A Forgotten Wrangler Camp

There seems to be a time in the dim past when the Forest Service actually designated camps for packers. A couple of years ago I set out to visit Cecil Lake in the headwaters drainage of Fish creek. The Topo showed no trail, but when I got there, I discovered a signed use trail that lead to this designated site. These signs were several paces up the use trial on the drainage creek.





The camp was about a mile below Cecil, and seems have been completely forgotten about and showed no signs of use by packers for several years judging from the lack of horse manure and the materials they used for their sign posts. More like a ghost camp now.

No doubt the Wrangler and his guests day hiked up to Cecil to fish for the Rainbows and enjoy the views, then returned to the camp below treeline to enjoy all the amenities of the Wrangler camp life style.

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." Martin Buber

Goodbye Larry

The reason this picture remarkable is because of this photo taken on top of Williamson just a little over 3 months before Larry's last trip. He loved his father and was proud to hear his song in him:

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OVERDUE HIKER
LAWRENCE (LARRY) CONN

     

      The search for Larry has ended without finding a trace of him. This is not a surprise because he preferred to camp and hike off trail that included visiting remote alpine locations. Winter will really kick into gear this week in the Sierra so any private effort to locate him will have to wait until the next summer season. I suspect many of us will dedicated their entire season to finding him.

Soloist Anonymous, a Trip Report

I love to go solo backpacking. It doesn't have to be the Sierra, the addiction is not location dependent, but the John Muir Wilderness is always first on the list.



For the soloist, the hours and miles melt away, always taking the time to look back and admire where you have been just hours earlier.

Taboose from Bench Lake


One reason that this habit is so hard to kick is because I have gotten very selfish in my old age, and why not? I deserve a little peace and freedom to leave the trail on a whim and visit nameless lakes.

Some nameless lakes below Stripped Mountain





When you are solo, you know when the fish will take a fly. It's your choice, Fish or bag a peak?



I have also gotten very good at it, with my pack weight down to the UL level for 5 days with a bear can, a strong heart and work ethic. I am an old billy goat with no fear and a strong desire to roam the wild places.



A UL breakfast


I can wake up and daydream for hours or just lay there and soak in the views and watch the sun slow light up the peaks.

Somewhere on the east side of Taboose


But I've gotta kick it, because the family reads the news, and they read all the stories about missing hikers and SAR rescue and recovery missions and now they are prepared to put me in chains and throw away the keys to the car. They are right, this addiction could be the end of me. I can play by all the rules, and have all the right electronic monitoring gadgets and gear, but one misguided step can be the end of bliss, and the beginning of misery or the end. So what to do?

Dream on, or lay low and let it pass? Maybe reinvent the soloist concept? Some sort of hybrid approach maybe. It's the end of the season now so there is plenty of time to think about it and start reinventing.


Thanks for listening, I feel better now.



Axel

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." Martin Buber

freestone