Spring Snow Backpacking Video #6, Day 3 to Round Top Lake, Day 4 out at Carson Pass

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After departing our lunch spot to continue down the snow-covered road towards Woods Lake, we almost immediately cross an equally snow-covered foot bridge to our left. Across the bridge we turn right, South, and begin to look for the blue diamond marked route up through the forest heading South towards Round Top. We are located  just to the East of Woods Lake.

As we climb gradually higher, the forest begins to thin out with the rising elevation, until we emerge from the thinning forest onto a gently graded open space heading directly South towards Round Top.

We reach the Southern end of this open space as we approach the low end of the ridge arm that Winamucca Lake is hidden behind. Here we make a 90 degree turn to the West, to our right, where the great open space below Round Top bends West, to continue up to the massif's shoulder under The Sisters, where Round Top Lake is situated.

As I was heading up this incline, I noticed another Winter traveler to my left, South of me, on a really poorly thought trajectory up the mountain. The reason this was a poor trajectory was the time of day and the changing weather conditions. It was past 4 pm, and as the sun was sinking the chill, along with a fierce wind, were both picking up strength. And this guy was heading towards the little exposed flat that sits right under Round Top, a fully exposed position. Not a great idea.

As I watched, he bent off his stupid course, and headed down towards the semi-protected flat below Round Top, situated just East of Round Top Lake. A wise move, I though at the time. I shortly lost him in the mixed snow, rock, and Whitebark Pine terrain. I found out the next day that I was wrong, and he had not turned down from his exposed position to hunker down and take shelter, but instead he had made the unfortunate decision to turn around and head back to Carson Pass.

This decision was unfortunate because there was not enough daylight to make it back, and the already fierce winds kept getting stronger, and persisted throughout the night long into the next day. I did not know at the time that he had turned around. I assumed I had a neighbor stashed somewhere to my South on the mountain.

When I was exiting the next day at the Carson Pass, I met two dudes from Oakland Ca, who were just hitting the snow on their way in, I thought. Then they asked me if I had seen the dude climbing Round Top yesterday. I told them I had, and I thought he was still up there.

No-No, they said. They were camped somewhere between the unwise hiker's position and the trailhead. This worked out well for the unwise hiker, who located their camp and walked in during the windstorm well after dark. They made him a cup of tea, and for some reason walked the guy out to Carson Pass, rather than having him camp with them. They said he was phased and thrashed, but was still kicking "like the enegizer bunny." 

Here's the lesson from this: If you can keep working after you quit thinking, you can get yourself into real trouble. NEVER stop thinking. The ability to "go on" is perfect only when the plan is perfect. Your physical abilities are a slave of your decision making capability. If you cannot evaluate your circumstances, you must first recover the ability to make good decisions before you make decisions. If you already made a good decision, the ability to "go on" is invaluable. On with you, I say!

The two guys from Oakland apparently spent the night in the Carson Pass parking lot after escorting the "bunny" there. I met them when they were heading back up the mountain to recover their campsite, which they had left set up. Now you must understand that I too, like the unwise hiker, was pretty thrashed. If I was on my game I would have filmed and interviewed the two guys from Oakland. But I did not.

I was thinking more about the upcoming part of my backpacking trip that involved hitchhiking back to Berkeley. But all of this is quite an improvement over my previous attitude.

Ten Years ago, if asked for pictures of my wilderness travels, I would point towards the mountains and say, "Go see it for yourself." Now I point towards my websites. Post your own stories and trips here, on the backpacker's forum, or shoot me an email. I'd be happy to point you towards the mountains...

My, how times have changed. 

Last Video: Spring Snow Backpacking 5, Day 3: Meiss Meadow through Carson Gap to lunch 

Trail Guide: Round Top Lake. (Not yet completed in Trail Guide) See this page for links to maps, mileages, elevations, and related trail guide pages.

Interactive Map: Click the colored points for the related trail guide page

Videos: Considerations in Preparation for a Spring Snow Backpacking Trip

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