2003 Bull Run Lake Backpacking Trip - Day 1
(Friday, 05 September, 2003)

I woke up at the cabin at 8 and drove down through Arnold to pick up wilderness permits for Barry & I in Rockaway Pines. On the way back I had a tasty breakfast in Arnold and stopped by Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods for some last-minute fishing gear and advice (they recommended superbait or a gold lure - I already had the latter, but bought the former along with some swivels and small lead weights). I started up the road to the trailhead, arriving at Stanislaus Meadows at just before noon. I applied sunblock, geared up, and started hiking at 12:10.

This was to be a trip of firsts: my first outing with my new GoLite Gust backpack and Thermarest Z-Pad, my first backpacking trip using trail running shoes (Montrail Hurricane Ridge GTXs), my first time sleeping in a non-enclosed tent (the fastpack version of my Sierra Designs Clip 3 CD - just rain fly, poles, and ground cloth), and my first night by myself in the wilderness. I was a little nervous about things, but there was nothing to worry about as I walked down the rough 4WD road (although my car is 4WD, it doesn't have the clearance for rough roads) towards the true trailhead, at which I arrived at 12:22.

Stanislaus Meadows were very pretty, even with cows grazing in the second one. I hiked in clear skies with just a few puffy little clouds. After coming to a large'ish dry creek bed, I lost the trail and wound up a few hundred yards downstream before I realized I wasn't on the right trail. After some careful backtracking, I found where my trail crossed the creek bed (assisted by some strategically-placed forest service i-blazes). My new backpack was proving to be very comfortable (no doubt largely due to my loaded packweight being about 12lbs. lighter than the previous weekend!). Although I was initially a little worried about the lack of a sternum strap in the Gust, I was enjoying its absence and feeling that I could breathe easier without it.

The trail rose in fits and bursts past the creekbed crossing, sometimes steeply, and sometimes confusingly. Several times I had to stop to get my bearings and figure out where the trail actually went. Again, blazes in the trees pointed the way once I found them. There were some straggling wildflowers here (mainly sulphur flower and a lot of checkerbloom), but nothing like the previous weekend, likely due to this area's lower elevation. Just as I was starting to become concerned that I'd missed the junction with the Heiser Lake trail, I came to it. It had seemed to take an inordinately long amount of time to hike the 1.1 miles from the creek crossing to the junction, but it had really taken just over an hour to get here from where I parked (2.3 miles away), including my trail-finding stops, so I was making fine time. Still, each time I lost the trail I had visions of getting truly lost and missing my rendevous with Barry on Saturday morning. This was, of course, silly, as the trail wasn't that difficult to follow.

The trail climbed steadily, but not steeply from the junction, and in another 45 minutes I arrived at Bull Run Lake, which was, to my surprise, very pretty. My previous encounters with lakes in Carson-Iceberg is that most are either man-made or not scenic or both. That was definitely not the case here, however, with the lake surrounded on three sides by tall granite cliffs, and a lovely island in its middle. I searched for a good campsite and found one on the northwest side of the lake. Nearer the trail than I'd normally choose, but I expected little to no company in this lightly-used area. Two folks were camped a little ways west from me, but they were the only other people there. I dropped my pack at my tentative site and walked around the lake to make sure there weren't any better ones. I didn't see any, so I set about making camp.

The fastpack configuration of my tent was a bit of a pain to set up, as it had to be done from the inside, but that's not too big of a deal to save a couple pounds (it would be much easier with two people, which is what the tent was designed for in the first place). I realized I'd never done a bear hang and spent a minute racking my brain to recall how its done. I did remember, and did a half-assed hang at the edge of my camp (I wasn't too worried about bears in mid-afternoon). I was originally thinking of hiking out to Heiser Lake and climbing a ridge that supposedly gives an excellent view of Peep Sight Peak's Peep Sight, but dark clouds were looming, and I thought it a better idea to stay around so I could bundle up my stuff-that-must-not-get-wet (mainly my down sleeping bag) if it started really raining. I also had a hot spot on top of my left foot, caused by having the laces too tight on my new shoes.

In lieu of Heiser Lake, I hiked around the lake and found the use trail that I assumed led to Bull Run Peak and followed it for a ways to make sure it wasn't just a path to a campsite. It wasn't, and after climbing a couple hundred feet and passing a very toxic-looking mushroom, I returned, having no interest in bagging the peak in Tevas. I left a duck near where the trail left the lake so we could find it on Saturday. Back at camp I set up my rod and reel, tieing on just a weight to practice my casting. 30 minutes later I was satisfied that my new equipment was reasonable, and packed the fishing gear away (I couldn't have legally fished, as my fishing license was good only for Saturday and Sunday). I met my neighbors, Zack and Sarah, from nearby Arnold. They'd arrived on Thursday and were planning on leaving Saturday. I cooked up some Japanese Energy Soup (miso, minute rice, tuna, and seaweed), which was pretty good, although a little lacking in salt and thickness. Next time I'll add some salt and corn starch or something. After watching some beautiful alpenglow on the nearby mountainside, I went to bed at 7:30 for lack of any reason to stay up.

It may sound silly, but I found it a little scary sleeping by myself in a non-enclosed tent. Every little noise made me think a bear or something was coming to eat me :) Eventually I fell asleep although I woke numerous times from the howling wind and imagined munching sounds.

Trip Home

Next Day

• Day 1 - Stanislaus Meadow Trailhead to Bull Run Lake
• Day 2 - Bull Run Lake to Bull Run Peak (dayhike)
• Day 3 - Bull Run Lake to Stanislaus Meadow Trailhead

Other links:

• Summitpost.com's Bull Run Peak page (a little self-promotion here, as I made that page :)
• Stanislaus National Forest website
• Stanislaus National Forest permit information
• Google search for "bull run peak"