Yesterday's hike in Gleeson must have worn me out. I woke up with a pained back and sore ankles at 7am as the sun had already risen. I had no energy. I had today planned to hike up Miller Peak, since today was the first mild day in almost two weeks. But it was not to be. Heavy snow, a pained body and a mind worried about what the president will tweet next were on my mind. I made it to the Upper Bear Mine (7901' and an elevation gain of 2117'), but the hike took me almost six hours for a distance of just under five miles. I should have taken the day off from hiking. My body was screaming for me to stop. I've hiked or walked the dogs every day this month.
The dogs, however, enjoyed the romp. Sadie, Minnie and Zeke chased each other and stayed close to me. It was in the upper 50s when I started. I brought my rain jacket and a fleece jacket that were packed in my pack. The sun felt good. There was no wind and the skies were clear. The snow that had fallen the last time I was in the canyon two weeks ago had settled and compacted, making the walk uphill even harder as I didn't have good traction in my clunky Merrells. I stopped a lot and just stared at Thompson Peak to my south, wondering about where we are heading as a country. The dogs were of course oblivious to my worries, although they did seem curious as to why I kept stopping for such long breaks. The last time I felt so exhausted was on my climb up Mount Whitney in 2010. I should perhaps stop reading the news and stop reading trump's Twitter page, as the news has been depressing me. Perhaps I should also take more breaks from hiking.
Lutz Canyon has changed so much in the 13 years I've been hiking these mountains. It was once such a lush, remote and challenging trail to the Crest Trail. The canyon continues to suffer landslide damage. More trees were downed since my previous hike in the canyon, and to my amazement, a large burned oak tree that died in the 2011 fire had toppled across from the mine, crashing down on the tailings, breaking in half, and causing a rockslide. Its upper branches are now piled up along the trail. It won't take too much more rain damage for the tailings across from the mine to collapse and roll downhill, chocking the creek below and perhaps closing off the trail. The snow was 6" at the mine (deeper in drifts) and I had neither the energy nor the proper boots to go much farther. I picked the wrong canyon to hike up to Miller Peak!
The only people I met on the hike were two young men I had encountered last week while walking up to Carr Reef. They had camped out for the weekend and bagged four peaks. We recognized each other. "Snow was up to my thighs at the peak" said one man, adding that the iced snow make postholing easier. Perhaps it would have been easier for me, but not for the dogs. Hearing about the snow convinced me to make the mine my turn-around point.
The mine has always been used as shelter for border crossers. It's a mile down from the Crest Trail with a direct view of the valley to the east. Trash lines the mine floor. Today there was also several inches of snowmelt in the mine, but I could see the plastic bottles, tin cans and black trash bags despite the water. This time I left it all there, as my backpack was weighing me down and emphasizing my lower lumbar pain. I played fetch with the dogs, had some water, enjoyed the views, then put on my fleece jacket and resumed the descent. It was 3:10pm and now the trail was in the cool mountain shadow.
I got back home shortly after 5pm. Kevin had made another pot of his delicious chicken soup. I felt a bit defeated not bagging a peak for January. I'll have to be satisfied with a mere 7901'. The snow will take several more weeks to melt before a safe ascent is possible.
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