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A lesson in Duck...Lake, that is |
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Monday, 10 September 2007 |
Sauntering with Sundance
By Sundance
 After having so much fun on my bike ride last month, I decided to take my owner on a nice, long hike. I figured if she were on her feet too, I'd be able to keep up a little better. We chose Duck Lake and set out one morning with wonderful water Chris (see last month's column), who knew the way.
She directed us to Coldwater Campground in the Lakes Basin, near Lake Mary. This is where we parked and the trail began. My owner timidly let me off the leash after Chris warned her that there would be horses along this trail. I had never encountered horses, so I could feel her unsureness coming down the leash, of her not knowing how I would react. I think she was afraid I would scare the large beasts and have them end up throwing their riders.
We set out on the trail at a good pace, with my owner urging me to stay close to her. Of course I ran to and fro, taking in all the new smells this trail had to offer, but I made sure to keep the girls in sight.
The trail weaved through many trees and we ran into several other hikers along the way, but no horses. Soon enough we came upon the sign for Arrowhead Lake, but we didn't turn off to go see it. Duck Lake was our destination and there was no deterring us from reaching it!
We continued hiking with the girls chatting and me really trying to take in every smell possible...I just love going new places!
The next thing we came upon was Skelton Lake, which runs right up against the trail. I ran ahead and jumped in the water to cool off. There were some people standing near the shore who looked at me oddly, but relaxed a bit when they saw my owner walking by. The refreshing drink and cool down gave me my second wind and off we went again!
Trudge, trudge, trudge we kept on going, but I was right, it was much easier to keep up with those silly humans on foot than on bicycles. We trudged all the way to Barney Lake and stopped to take in the beautiful scenery of a lake surrounded by granite mountain peaks. It was amazing how quickly the treed area around the lake becomes barren as you rise in elevation along the switchbacks up Duck Pass.
We walked along Barney and crossed an inlet to the lake by way of fallen trees. As I was walking across I slipped and fell in the water, but didn't mind too much, as I was pretty hot again. It was just a little embarrassing.
We began the climb up Duck Pass along at least a dozen switchbacks and I ran ahead to explore the rocky outcroppings. The heat really got to me here, since there were no more trees to shade me, and I was really happy to reach the top and see Duck Lake looming hugely in the distance, with little Pika Lake sitting right behind it—plenty of water for my thirsty body.
Taking the trail toward Pika Lake, which passed right next to the vast Duck Lake, we simply turned off the trail at a spot that looked nice for lunch right along the shore of Duck.
It was a little tricky climbing over some rocks along the bank to actually get into the water, but the girls and I both made it in. I got to cool off and the two of them got to soothe their tired feet.
After we had all clambered back into the bank my owner pulled out her lunch and mine. I thought perhaps the beautiful turkey sandwich she pulled out first was for me, but ended up with regular old dog food once again, which was probably for the better, since I was so excited for the hike, I had an upset stomach all morning. She did, however, sneak me a small piece of turkey before she finished the sandwich off (word to the wise: making a cute face always helps you get some tasty tidbit).
After relaxing for about an hour, we decided to head back home. We took off back up to the summit with the girls stopping to take pictures along the way. Once at the top of the pass I began to feel the heat again and decided to take a shortcut through the rocks to try and get down to Barney Lake more quickly. Boy did that backfire!
After hiking a bit without me in sight my owner had began to get nervous. She apparently began calling for me, but I was way ahead chatting with two other nice lady hikers whom we had passed on the way up.
I finally saw Chris standing on some of the rocks calling for me and my owner popped out next to her shortly after. I could tell they were upset with me so I ran all the way back up to where they were. When I finally reached them I was panting pretty hard, which actually helped my owner to be less upset with me (mental note: when in trouble remember to pant). They stopped and rested with me for a moment and my owner gave me some water in my portable bowl while lecturing me on taking off like that and scaring her.
We started walking again, this time with me paying closer attention to how far behind the girls were. We backtracked past Barney Lake and headed on toward Skelton. At Skelton I stopped for another drink. While I was standing in the water my owner came rushing over to me with my leash in her hand. She called me out of the water and quickly snapped the leash onto my collar. It all happened so quickly I didn't even see the horses passing by until the last one's butt was moving out of sight. I only knew they were horses because the girls were discussing them.
After dragging my owner along for a few feet, she took me off my leash once again. By this time I was pretty pooped and just wanted to get back to the car so I began to run really far ahead. I stopped every now and then, but I got out of my owner's sight several times and she had to keep calling for me. She got a little frustrated that I was behaving so badly, but realized I was just hot and tired.
On the way down we ran into many more people and dogs than we did on the way up but all were friendly and happy to be out hiking in the Eastern Sierra just as we were.
Before we got back to the parking lot, Chris took us on a final little detour that I highly recommend. Out in the woods, just past the parking lot, are the remains of an old mining town. You can see some of the equipment they used, as well as some of the structures that were reserved for bunkhouses, equipment storage and so on. It was like stepping back in time!
After circling through the little town we headed back toward the car, exhausted and ready for some dinner.
The round-trip journey, with our one hour lunch break included, took us about five hours, and I've been told that the total distance was about 12 miles. With all the beautiful lakes and scenery along the way, however, you hardly notice the length of the journey.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 15 September 2007 )
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