Sheppy Quest 2009

Lost Creek Wilderness 09/16/2008 - 09/18/2008

Well, you may remember that I had somewhat ambitious plans for Sheppy Quest 2008, but rain, stupidity, and my lack of conditioning killed the plans. And this year, I did not find myself with a bunch of time to plan, so I decided to go back to the same area as last year (and Sheppy Quest 2005). This year, I decided to head up Goose Creek (like in 2005) rather than up Hankins (like last year). Again, I was going to decide how I felt after day 1, but I was really wanting to try to do the whole loop (see map to the left) of Goose Creek Trail to McCurdy Park Trail to Lake Park Trail and then Hankins Pass Trail. I hurt my knee the week before on a bike ride (never hurt my knee riding my bike before), and it was still not 100%. This made me think that my chances of being physically able to make the hike were not that great, but I figured you never know.

I got up early Wednesday (September 16th) and got into the car. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get to the trail head (last year took me two hours), and I got started hiking around 8:15.


		This year, I got a new internal frame pack, which I could tell right away was much more comfortable (not to mention quieter) than my old external frame pack. This year, I also had a pack-cover in case it rained. Wednesday was overcast and it looked like I might perhaps get to use the pack cover to keep my stuff dry. The picture to the left is along the Goose Creek Trail, pretty early in the hike. Unfortunately, none of my pictures do justice to the absolute beauty that I saw. I guess if pictures could capture exactly the feelings, I would not need to do Sheppy Quest.
When I did the Goose Creek trail in 2005, I spent a bunch of time around the Lost Park Reservoir Site. That was really cool, but considering I was still planning on doing the loop, I blew right past it this time. Around 2 hours in, I stopped for a break (and to refill my water bottles) at the campsite that I used in 2005. The shot to the right is a view from this spot. I rested for a few minutes, but of course, this year I had a goal, so after eating some sunflower kernels and drinking water, I put the pack back on and continued up the trail.
		It did not take very much longer to get to the junction with McCurdy Park Trail. At this point, I headed down the switch-backs where in 2005 I saw the bobcat. This year, I did not see him, but the views were just as spectacular. The picture to the left is pretty close to the junction of the trails looking back towards the same rocks I took in the first picture. All of the views through this area are just so gorgeous.
It sort of makes me wish that I had a fancy expensive SLR camera that could take better pictures. Of course, even better quality pictures probably would not do justice. Even if they did, I would never take such an expensive camera backpacking. So, unfortunately, you get what you get and don't throw a fit. Trust me, being there was so much more amazing. Unfortunately, going down the switchbacks reminded me of my knee injury. Downhill hiking is much harder on the knees than uphill or flat terrain.
		I took a wrong turn at the bottom of the switchbacks. It took me back to the creek to what looked like a pretty good campsite. It is a good thing I sort of remembered this hike from 2005, or else I might not have been able to figure out where I went wrong. But, it was a pretty area, and it was lunch time, so I took a break. One cool thing about the site was that to my right, the creek was coming right out of the rock. Did not do a real good job capturing it with the picture, but really, it was cool.
And this is a closer up picture of the hole with the water coming out of it. But, after a lunch of turkey jerky and sunflower kernels, I headed back towards the huge aspen grove where I had veered off-course. It did not take me very long to figure out what I had done wrong. They really should have marked the trail there. I am actually sort of amazed that I picked this up last time I had been here.
		And of course, more hiking through this beautiful valley taking more pictures which more or less start to look similar. I love the huge granite rock formations jutting out of the green pine and changing aspen leaves. I almost found myself thinking that I could see the aspen leaves change color as I watched.
Around 2:00 or so, I came across the spot I had in my mind to camp at. I spent hours here in 2005 on my day hike. See the water coming out of the rock here too. I guess it is something nature likes as a design element in this area. This year, the spot was a bit different. The trees and vegetation made it harder to see across the creek, and there was nothing bridging over to the other side. But, the other side is where I wanted to camp, so I took off my boots, put on my sandals and waded across. The water was very cold, but I'm tough ... right? And so, I spent time setting up camp. Luckily, I got everything set up before the rain came. I spent a couple of hours in the the tent reading and napping. I love the peaceful sound of rain on the tent.
		The rain let up around supper time, so I had myself one of those yummy freeze-dried meals you can get from camping equipment retailers. They taste great after a day of hiking 15 miles. They probably don't in normal circumstances. Ate supper, relaxed, went back into the tent, read and listened to the rain come down even harder on the tent. Who could ask for anything better? As I fell asleep, I still had not decided if I would set up "base camp" here or continue on to try to complete the loop.
The next morning, my knee felt 100% better! I decided that was fate telling me that I should continue on the loop. Packing up the wet rain fly sort of sucked, but I used to backpack in Washington state, so it was certainly not the worst. I knew that I would have to gain almost 3,000 feet to make it to my goal of Lake Park. But, I was feeling good, and things were so beautiful, I knew I could do it. So, I climbed, and climbed. There was a bunch of up and down, and numerous switchbacks. It was quite difficult, but eventually, I made it up to McCurdy Park
		which was more of a slight incline for awhile. Looking at the map, I had expected this part to take a couple of hours. It took me more like 3, but I had all day. The picture above is my pack at the trail junction between McCurdy Park and Brookside trail. From this point, it was a nice slight decline to Lake Park Trail (where the real climbing was to begin). Right before I got to Lake Park Trail, I filled up my water bottles again in a nice little stream. I am glad I did.
Lake Park Trail is one of the most difficult climbs I have ever done with a full back pack on. Unfortunately, this is where my knee started acting up. I hiked. I rested. I hiked. I rested. Eventually, after another couple of hours, I reached the high point. Once again the picture to the right does not do the beauty justice (have I said that enough on this page yet?) And, going down (as always) hurt my knee worse than climbing up did. It took another hour to reach Lake Park, and it was an easy decision to set up camp rather than continue on.
		Lake park is at about 9,800 feet. There are a couple of small lakes and a huge boggy marshy area. Very beautiful. I've heard that elk like to hang out here in the fall, but I did not see or hear any. Getting water here is sort of hard, because you have to navigate the marshy area to one of the lakes. It wasn't too bad this time of year, but I expect it would have been nearly impossible in spring or early summer.
I had plenty of time to set out my rain fly, tent, and footprint to dry in the sun while I read and meditated. Eventually, I set up camp and really relaxed for the rest of the day. After dinner (freeze dried beef stew ... yum yum yum) I headed up the trail a bit and watched the sun go down while listening on my MP3 player to a couple of chapters of The Shack.
		When I woke up, I looked at a little thermometer I have. 32 degrees. Luckily, my water bottles had not frozen. I love sleeping through cold nights up in the mountains in my warm sleeping bag. It is nice to know that it works so well. Of course, packing up a tent with a frosty rain fly is almost as much fun as a soaking wet one. The frost on the ground was pretty, though (I will point out again that the camera does not do real life justice).
And I headed up the trail to go back down towards Hankins Pass (where I camped last year). My knee felt great again this morning. I'm sort of surprised that the knee felt so good every morning rather than tightening up and feeling worse. I'm extremely glad, though.
		The rest of the hike was pretty much uneventful. I filled up the water bottles once. Took a few pictures (none of which turned out as nice as the actual scene was) and just headed back down to the trail head.
So, this was the most physically challenging SheppyQuest I've done. I did not "find" myself or have any real insightful revelations about myself or life in general. My legs are sore this morning (the day after I got back). My knee feels ok. It is hard to estimate from the map because of so many switchbacks etc... but if I were to guess, I would say I hiked a little less than 15 miles on day one; about 10 miles on day two and maybe 8 miles on day 3. I probably climbed about 4 thousand feet (maybe more with all the downs after the ups). Y'all are probably sick of pictures of this area. I wonder where I'll go next year.