and then it's
trail time. Yeehaw. Yes… boys and girls, it's boulder
hopping70 and squeezing between narrow openings72 again. We had
thought by this time that the trail would give us a break. No, not
on the Dusy. We stop occasionally to photograph ancient magma
domes. Then it's off to hammer ourselves against boulders as they
pitch us to and fro all along the trail. Turtle Man masterfully
weaves in, out, over and around the obstacles effortlessly as his
vehicle flexes to accommodate full articulation.
Just as we are tempted to stop and shake it off we
arrive at East Lake. What a relief. Checking the time (12:30 PM) we
relax, have lunch and check on this small lake. Here you can
plainly see Dogtooth Peak85 across the lake - very primitive
camping seen here but limited space available for any sizeable
group gathering. Still, all and all, it is a very nice lake with
clean water and excellent views. We finish up lunch and are now in
the realization mode that the trail from here to Summit Lake will
probably be more of the same pounding. Oh yeah can't wait. Well it
wasn't too bad, with some rocky places and some tight turns93
between natural obstacles, we arrive at Summit Lake just before
3:00 pm. This low laying lake is placed right into a large open
meadow surrounded by smaller hills in the foreground and the higher
peaks to the north. We park real close to the trail and huddle in
and around a stone fire ring. We are still surrounded by small
pinion pines to break any severe windy conditions.
I mention to Turtle Man that arriving early will
give us extra time to relax. You we slowly setup camp and scout out
the place. It has been obvious that most campers that settle here
do not camp on the open meadow. There's lots of wind and very
little shelter next to the lake. We still have firewood from Kaiser
Pass, but decide to gather more. Most of the wood from fallen trees
were very hard and slow burning, but not moist. It was excellent.
Tonight's entrée is Hamburger Steak sandwiches and Corn. Once
finished we melt besides the warm fire and become fixated by the
glow of the red burning ambers. Before we know it nightfall and the
chill of the air is upon us. The air temperature was cooler here
and could be felt penetrating into our backsides as we sat glued to
campfire. Here we would stand occasionally and become human
rotisseries as we rotated round and round to keep ourselves warm.
Knowing that our next leg of the trail will be relatively short, we
don't make plans for an early departure in the morning. Yeah, like
we have really been pushing it. Now 9:00 pm as the temperature
begins to get brutal. We hit the hay.
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