Solo Hike from Moon Lake to Hayden Pass Trailhead (Day #2)

After a rough night of being continually disturbed by cattle moving past my camp.  One even kicked my bear vault during the night.  I was up bright and early (6:00 AM) and after breakfast I decided to break camp. Normally I would have gone fishing, but because of the location of my camp near the base of Tworoose Pass I decided to just get on the trail.  I did take my time breaking camp but I finally hit the trail.  The climb up the pass was reasonably steep, but not excessive.  Once over the pass, I started loosing elevation at a pretty good rate descending towards the Rock Creek drainage.  A fork to the left for Dry Ridge (#64) is just over the pass.  Later a fork that was not indicated on my GPS went off to the right towards Cleveland Pass (trail 120).  A second fork after more descent went left to Rock Creek (#63), while a right went towards Cleveland Pass via. Squaw Basin (#63).  I continued straight towards Dead Horse Pass (#66).

My second planned campsite was at Shamrock Lake which is about .5 miles off the trail.  I arrived at the location to leave the trail around 10:00 AM.  Somewhat early than planned, thanks to the longer hike the previous day.  The terrain between the trail and Shamrock was a bit daunting.  Two large boulder fields and three swampy meadows later I arrived at Shamrock.  The boulder fields were pretty bad considering I was solo and carrying a full pack, but I took my time, and thankfully had my trekking poles.

Shamrock was great, plenty of 12 to 14 inch Brook Trout and plenty of mosquitoes to go with them. Around noon I tired of fishing (and being mosquito bait) and started to look for a campsite.  The only favorable site I could find was within 70 feet of the lake, and wanting to be a good citizen and obey wilderness regulations and "leave no trace" I decided to not stay at the lake.  However, the campsite was well used, with a well established fire ring and logs dragged in for seating.  So I headed back to the trail over the boulder fields and swamps.

Where I left the trail is at a fork of where the Squaw Lake Trail (#66), Rock Lake Trail (#107), and the Ledge Trail (#121) meet.  My destination was up the Ledge Trail towards Dead Horse Pass.  The climb from the East Fork of Rock Creek up over the shoulder to the Ledge Trail is very steep, (400 feet in .4 mile) without switch backs.  Once over the shoulder there is a small descent (200 feet in 1 mile) and then the trail levels out.

At this point I began looking for a reasonable campsite even though it was still early.  I soon came across a beautiful location about a 100 yards before a small unnamed lake near Young Lake.  The lake had a small stream feeding it straight from the steep rock fall of the "Ledge" so I called it a day around 3:00 PM.  The lake appeared dead (no fish) and I didn't try fishing.

I broke out my Sea to Summit 10L bucket, hauled some water back to camp and did some washing of clothes and body.  I actually needed to make several trips.  I am now considering a second bucket 10L, or a 20L bucket and maybe a shower.  After a brisk shower/bath and washed clothing I went back to the spring for water.  This time with the MSR AutoFlow and a MSR Dromedary bag.  I'll write up a review, but the system preform well with some reservations.

With camp setup, dinner done, phone call made to my wife, and the mosquitoes being pests.  I crawled into my tent and broke out the Kindle and did some reading before going to sleep.  No cattle!!!!

Solo Hike from Moon Lake to Hayden Pass Trailhead (Day #1)

I completed my solo hike.  Did about 50 miles in three days.  I had originally planned to take longer, but the way things worked out on the trail, I finished well ahead of schedule.

I took the opportunity to take a couple of filters with me to try side-by-side in actual conditions.  The filters I took where the Sawyer Squeeze, the Platypus GravityWorks 4L, and the MSR Autoflow with dromedary bag.  I also took a MSR Reactor 1L for my stove.  All brand new items for me.

Moon Lake Trailhead

Entrance to Wilderness Area

First day of the trip started early from Moon Lake and I was at my first planned camp site early in the afternoon. Unfortunately the camp site was occupied by a herd of cattle.  As was the next several lakes.  I finally just found a camp site because it was late in the afternoon.  While the camp was not ideal it was off the trail, and away from water as required by wilderness regulations.  Unfortunately as the evening progressed, the cattle decided to move through my camp on their way to water, and continued to wander near camp for the rest of the night. Can I now say that I extremely dislike the fact that cattle are allowed to graze in the wilderness area.  This was not my only encounter with cattle, but more on that later.

Brown Duck Lake

Since water was a couple hundred yards away from camp, I used the GravityWorks filter to retrieve water, bringing 4L clean water, and 4L dirty water to my camp. I will post my review of the filter next but let me say that I was fairly impressed with some reservations. While this was not my first experience with hollow fiber, it was my first experience with gravity systems.  I will also post a review of the reactor stove, but let me say that I was favorably impressed by the stove.

Island Lake