We only had one backpacking session go out this WO, but this one trip definitely had enough zing in it to provide for two.
We started off this trip on our normal route through Mineral King, starting at Franklin Pass and following through to Sawtooth Pass. This would be a journey of 39.5 miles and would take us about 5 days. We spent our first night in the field at Franklin Lakes, a location just below the pass, and hiked up to the pass the following day – a distance of about 3 miles. At the top, however, as we gazed down into valleys on either side of the mountain, a participant became increasingly ill and we decided we needed to evacuate him from the field. Thus, the guides and our participants hiked back down to Franklin Lakes and camped about a mile away from our previous night’s campsite. While there, we set the participants out on their solos (a 1-24 hour period where the participants camp alone and are encouraged to meditate, fast, and take a vow of silence) and contemplated the events of the next day.
During the night, another group of backpackers stumbled into our camp and ended up camping right in the middle of the sites we used to put the participants out on solo. This caused irritation and confusion for the participants in the immediate area, making for a less-than-ideal solo situation.
After we brought the participants in from solo the following morning, we sent our ill participant out of the field with our Secondary Guide. However, they didn’t get out before opening the “mystery burrito,” the guides’ gift to our participants, which was filled with candy and fake moustaches.
After our participant and guide left to go back to the trailhead and ultimately a doctor, the rest of us headed back up Franklin Pass and reached the top in the late afternoon. We hiked down the other side at dusk and ate a warm meal in the frigid, below-freezing temperatures of the valley floor before we night-hiked 2.5 miles to our next campsite. We finally reached Little Claire Lake at 1:30 am and were asleep not ten minutes from our arrival.
Our next few days of trekking led us to our final ascent: Sawtooth Pass. This steep ascent was tumultuous but very rewarding when we reached the peak. Here, we all had a good laugh once we realized one of our members had ripped a gigantic hole in the seat of his pants, and spent a few moments enjoying the spectacular view before starting our sketchy descent.
The way down from Sawtooth Pass is a chaotic mess of sand, loose gravel, slick rocks, and dozens of barely distinguishable paths. One wrong step could leave someone sliding down the mountainside. However, we managed to get down safely and ended up at our last night’s campsite, Monarch Lakes, without a hitch. Here, we were surprised to find our long lost guide and participant, who by now was completely healthy again. They had hiked up the previous day after having their own little adventure in town, talking to the local yokels and imagining masked serial killers lurking around their van as they slept.
We spent the rest of that day enjoying each other’s company, swimming in the lake, repairing the nearby outhouse which had not one year before only been a toilet sitting on a hill, fully exposed to all surrounding it, and making a macaroni and cheese casserole with 2.5 pounds of cheddar. Needless to say, no one would be using the now three-walled toilet that night.
We all hiked out the next morning and had a pancake breakfast at the trailhead before heading home. The forest was deep, beautiful, and full of excitement, but after no showers and blisters on our feet, we were all satisfied with ourselves and ready for the trip back home.
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- Rachel Karp, Outback Guide
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