Ranger Lake, Silliman Pass and the Shoulda Couldas

I just returned from a two day backpacking trip with Wilson into the Jennie Lakes Wilderness area. This is the same area we traveled in last summer, but there was a different reason this year. Last year we hiked to Seville Lake and back out the next day. This year we were to meet Uncle John, Elias and another father and two sons. I joined at the last minute and drove up early to meet and pick up Wilson at Lodgepole.

The plan was to meet John and crew at Rowell Meadow at noon on Sunday. The most reasonable way to do that was to leave from the Horse Corral/Rowell Trailhead. We drove down to the trailhead and took off a bit late, but arrived at Rowell Meadow just a little after noon. We eventually realized that John wasn't going to arrive at Rowell Meadow. There had been a spectacular lightening storm the night before and figured they had to change plans. We had to decide what we would do. We could go to Jennie Lake and then over JO Pass the next day and back into Lodgepole. Or we could continue on the trail to Seville and Ranger lakes. We chose that option and started off.

We had been on this section of the trail last year so it was refreshing to see the differences. The big change was no creeks running.  Water was scarce with another drought year. We enjoyed the burned out section of forest like we did last time. A fire had burned through an area of the trail about 5 years ago. The trees left standing were like gravestones in a cemetery. It reminds me of a scene from the movie Jeremiah Johnson.

This was just before the turn to Seville Lake. Though unspoken, we realized we wouldn't be seeing the party we were looking for. I was tired at this point and Seville and rest sounded good. But the idea of the hike up and out first thing in the morning was not bueno. We both remembered it from last year and didn't want a repeat. We decided to continue on to Ranger Lake.  Wilson said it was pretty and I couldn't remember if I had been there before, so new scenery would be nice. We also had the bail out of Lost Lake if we got too tired. I didn't want to tell Wilson, but that was fast becoming an option. So it was on to Ranger and the end of a 10 mile plus day.

I'd like to say it was a good decision, but I will say it was a decision. We almost stopped at Lost Lake, but I reasoned that if we were to go over Silliman Pass tomorrow, it would be better to do it first thing when we were rested. So on to Ranger.  The last mile for me was one of those times where the envelope gets pushed and you realize you can do more than you thought. I shuffled into Ranger Lake just before 7:00 and Wilson had started water for tea and was laying out the rain fly.  I lay about for a bit to gather myself and we ate dinner before retiring.

The next day I awoke early, or should I say my fitful sleep of the night was interrupted by light in the sky. We ate and eventually left camp around 8:45.  The two miles up Silliman Pass was a combination of breathless views and breath challenging climbing. We reached the pass in two hours and the views were even better. East was the Great Western Divide and west down into the Great Central Valley. This has always the strange dichotomy of backpacking to me. The effort expended to see sights only seen by those that work to see them.

Regardless of the views, we still had 8 miles to walk before  getting back to Lodgepole. With the trail almost all downhill we certainly would make better time than the slow trip up Silliman. Could my knees handle the trip?

The rest of the trip was reasonably uneventful. Twin Lakes was pretty. The tree roots and exposed rocks that the trail consisted of were not. We reached the trail turn to JO Pass about 1:30 or so. We continued down, me slowly and my knees were talking. Looking down upon Cahoon Meadow was another nice sight. We eventually rolled onto the pavement of the Lodgepole campgrounds just before 4:00. We then had another near mile hike to reach Wilson's cabin.

Two days of backpacking and over 20 miles. Each day was a little over 10 miles. Two of the longest backpacking days I can even remember doing. Sights never seen by me. A wonderful trip with one of my sons where I was blessed to see how he has grown. We may disagree about music, politics and various subjects; but he is a good young man with insight and compassion. I also got to see where his knowledge and passion collide in the mountains.

P.S. After returning home I talked to Tio John. He said that part way into the first day a couple of the boys were starting to struggle with the walk.  They decided to cut their trip short by going up JO Pass and camping at Jennie Lake. They shortened their trip and enjoyed it.

If we had made the "other" choice at Rowell Meadow, we could have met them at Jennie Lake. Even after that they were at the JO Pass turn only a few hours before us on the trip out. Shoulda, coulda, woulda.