Topic: More Trinity Alps hiking pics!

[kneedownnate]

Yea I know, pretty much nobody but me really cares, but here goes anyway.  I started out at the x to the right with the intent of hiking to the other two x's so I could fish a couple more lakes I'd never been to in the alps.  My shitty pedometer works when it wants to so I can't say how far I actually hiked before checking the map, but I got up to the little red line before I sat down, checked the map and  when I realised I DID need to take the trail toward bowerman meadows    I knew the trail branched off at some point, but the split for the meadows just seemed too early.

And here's the signs for not feeding the animals (from my "almost stepped no a deer" thread) and the new warning sign for possible fires from lightning strikes.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

More pics to come, site won't let me load any right now. 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Let's try this again... it works!  This is just some of the many trees which had either fallen or been hit by lightning.  I've never seen so many shattered trees!

[kneedownnate [OP]]

First is one of the few times when I fooled myself by thinking "there's probably a lake just over that ridge"    Any time I saw what looked like a shelf I thought that.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

First is the first sign of snow not too far up the trail, in frickin july!  Second pic was a fairly wide swath of snow I had to cross because it covered the trail.  There were creeks running under it so I had to walk with caution in some spots!  The red snow had me thinking maybe they'd dropped fire retardent or something, but there were no signs of fire. 

[kneedownnate [OP]]

This pic shows why I want to punch some forest service employees in the mouth!  Stairs?!  There are not stairs in the alps naturally, but these asshats seem to think it's funny to build stairs on the trails for no fawkin reason.  Stairs and short legs don't mix well, and these are a huge part of why I can't hike some alps trails.  These things KILL my knees and hips very fast 

[abnormaltoy]

Wow, gorgeous country. Do you...hike with someone and are you armed?

[kneedownnate [OP]]

The road which leads to this trail dumps out almost right across the highway from another that leads down to trinity lake.  On the way there's this massive barn.  I stopped to snap a pic and noticed there was a little sign on it saying to enjoy but respect your history and realised this was more than just some random old barn.  I won't say where, but I bet stocker knows where this is!

I tried getting a decent shot with the toy next to it so you could see just how big this damn thing is!  Somebody had just cut the grass surrounding it just before I got there, still smelled fresh.  Pretty neat way to spend a few minutes!  You could go in underneath it but the top section was locked, though I could stick the camera in and snap a few pics of the inside.  It was interesting to see the very rought cut lumber underneath!

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Last two are of a small shack along the road to the barn.  I'm thinking it's a left over from the same era as the barn, probably dating back to the gold rush years.

Yea, I hike alone and have 2 arms.... right and left!  I'd love to have, and would be more comfortable sometimes, with a competent sidearm, but they'z expensive.  Someday    I have several friends who keep saying they want to go hiking with me, but if our schedules ever mesh up they always flake!  As bad of shape as I'm in, most of them are in worse shape and would have issues either going the distance or keeping pace, and I don't like slowing down or stopping for breaks.  It's just wasteful! 

It's a great way to get away from people, even though I do see other hikers sometimes.  I only saw one on my way out on this trail though, which was a nice change from the many, many I saw on my last hike!

[DTB]

The red snow had me thinking maybe they'd dropped fire retardent or something, but there were no signs of fire. 

Its a type of algae that grows on the snow....

Cool pics ! Thanks for sharing

[Stocker]

Great pics as usual, Nate!  It's been way more years than I care to admit, but yeah, I know that barn!  Glad to see the FS did some good and fixed the roof.  Seeing all that down wood makes my trigger throttle finger real itchy -- too bad it's destined to lie there and slowly rot away.   

[unclejpl4x4]

if it's on the ground it's free game  thats my view .....................

nice pics bro

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Thanks.  Within the wilderness boundaries you can't drive a motor vehicle or use anything other than a hand saw, but I started wondering if you could have a mule drag it out for you  :light:  You could take a hand saw of some sort and cut up some rounds for camp fire wood, but all the good wood is at the lower elevations and you don't see much lumber around a lot of the lakes.  What you do see usually is smaller scraggly trees.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Its a type of algae that grows on the snow....

I knew I'd heard what it was before, I just couldn't remember for the life of me!  I kinda thought it might be something to do wth the rocks sluffing off as the snow melted, but I guess the algae thing makes sense when you're in an area that has snow half the year.

[DTB]

Copied from Wiki>>>>>

Watermelon snow, also called snow algae, is snow that is reddish or pink in color, with the slight scent of a fresh watermelon. This type of snow is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions worldwide, such as the Sierra Nevada of California. Here, at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet (3,000–3,600 m), the temperature is cold throughout the year, and so the snow has lingered from winter storms. Compressing the snow by stepping on it or making snowballs leaves it looking red. Walking on watermelon snow often results in getting bright red soles and pinkish pant cuffs.

Watermelon snow is caused by the presence mainly of Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of green algae containing a secondary red carotenoid pigment (astaxanthin) in addition to chlorophyll. Unlike most species of fresh-water algae, it is cryophilic (cold-loving) and thrives in freezing water.[1] Its specific epithet, nivalis, is from Latin and refers to snow.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon_snow

[Stocker]

Interesting -- I never woulda guessed!  Now I can stop paying attention today, because I have already learned something...   

[mudguts]

Those are some good pics. We drove through that neck of the woods(kinda) the last weekend of June. When we drove through, visibility was about nothing from the fires. We could'nt even see Mt Shasta from I-5. It looks like it's cleared up .

  Seeing all that down wood makes my trigger throttle finger real itchy -- too bad it's destined to lie there and slowly rot away.  

x2 I'd like to bury Ol' Mac in some of that.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

The smoke hadn't cleared out, I was above it!  I forgot to snap a pic of it, but if you've ever been high up in the mountains and looked down at the thick fog blanket in the valley, that's what this looked like.