SEKI Stint 1: 12 July to 21 July 2011 : Getting There

Photos

On the 12 of July we arrived at the office in the early morning to get all our equipment ready and packed.  During our first stint two sites were to be mobilized: the Center Basin site (not mine) and the Sixty Lakes Basin site, where I would be working the rest of the summer.  All the gear and food for both sites needed to be brought to the helipad, where it would be flown out to the sites later in the week.  This was complicated by the fact that SEKI was re-oiling its roads, and so taking things to the helipad were delayed by a few hours.  During this stint we were hiking in from the west side of the park instead of the east side because the passes over the Sierras were still too dangerous to cross from all the snow this past year.

We ended up arriving at Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon National Park, (where we would all begin hiking) around 5:00pm and started hiking around 5:30pm.  The Center Basin group (the girl/girl pair and one of my bosses) were joined by camera men from Fish and Wildlife who going to make a film about the mountain yellow legged frog.  My group consisted of five of us: me, my partner, my other boss, and the girl/boy pair.  Despite the late start, we still began hiking since it would be light until at least 8:30 or so. 

Because the helicopter would not bring our supplies and food until the 15^th, we all had to bring in four days worth of food and whatever clothes/warm things we wanted to have.  The hike to Sixty Lakes Basin was ~22 miles and ended up taking 2.5 days of hiking.  The hike was, at times, grueling because of my heavy pack.

 I camped in the backcountry in snow a year ago and had been quite unprepared for the cold – I think this affected my packing decision, as I ended up packing a lot of clothes (socks and undies for each day, one extra shirt and 2 pairs of pants, and a snow jacket).  This, along with my sleeping bag, tent, bear can, food, sleeping bag liner, water, and miscellaneous toiletries made my bag extremely heavy – probably around 45-50 lbs.  I was also fairly out of shape from being stuck in the office, writing my thesis the past semester, so the long hike plus my heavy bag made the trip out agonizing at times. 

 On the plus side (which outweighed the heavy bag) I did get to see a bear, alligator lizard, rattlesnake, and yellow bellied marmot on the way to Sixty Lakes Basin, and the scenery along the way was gorgeous and breathtaking – raging rivers, waterfalls, and towering snow-capped mountains on either side of deep valleys.  Another factor that really helped me finish the long hike was that my boss was really understanding of my heavy bag/out-of-shapeness and encouraged me along the way.