19 September 2017, Tuesday
The wind last night was fierce and the stars seemed to be fanned even brighter by it. At 8:40 pm the Big Dipper, looking even larger than usual, was on the ridge top directly across from us. Polaris was shining brightly to the north. At times, as we tried to sleep in the roaring of the wind, it seemed that we and our little orange tent would soon be sailing across the night sky. O contemplated how dangerous such a wind would be in these dry conditions if there were even a tiny spark somewhere nearby.
Nevertheless, we survived the night and the day gradually grows lighter this morning. It is very cold in the shadows of the valley. Not until almost 9 am does the sun peek over the ridge to the east. O and I jostle for position to take advantage of the bits of sunshine making it down through the pine boughs.
By 10:30 we are sufficiently warmed to begin our day hike into Hungry Packer Lake. We walk along the east shore of Dingleberry Lake, heading south. Our first challenge is crossing Dingleberry’s wide inlet stream by stepping along a curving row of conveniently arranged boulders.
We climb gradually, passing one backpacker with his dog. They are leaving after a cold and sleepless night. By this time we have shed all our extra layers in the warm Sierra sunshine. The wind is still blowing but a bit more gently than last night. We have brilliant blue and green views of Dingleberry behind us.
Soon we reach the trial junction. One branch climbs to Midnight Lake, tomorrow’s destination, and the other turns towards Hungry Packer Lake. We follow an alpine stream through purple, yellow and red flowered meadows, passing imposing granite walls as we go.
From the ridge we have climbed we can see jewel-like alpine lakes below, while ahead are the ramparts of the cols, still with snow pack, even in late September. Adding to our delight at the stunning scenery two black tailed deer cross our path as we walk. We eventually lose the trail on expansive slabs of granite, cross a stream, and find ourselves next to a green-blue lake that we assume is Hungry Packer. There is a green tent nestled among some trees on the eastern shore. O and I break out our lunch and sit down to enjoy the meadow and the sunshine. O also takes out his little GPS and the map, only to discover we are picnicking by Sailor Lake, not Hungry Packer.
We determine there is enough time left to try to reach Hungry Packer. We recross the little stream, return across the broad granite slope and soon encounter a very obvious trail heading south. We follow a bounding stream and finally arrive at the outlet of Hungry Packer. Across the outlet we can see that the trail continues. We pick our way carefully across some boulders and a log, then up a steep sided rock, using hands and feet to climb. Soon we are safely across. Hungry Packer is a jewel of a lake. We have even reached a bit of snow pack here. The col rises above with snowpack and glacier clinging to the steep rock. We have fun taking some photos of ourselves with the camera set on timer.
By now it is 2 pm, time to return to camp. As we leave the lake we meet three young men on their way in. They are the campers at Sailor Lake.
Our return trip goes smoothly. The path is much easier to follow going back downhill. Along our way we are entertained by flocks of juncos and jays and the occasional ground squirrel. We finish our approximately 6 mile hike reaching our camp by 4 pm. We fetch water from the lake below. O begins cooking our tamale pie while I filter drinking water. At 4:50 pm, the sun sinks behind the peak across the valley and the temperature drops precipitously. We bundle up in our puffy jackets and enjoy dinner, followed by brownies. I am fairly certain we are alone on the lake tonight.