Mokelumne & Cheesecake

Backpack Trip Report

Last week I did a three day backpacking trip with two friends.

Great Expectations

When Doug and Peter put this trip together and invited me, I knew it would be special. A small group with two of the best hiking partners one could ask for.

Mokelumne Wilderness

This is in the Sierra Nevada and a place I had never heard of. It had been on Peter’s radar screen for a long time and he decided that now would be the time to explore it. Since I had never heard of it, I knew it would be a good destination. Probably remote and seldom visited. Perfect.

When we got to the ranger station we were told the last permit issued was two weeks earlier. More than perfect!

Doug (L) and Peter (R)

The Trip

Our plan was to hike to the bottom of a huge canyon where the North Fork of the Mokelumne lives. Rarely visited, we saw no one else on the trail. This also meant the trail was old, not maintained, and at times a gauntlet of blow-downs and brush. And with trails like this, the trail just disappears at times. Not difficult navigation, but there is pause at times to figure out where the trail is.

Where’s the trail?

 

Doug and Peter locating the trail.

 

Oh, oh. Might the trail be under this snow field?

 

Yes, the trail was under the snow, but we walked around it — however it did make for a nice picture.

 

Somewhere at the bottom is the North Fork of the Mokelumne River.

 

Peter is well known for his long thru hikes and Arctic adventures — to his friends he is famous for pulling out a cheesecake at camp to share.

 

 

Our awesome lunch site on day 1.

 

Night 2 campsite that is at the confluence of a magical stream and the North Fork of the Mokelumne River.

 

The magical stream.

 

Doug found a comfortable natural tub in the magical stream and after a nice soak spent time contemplating on a rock outcropping.

 

 

Lunch time among the flowers.

 

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