June 29th Short of Woody Pass to Coney Basin

Coney Basin

I went to bed around 6:30 yesterday when it was still light out and woke at first light. Don't remember a thing, so I must have slept like a log. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't have as much stiffness and soreness as I had anticipated. The day continued much as it had ended yesterday, leapfrogging areas of snow and then finding the trail on the other side. Although troublesome, it wasn't nearly as bad as the day before. After a short time, I was at Woody Pass where a valley opened up before me in a sweeping vista and, oh ecstasy, switchbacks leading down to lower elevation, mostly snow free. Bonus, the sun was starting to come out. Ate a breakfast of apple and cinammon granola beneath what I thought was Holman Peak midst some exposed rock near a gurgling, meltwater stream. The powdered milk doesn't seem to mix real well with the icy water. No matter how hard I stir, the best I can do is end up with small clumps of powder instead of bigger ones. Since it was all down hill I put it in cruise control passing through forested areas and then alpine meadows, the most beautiful of which had a grove of small aspen, one of my favorite trees with the white of the trunk and branches and the light green of its rustling leaves. I continued this way for some time along the canyon creek until it dawned on me that I should now be ascending not descending. The trail I was on was leading me further down the valley, but I saw no trail like this on my map. I needed a trail that led to the east to Holman Pass. Had I missed it? I backtracked all the way to where I had had breakfast but still saw no sign of a trail leading to where I believed I needed to go. Knowing my hiking speed of between 2-3 miles per hour and looking at points on the map, I reached the place where I thought the trail should be and nothing. How extremely frustrating to lose the trail where there is NO snow! There is supposed to be a gap, but all I could see were the continuing side walls of the canyon. I thought about bushwacking but didn't want to start wandering off trail in this isolated area, especially since I'd seen no other single person in two days, plus I had a sneeking suspicion that my compass was off. As discretion is the better part of valor, I made the difficult decision to return to Manning Park and try to hook up with some other Sobo hikers. Drat! With the sun setting I tried to find a bit of level ground on which to make camp. All I could find was a relatively flat space near the foot of some pines just big enough for my Sleeping bag and pad. Because there wasn't a cloud in the sky, I decided to cowboy camp.

Aspen Grove