Seven Gables

This past weekend, we went backpacking again. This time it was above Edison Lake which is on the Fresno side of the Sierras. Chase wanted to climb Seven Gables Mountains, which is really far back in the mountains, so far back that he could see both Western and Eastern Sierra mountains from the top of Seven Gables. The trail consisted of eight miles up a hill so steep in areas that we were walking on steps cut out of the stone, then down to the John Muir Trail for three miles (our second time that we have been on the JMT this year), then up and over another four or five miles to a little unnamed lake in the Seven Gables Lakes chain so that Chase could climb his mountain.

Because it was such a long trip (four days and over 30 miles), I will just mention the highlights of each day including pictures.

Day one: Hiking the long way up and then down again to the JMT. We followed the Bear River for the first four or five miles and every so often, there would be pools in the river that had sand at the bottom of them and were so clear that we could see everything, including fish in them. The water was freezing, but I was tempted to swim in them on the last day. We camped about 1.7 miles from the trail that left the JMT and went up to the small canyon that was our ultimate goal. The mosquitoes were absolutely horrendous on the JMT. The snow had just barely melted and there were thousands of them. They would all swarm around me (thanks dad) and I ended up with more than a hundred bites.
Day Two: Within the very first hour of us hiking on Friday, we had to do a stream crossing, which is not this picture, but one of the pictures lower down. We had to take off our shoes and wade across because the bridge went out. There was not a distinct trail to our little unnamed lake, so we had to boulder hop through boulder fields and cross many streams like this one. Chase jumped across with our backpacks and then caught us on the other side (did I mention that Chase's mom Judy was with us for this trip?)
That night we camped next to the little unnamed lake looking up at Seven Gables (it is on the far right of the picture above. The sunset that night was absolutely incredible. I stayed in the tent because of the mosquitoes, but Chase got some breathtaking pictures of the red and orange night sky.
Day Three: Chase woke up at 5:50 to climb his mountain. The boulder in the middle of the picture is the very top of the mountain, Chase did not get on it. The lake to the left of the picture is Vee Lake, where Chase originally wanted to go. Once we got to the unnamed lake, Chase realized that Vee Lake is actually up a hill opposite of Seven Gables, so we did not go there. He got to the top at 8:10 and reached camp again at 10:10 after spending twenty minutes on top taking pictures and eating breakfast.
The clouds were incredible on day three. The picture above is Seven Gables. Chase went up the snow shoot in between the two really pointy mountains. the mountain on left is the top.
Also on Day three: After Chase rested for an hour or so at base camp, we packed everything up to start down the trail again. We did four separate creek crossings including one that I threw my shoe and Chase had to rescue it. The one above is the creek crossing on the JMT. Chase didn't roll up his pants because they dried so fast. That night we camped by the Bear river before going up the hill that took almost the entire first day to go up. Chase took a dip in the Bear River, and I took a video of it, but I cannot figure out how to turn the video. oh well
Day Four: Judy and I were both exhausted and I was one big mosquito bite. We met tons of people going up the hill to the JMT. Judy and I kept asking Chase, "are we close to the car yet?". After reaching the car, Judy wanted to go for a dip in Edison Lake. While she was swimming, I tried to use the outhouse, but it smelled really bad. Since there was no one around, I did my business behind a log that was up a little hill. I was hidden from sight, but right when I was done, a car pulled up. I popped out from behind the log (they could see me at this point) and wandered down the lake side nonchalantly trying to act like nothing was happening. I was so embarrassed. I told Chase about it and he laughed for ten minutes.

Hopefully you enjoyed my little discourse. By the way, does anyone else hate the way blogger uploads pictures?