Mokelumne Peak
17 June 2017
‘Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off — then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.’ –Opening Lines (Moby Dick)
As I feared, in recent weeks I had fallen into doldrums with my PE exams having come and gone. For months the damn things gave me something important to do. Now I spend my free time watching Jeopardy, eating hummus, sweating uncontrollably, and reading On The Road one page at a time. Nothing to complain about but it was time for a change. A big long hike to celebrate the imminent summer solstice…I needed a peak that would take a long ass day to bag in the purest possible style. Mokelumne Peak from Plasse’s Resort at Silver Lake would fit the bill nicely.
1) Have you verified its structural integrity, either visually or by probing?,
2) Are you prepared to deal should you unexpectedly plunge through the bridge?, and
3) What is your favorite color?
With no apparent trails in the region, sure to be swollen streams, transient lakes, unknown snow coverage, and a lengthy approach this promised to be a real sufferfest. As they say, Jam On. An inauspicious start was had as I failed to locate the footbridge crossing the creek at the resort. However, a fallen tree did just fine. After negotiating no small amount of deadfall and thick manzanita, I came to the head of Hidden Lake Valley and was flabbergasted to find the slopes plastered in snow. A survey of the backcountry from the highway belies the true extent of the snowpack, as deep drifts linger in the unseen shaded aspects and pine forests. Indeed the head of the valley was north facing.
I spent nearly the entire day in crampons so as to gain purchase on the ‘sun cup hell’ terrain. Much of the hike was passed deliberating whether sun cup hell or talus and dry undergrowth were more conducive to cross country travel. In the end I came to regard the steep drifts and melted out wells surrounding the trees as the greater nuisance. The drifts forced a few very steep kicks up and down to surmount, and the repetitive movement nearly broke my poor old legs as the day wore on. Not to mention the constant ankle rolling into, around, every which way over the sun cups.
But with adversity comes appreciation. The backcountry was truly rugged and wild after the historic snows of Winter 2016-17. ‘Spontaneous tarn’ seemed a reasonable addition to the topographic map. Angry little mountain streams serenaded the senses with their ever-present gurgling. A grove of enormous redwoods appeared as a mystical harkening to older times. And the snow-capped summit ridge transported me to the great Himalaya (at least in my over-active imagination). The summit register was missing, but a benchmark provided assurance I had climbed the correct peak!
One of the most rewarding aspects of the hike was the chance to practice my topo-compass-altimeter navigation skills. I did quite well and only had a few slip ups. The first cost me a considerable amount of time as in my increasingly fatigued condition on the approach, I naturally stumbled down the fall line toward the west side of the peak’s northeast ridge. The terrain became extremely tedious to negotiate as the foliage increased exponentially around the prodigious quantity of water flowing into the valley. This did lead to the chance encounter with the grove of redwoods, so all was not lost so to speak. The second came during the return voyage. I was so intent on avoiding a loss of elevation that I followed the ridge along the axis of the peak’s northeast ridge all the way to peak 8502, which appeared to be composed of dark volcanic rock. Some confusion ensued as I was forced to make a sharp western dogleg back to Hidden Lake Valley. After all that I emerged from the lower forests at the southern shore of Silver Lake, having overshot my car at the southern end of Plasse’s Resort by about a quarter mile. Not too bad, right?!
Postscript. I am very much indebted to the nice family vacationing at their cabin near the resort. After chatting for a while by Silver Lake as the sun was setting, I inquired as to where I could get a satisfying hot meal in the area. They noted that all the local joints were likely to be closed and promptly invited me to enjoy some brisket around the campfire at their cabin! Awesome! It was a fine way to end the day and I coarsely expressed my utmost gratitude with a mouth full of food.
