Backpack Section
Loma Prieta Chapter
Sierra Club
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Backpack Section |
Chain Lakes and Breeze Lake Trip Leader: Matt Hahne The recipe for a perfect trip; clear skies, moderate temperatures and no one else in sight. No one would have expected 45 - 70 degree temperatures with absolutely clear skies in October and obviously no one did as there were only two of us taking the chance. We began Saturday morning in the Sierra National Forest at the Chiquito Pass trail head, 3 miles south of the Yosemite boundary northeast of Oakhurst. We spent Friday night in the Chiquito campground a few miles away and it was relatively quiet as drive -in campgrounds go but it did feature a particularly bright episode. I awoke after midnight and thought someone was expecting E.T. to land as there were numerous Coleman lanterns illuminated less than 50 yards away making the campground look like a scene from Spielberg. While we were having breakfast the next morning, a hunter appeared across the creek and wandered by with a scoped rifle over his shoulder. I felt better knowing that I was safe from the chipmunks and squirrels overrunning our site. Needless to say we didn't see much wildlife that morning until crossing the Yosemite boundary. The first day was an moderate 7 mile, 2100' gain. We took it easy and reached the first of the Chain Lakes at 2 :30 PM. The only excitement worth mention on the way up was a rare, unauthorized sonic boom courtesy of a hot dog jet jockey bound for some test range to the east I would guess. The lakes were low and in some spots, marshy or even dry. Very little water was spilling over into the creeks so the only water available was from the lakes themselves. Most creeks we crossed were dry or contained stagnant pools. There was no visible snow on any of the mountains to the east - Gale,Sing and Madera Peaks. We worked our way past two large and several smaller lakes to reach the highest of the Chain Lakes at 9300' We passed only one other campsite occupied but saw no one in attendance. The only other humans seen on the trip appeared about 4 :30PM shortly after setting up camp near the highest lake. A father and his 5 year old son had hiked in for the night. Needless to say, dad was carrying everything but the boy appeared remarkably active and happy after the long hike. The sun and light were gone by 7 :00 PM and so were we, out for the next 12 hours. We woke to a surprisingly moderate 45 degree Sunday morning and soon the sun crested the ridges to the east. We headed off -trail, north out of the Chain Lakes basin, our objective to reach Breeze Lake by way of Gale Peak. Matt located a chute he had ascended 12 years ago and we scrambled up to a notch just over 10,000' which looked down at Breeze Lake and across to Fernandez Pass. It was only 11 :00 AM so we left our packs and traversed east across the face of Gale Peak, not quite reaching the 10,600' summit. We stopped short at a saddle along a ridge which divided Yosemite from the Ansel Adams Wilderness looking down over Shirley Lake. To our east we could clearly see Mt. Ritter and the Minarets of the Ritter Range. Only a few fingers of snow could still be seen near the 13,100' summit of Mt.. Ritter. We retrieved our packs and after lunch descended the boulder field to Breeze Lake. After working our way around the north side we ended the day early camping along the west shore at 2 :30 PM. Matt used the afternoon to explore an off trail route back to the Chain Lakes trail and also to the Fernandez Pass trail which connects Breeze Lake to the main north /south route which we would take out. There was not a soul to be seen for the rest of the trip. The weather remained remarkable except for a wind that came up during the night which persisted through breakfast Monday morning....I'm guessing that Breeze Lake was justifiably named. Monday morning we took off cross country crossing the same ridge as the day before but at a lower elevation, eventually intersecting the Chain Lakes trail near the lowest lake. The seven mile descent out was uneventful and we slowed as the temperatures rose as we neared the 7000' level and trail head. Matt forgot a change of clothes but I don't think the restaurant in Los Banos was going to turn us away. Ok, it can snow now. |