Thomas Mountain Music

Last night a bear came early in the evening, however, we were able to successfully scare him off. Actually, Tim just zipped his tent door open and off he went. CHICKEN BEAR! This is the day ladies will hike the nine miles out and back to the car, and home. Tom, Tim, and Jake will get an early 8:30 a.m. start on their way to Yosemite. Up the side of the mountain through the trees from our favorite Island campsite, about 200 yards, lies the John Muir trail. While hiking over Island Pass (10,800′), the trail meanders down to Rush Creek. It was another warm and amazing day. We had one water break and a leisurely 40-min lunch stop on magnificent Rush Creek, and then on to Donahue Pass. By 1:30 P.M., we happily reached the summit.

On top of the pass, June Mountain ski area, San Joaquin Ridge, and Mammoth Mountain could be seen, as well as the very tip of Mt. Banner. What a GREAT VIEW!

The decent to Tuolumne and Lyell canyon was hair-raising, billy goat STEEP and rocky! Once down to the meadow and the meandering stream it was flat and grassy, getting already brown from the warm summer that was fast slipping away. Cup o’ soup, beef stew, as well as a piece of sourdough bread from our friends at Thousand Island, filled our bellies quite nicely. Thank you! Jake caught a “nice mess” (rather like a “pinch of salt is a mess of fish”) of native bows in the stream. We were in our tents by 7:30 with sore feet and visions of CHEEZEBURGERS, French fries, and one of those sodas you can dive into and drink your way out of, from the diner in Tuolomne the next day.

” LITTLE IS TO BE LEARNED IN CONFUSED , HURRIED TOURIST TRIPS , SPENDING ONLY A POOR NOISY HOUR IN A BRANDED GROVE WITH A GUIDE. YOU SHOULD GO LOOKING AND LISTENING ALONE ON WALKS THROUGH THE WILD FORESTS AND GROVES IN ALL SEASONS OF THE YEARS” John Muir

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Native Americans: For at least 2,000 years, Indian people visited the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite National Park. Some primarily in the summer months, and some relocate to the high country for summer hunting and gathering, others utilize Tuolumne Meadows as a stop on the trade rout east. Items such as acorns, baskets, and beads were exchanged by western slope Miwoks for obsidian, pine nuts, moth larvae, fly pupae, and salt from the east side Monos.

Early Exploration: The first pioneer visitors to Tuolumne Meadows were prospectors and adventurers. In 1860, a group of miners staked a claim near Tioga pass, and in 1863, the Whitney survey party established a camp at Tuolumne and began to explore and map the area. Many of the peaks and landmarks in the region were named by the group. Ore from the Tioga Mine was found to be rich in silver some fifteen years later, and a flurry of mining activity occurred along Yosemite’s eastern edge well into the 1880′s. Mines were worked in such locations as Bennettville, Mt. Dana, Lundy Canyon, and Mono Pass.

John Muir: Explorer, naturalist, amateur geologist, and leader of the conservation movement in the United States, was born in Scotland in 1833, and spent his boyhood in Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin, wandered in Canada, the South, Cuba, then found his way to his promised land in California. His abiding concern throughout most of his adult life was the preservation of the country’s parks and forests. Although his writings belong to geology and glaciology as much as it does to conservation literature, the work which consumed most of his energies was the campaign he waged for Federal action to establish a system of National Parks and Forest Reserves. Famous for his nature writing and his work in conservation, he spent the summer of 1869 as a shepherd in and around Tuolumne Meadows. His experiences then and during several years of residence in the Yosemite Valley led him to push for the establishment of Yosemite National Park. A dream that was realized in 1890. He died on Christmas Eve, 1914.

The Tioga Road: Originally known as the Great Sierra Wagon Road, this road across Yosemite’s high country was built during 1882 and 1883 to provide access to the Tioga area mines. Shortly after the road was completed, however, mining activities ceased in the Yosemite region. The route was operated as a private toll road for a number of years, while it’s condition worsened and worsened. Much effort was made in government attempts to purchase the Tioga road , but no appropriations ever were made for that purpose. Finally, in 1915, Stephen T. Mather purchased the road for $15,500.00 and donated it to the federal government. Extensive repairs to the road were made during the 1920′s and 1930′s, and long sections were paved. In 1961, a project to realign and completely pave the Tioga Road was completed.

Geology: Tuolumne Meadows is a great place to see how ancient glaciers changed and shaped the landscape. Glacial action eroded steep-walled canyons to create U-shaped valleys (Lyell fork of the Tuolumne river), rounded domes (Lembert Dome), and polished many rock surfaces in the region. Glaciers left boulders, called erratics, here and there throughout the area as they receded. Ridged deposits of rocks and other debris, called moraines, mark the outer boundaries of the glaciers and can be spotted along the Tioga Road between Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass.

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An early morning fishing jaunt produced no fish. Zero. Zip. Nada. However, there are two activities when you talk about fishing and only the “true” diehard angler will understand that the fishing is ALWAYS good, but sometimes the “catching” is a little slow! Just to be out in God’s amazingly gorgeous creation is enough.

Scrambled eggs bandito for breakfast, a day hike to Ruby and Emerald, as well as another swim was on the agenda. Lacy tried to race me out to the middle of the lake to fetch my pocket pillow she thought was a funny looking bone. She beat me to it, but I was able to ward her off and save the day! We had three 12-13″ rainbows cleaned and sitting in the frying pan not three feet from the lake and not more than a few minutes after they were caught. They were cooked and eaten, making outstanding “pink meat” appetizers for all! Chili Mack on English muffin bread was in order for lunch.

We had Mountain House beef stroganoff, raspberry crumble and apple cider for dinner. Another GREAT campfire at night. We were able to get most of the food in a bear can and from now on, bear cans it is, other wise you don’t sleep much trying to listen for the bear, looking at your watch every stinkin’ hour. There are no worries with the bear can.

Gina and Mary are both quite glad that they are hiking out tomorrow. They will have a shower, soft bed, and some fine dining at Matsu’s while we continue to eat “Kibbles and bits.”

Tim, Tom and Jake will press on over Donahue pass, on to Tuolumne Meadows and the have some CHEEZBURGERS! The store and grill there are a popular place for backpackers to fuel up!

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At first light, Mary and Gina went looking for the remains of what the bear ate last night. So begins the debate; bear cans or hanging food in trees. Bear cans are a “slam dunk,” because a bear can not pick it up or bite into it. The downside is they feel like they weigh 50 pounds EMPTY, not really, only that does add some weight to the old pack. There are several ways to hang food in a tree. Find a tree limb about 50 feet in the air, and throw a rope over it with a rock attached. There is a great product out called a “bear bag” which is a bag with a rope attached that you can put a rock into to throw the rope over the tree limb and hoist the bag way up high and tie the rope off on a tree. The problem with this method is the bear (smart bear) will simply swipe its paw over the rope and down comes the food, like our method that failed. The most efficient “hanging” technique is the counter balance technique. Here you use TWO bags of equal weight and with a rope slung over a branch you secure each bag so it is hanging high enough in mid-air that a bear would not reach it. Here you need a stick or a fly rod case to push the bags in place even though it is heavy. The bear can is the ever-popular method and in some places required by law.

After a scrumptious pancake breakfast, a day hike to Garnet Lake was on the agenda. Fishing at Emerald and ruby lakes on the way, as well as a refreshing swim, produced some nice rainbow trout, Tim’s being the longest at 13″. Lunch was at the bridge at Garnet Lake, as well as some really good fly-fishing in the pools below the bridge. Great campfire and a BEARLESS night of sleep blissful sleep.

Thousand Island flowers: Sneeze weed, Indian Paint brush and fire weed.

“… WHEN THE DIVINE BALANCED BEAUTY OF THE TREES AND FLOWERS SEEMEDTO BE REFLECTED AND DOUBLED BY ALL THE ONLOOKING ROCKS AND STREAMS AS THOUGH THEY WERE MIRRORS , WHILE THEY IN TURN WERE MIRORED IN EVERY GARDEN AND GROVE.”

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Thankfully, there were no bears the first night. Having two bear cans, we had to string two sacks of food in a tree. At about 7a.m., I was loudly awakened by Jake who was sooooooooo excited to have already caught 3 nice sized natural trout (for the Sierra back country lakes 12″ to 15″ is a big fish) on a gold #0 Mepps spinner (made in France and absolutely THE BEST trout lure ever) in the lake. After a breakfast of hash browns and eggs, I proceeded to give Jacob his first fly fishing lesson. The best area for this is where the lake empties out into small creeks before catching up to the San Joaquin River. There are all kinds of little waterfalls and fishing holes as the creek narrows and widens along its merry way. He caught several on his first attempt, one a pretty colored rainbow about 8″ long. I never have seen a more natural cast from a beginner, and one who was eager to listen and learn.

Top Raman for lunch (never tasted soooo good) and a really nice warm solar shower, in the buff, in the middle of the forest, followed by a really nice peaceful nap. Dinner was my favorite camp dinner, spaghetti. You always get tons to eat with spaghetti because you ALWAYS fix more than everyone can eat! Camping just under 10,000, feet we were able to enjoy campfires each night. Next, we were sitting around sharing fishing and camping stories, and plenty there were since the Schemenauer’s and O’denings have been having outings together for many years. Off to bed to be rudely awakened by the thud of one of our stuff sacks hitting the ground and Tim yelling,” BEAR!” We were very slow. By the time we bolted out of our tents, the bear had drug the stuffed sack off, oh well! The black bear that inhabit the Sierra Nevada are easily scared off, IF YOU CAN HEAR THEM, they are REALLY sneaky and good at their jobs and most often are very successful at their “food hunting antics!” The great thing about the favorite campsite at this lake is that you can have open fires. There is a great fire ring and plenty of dead wood to burn. Another advantage, we can burn most of our trash, otherwise we would have to haul it out. It is against the law to have open fires above the 10,000-foot level. Above this level there are few if any trees, and brush is scarce. The forest service does not want what vegetation there is to be destroyed.

” ….A WILDERNESS OF CRUMBLING SPIRES AND BATTLEMENTS , BUILT TOGETHER IN BEWILDERING COMBINATIONS , AND GLAZED IN MANY PLACES WITH A THIN COATING OF ICE…”

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So Monday, August 14th, we were on the High Trail to Thousand Island Lake by 7:30 in the morning, a nice early start. It amazes me how many people we see take out in the hottest part of the day! The High Trail is quite steep at first, but soon settles in to nice switch backs (THANK GOD FOR SWITCH BACKS!) The switchbacks then become a continuous traverse across San Joaquin Ridge, a very enjoyable hike and beautiful with the knee-high wildflowers at the peak of the season.

About an hour and a half up the trail Jake looks at my fly rod case securely fashioned to my pack and says, ” MY FLY ROD!” I left it strapped to the roof of the car back at the trailhead. ” Oh great!” exclaims father Tim. Now the big decision, should we go on without it, or go back to the trailhead and retrieve it. The latter was the obvious choice especially since Young Jake’s new fly rod was his FIRST, and he was looking forward to learning some fly casting techniques from Tom, who is not a master, but an accomplished fly fisherman. So not to let his son be doomed to spinning gear, it was decided that Tim and Jake would shed their packs and go fetch the fly rod (SO MUCH FOR THE NICE EARLY START!). Tom, Mary, Gina, and the fishing yellow lab and local Mammoth resident, ” Lacy,” would get an unexpected hour and a half rest. So out with the cripple creek chairs it was. After bathing in the sun for which seemed ages, I hear Tim coming up the trail saying, “Wer Heg-Ah-we?”, pronounced ” WERHEG AAAAAAAAAAHWEEE.” This is said between us when we are lost, or take the wrong trail, or forgot something at the trailhead, or when any other obscure thing happens out in the wilderness that all we can do is laugh at. This little euphemism is short for, ” Where the heck are we?” When we were in youth work together with kids on the trail we could say this and nobody knew what we were talking about, and we got a roaring laugh out of it! …”WERHEGAHHHHHWEE?”

After a 30-min rest for Tim and Jake, we hit the trail again. What was initially an early start on a hot day, was now two hours BEHIND. At one o’clock, after a leisurely lunch of peanut and almond butter on English muffins, trail mix and fruit rollups, we were back on the trail about half way to our days destination and what would be our home for the next four nights. I had forgotten how many uphill sections there were as we got closer to the lake. Mary and Tim were sick to death of hearing me say, “only one more uphill and were there.” No sooner said than ANOTHER rise would appear and I would say it again. Hee, hee, hee!

About 5 p.m., we drug our packs (mine weighing 65 pounds) up the north side of the lake in the trees, where my most favorite camping site is. Happy to find nobody there, we treated ourselves to a dinner of couscous, Italian squash, ham and an early bedtime Yeeeeesssss! We are all beat!

“FREE IN THE MOUNTAINS…ABOVE THIS MEMORABLE SPOT , THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAINS IS STILL MORE SAVAGELY HACKED AND TORN. IT IS A MAZE OF YAWNING CHASMS AND GULLIES , IN THE ANGLES OF WHICH RISE BEETLING CRAGS AND PILES OF DETACHED BOULDERS THAT SEEM TO HAVE GOTTEN READY TO BE LAUNCHED BELOW”

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Explorers, Trail blazers, Pioneers, Innkeepers, Artists, Conservationists. The story of these and other early Yosemite settlers can be found by crossing the historic covered bridge in Wawona and taking a walk through time. It is a story of the creation of one of AmericaÌs first national parks. It’s a story filled with hopes and dreams, struggles and conflict as our nation grappled with the concept of the preservation of wilderness.

These thoughts raced through my mind as we entered the forest service office on Sunday. We already had a wilderness permit reserved for a 60 plus miles trip out of South Lake, near Bishop, California. It would be one that would take us to the rock hut atop Muir Pass, and one I visited five years earlier with my youngest son David on our walk across the entire John Muir Trail (220 miles in 12 days). However, our plans had changed and we decided to visit our most favorite spot in the entire world (next to the secret fishing spot on the San Joaquin River), Thousand Island Lake.

Therefore, our plan now was for the women to accompany us to Thousand Island for four nights, and then hike out. The men would hike on over Donohue Pass into Yosemite and on to Roosevelt Lake in search of the behemoth, “Moby Dick” size rainbow trout that inhabit its waters.
The visitor’s center was packed with people. Since there are quotas for each trailhead for each day, there were what seemed like a dozen of us all clamoring for permits to our favorite places to visit. If you do not secure the proper permit and go anyway, you will be subject to major fines if stopped by a ranger. When we were issued a permit, there were only six people left for the high trail to Thousand Island, and we had five in our party. We just squeaked by!

Of course, the ranger warned us about the bear problem in the wilderness, largely due to the fact that most campgrounds now have bear proof dumpsters. In Yosemite, bear boxes (metal containers to put your food in) have been installed in all of the campgrounds and trailheads (bears have been known to break car windows for small scraps of food) making it increasingly hard for bears to terrorize your stash of food. Since they have to consume enormous amounts of food every day just to survive, food brought in their back yards by backpackers and campers are an easy prey for dinner. So we decided to take two bear cans, a hard plastic container that is about 18″ long and about 8″ wide that can only be open with a penny or a knife. The idea here is that a bear can’t smell the food nor can he or she pick it up and haul it off because they are round and they are easily hidden in rocks or brush. It is law that you use proper food storage in Yosemite National Park and hang the balance of your food in a tree. There are a number of methods for food hanging (between two trees / counter balance method…these will be described in more detail later),but these bears have figured out just about every way to snatch up your stash, no matter what way you use. You must NEVER leave food in your tent or just sitting out in your camp. You would think that having a dog along would make a bear think twice about coming into your camp; but no such luck with the black bear population in the Eastern Sierra, Nevada, and Yosemite National Park.

My wife Gina, my friend Tim and his wife Mary and their son Jake and I spent the rest of the day Sunday going through our food menu and proceeded to cover the floor of my entire garage with all kinds of backpacking gadgets. And the debate begins as to which brand of backpacking food is best, what’s for lunch, dinner, etc, The very best way I have found to sort out your food is to put an entire days meals in a large zip lock bag. This organizes all the food and is a very easy way to handle the food. This is an efficient method when there are just two of you going. However, we have five people and one dog, so the planning stage goes to a different level. Lacy, our yellow Lab, has her own backpack. Actually, it is a saddle bag. We let her carry her supply of dog bones and food. Her food has to be put into trash bags though, because as a “water dog” she spends as much time in the water as out, especially with so many lakes and streams. We figure she walks/runs AT LEAST 3 miles to every one of ours chasing critters and investigating every nook and cranny on the trail! She is a true mountain dog and loves the wilderness, I think even more than we do!

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For the last number of years, my mom has lived in an assisted living home in Thousand Oaks, CA. In February of this year, 2004, a blockage in her lower intestine put her in the hospital. She was almost 91. (My oldest son Matt and my mom were born on the same day, May 26th – 60 years apart!) She was a really strong woman. Most would have not survived this type of surgery. After the surgery, I was honored to take my guitar in and sing to her as she was recovering. I sang to her often, as well as to other residents at her home. After her surgery, she was too weak to return to Thousand Oaks so was living in a rehabilitation home in Woodland Hills. The last time I saw her was on a Sunday afternoon.

I stopped and bought the usual flower arrangement I would take her everytime I saw her. As I entered her room at the rest home, she was not in her bed. It was freshly made, but no mom…so I hurried back out and noticed someone in a wheel chair sitting at the entrance of her room. It was mom, I had walked by her and didn’t even recognize her.

It was so sad to see her going so fast. She looked so afraid sitting there, I was honored to feed her one of her last meals…she didn’t eat much, mostly drank water. After spending a good amount of time with her, I left. If you know us at all, you will know that everyone in our family are “huggers” and we say “I Love You” a lot…and you know…YOU need to say “I Love You” to the ones you love, because none of us have a lease on life. You may just not see that loved one again. Anyway, when I left her that last time, I said, “I love you” and she said, “I know you do”.

The next evening, mom slipped away, but to a better place with the Lord. I had a really good cry and the next morning I wrote the words to this song. My tribute to the best mom anyone could ever have…and I know she is smiling down on me from heaven now!!! I love you mom!!!

Sitting here in this room tonight
Thinking of your life that was so right
Your love for us, it never failed
You were always there for us

I dream of you as I drift asleep
I pray the Lord your soul to keep
I see you smiling down on us
From your resting place above

(chorus)

Even when I walk through the valley of death I will not be afraid
Your hand protects and comforts me
And I’ll be with you eternally

I love you, I know you do
I can feel your love for me
Sitting there so alone and afraid
Not knowing what will come

Soon you will be home again
The clouds will open up and take you in
You’ll be so happy when you see Him grin
I love you, I know you do
I love you, I know you do
I love you mom, yes, son, I know you do

© Thomas Mountain Music (BMI) all rights reserved P.O. Box 3029 Mammoth Lakes Ca. 93546

He Found An Angel

Helen, angels whisked you away,
taking you to a better place.
Leaving behind memories that
will be hard, for us, to erase.

Your unconditional love
was evident, many can attest.
You gave from the heart,
known for giving your best.

Because of your encouragement,
many are proud of who they are.
You helped bring the luster
in God’s multitude of stars.

And these stars will go on shining
perhaps pass the glow around.
God knew what He was doing
when the angel, in you, He found.

Written By Frances Berumen 2/18/03