Saddlebag Lake Trip II
Dale Matson
Click On Photographs To Enlarge
Ok, so why did I do most of this trip again? It only added one mile! My original goal on the first hike was Helen Lake. My late mother’s name was Helen. The problem is there is a considerable drop from Odell Lake to Helen and the trail was snow covered with snow the first time. A young couple came from that direction and said they had difficulty getting up the hill. I was more worried about sliding down it!
So, I waited and decided to do the hike to Helen Lake with less snow yesterday. In the meantime, a fire broke out in Yosemite and closed the Highway 41 entrance I usually take in the summer. This means that I still headed up Highway 41 from Fresno but turned on Highway 49 and headed to Mariposa and picked up 140 into the park. Even with the two Bailey Bridges over the Merced River that are one way, I still got to the entrance in plenty of time. There is as of this writing, road construction on 120 from Olmstead Point to Tuolumne Meadows and I had to endure three separate one lane “follow me” brigades. I stayed in Mammoth Last night, got to the park at 2:30 am this morning and got home in 3 ¾ hours! There was smoke the whole way yesterday but none after Yosemite, which was good for photos.
Yesterday was hot in Fresno 105 degrees and even at 10,000’ the temperature was 78 degrees when I finished. The trail down to Helen Lake was loose shale, steep and along the edge of a slope. Be careful!
Helen Lake receives water from Shamrock Lake to the West with a nice waterfall into the lake. It also receives water from Odell Lake to the South. The outflow from Helen Lake is Mill Creek and eventually descends to form Lundy Lake.
There is also the northernmost group of endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep in the area and I took binoculars to no avail.
If you will note on the map, my route was 7.5 miles. If you do the loop without the ferry (I don’t believe it is running in any form) It will be about a 15-mile hike.
I took these photos with my Sony A7C, 85mm 1.8 and 16-35mm lenses.
No comments:
Post a Comment