We met the night before at the Kajiwara's cabin in June Lake.
It was a perfect evening, and we all tried to stuff ourselves for the upcoming
run the next morning.  Carbo
loading with spaghetti, bread, salad, and of course a little beer and wine
was the order of the day, topping it all off with a disgustingly rich chocolate
concoction made by Debby Rios. |
Our run will begin at Agnew Meadows, on the other side of Minaret Summit
from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. We will take the High Trail
to Thousand Island Lake,  returning
via the River Trail, along the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, a
distance of 15-16 miles. Some of us have run this loop before and are looking
forward to a return trip. However, it has been a big snow year, and
it's possible our route might not be runable by our late July target date.
Tom and Dianne have been monitoring the snow melting process on a couple
of reconnaissance runs. |
 We
all arrived at Agnew Meadows just before the 7:30 cut off time when the
mandatory shuttle bus is the only way to get into the valley. We slopped
sunscreen and bug stuff on as we prepared for the run, and of course posed
for the group picture. |
 Debby
Rios snapped this picture of our group: Tom Rindt, Chris Rios, Pat Oliver,
Larry Harlan, Joe Oliver, Jo Kajiwara, Chuck Lewis, Linda Sappington, Eric
Kajiwara, and Dianne Rindt. Debby, Chris,
Pat and Linda formed our hiking contingent. |
The High Trail begins with steep switchbacks through the trees, rapidly
gaining altitude over the first mile.  Then
the trail straightens out a bit and the views begin to open up.  We
were at once rewarded by spectacular displays of lupine, tiger lilies,
and other colorful wildflowers, blooming especially profusely in the drainages.  As
much as we enjoyed the flowers, the water that allows them to grow sometimes
made for difficult footing on the trail. We carefully negotiated
the muddy sections and continued steadily gaining altitude. |
 At
the three mile point is perhaps the best view of the run. It's as
if CALTRANS had come in and put in a scenic overlook. From the edge
of the cliff we could look down to Shadow Lake (the destination of our
hikers) with its falls tumbling down to the San Joaquin River far below
us, and on up into the Lake Ediza drainage. The Minarets stretch
out to the right above Ediza, and on to Mts. Ritter and Banner looming
above our goal; Thousand Island Lake. We were all feeling great at
this point and were looking forward to the rolling trail ahead after the
three miles of nearly continuous up hill. |
 The
run continued across the rolling hillside, which was covered with lush
overgrowth and flowers. |
 There
is so much to look at, yet negotiating the trail does require attention.
Here, surrounded by scenic peaks and lush greenery, Tom, Eric and Jo try
to concentrate on the trail. |
 We
stopped at a stream crossing to refill our water bottles. Pumping
water through a filter kept us safe from the Giardia bugs which inhabit
most mountain streams these days. |
 Our
goal and turnaround point, Thousand Island Lake, afforded a relaxing break
and great views. Here Banner Peak rises above the far end of the
lake. From here we backtracked about a mile to a junction, then followed
the River Trail (which hangs close to the San Joaquin River for most of
the way) back to Agnew Meadows. |
Along the lower trail different flowers were blooming. 
There were some particularly impressive stands of Indian Paint Brush and
Sego Lilies. |
 We
did have one casualty. Joe pulled a hamstring in the last mile, and
the injury ended up plaguing him for months. |
 All
that running requires calorie replacement. At Gomez's in Mammoth,
we wolfed down huge burritos and beer. This didn't keep any of us
from pigging out later on barbecued chicken and all the fixens at Tom and
Dianne's house in Mammoth. |
| This is one of the most spectacular runs in the Sierra, and we encourage
everyone to give it a try if you have the conditioning and knowledge of
the backcountry. Go prepared, because you get pretty far away from
civilization. The trail is usually clear by the end of June, but
if there is a big snow year like the winter of 1997-8 it can be well into
July before the way is clear. |
 |
Carbo
loading with spaghetti, bread, salad, and of course a little beer and wine
was the order of the day, topping it all off with a disgustingly rich chocolate
concoction made by Debby Rios.
returning
via the River Trail, along the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, a
distance of 15-16 miles. Some of us have run this loop before and are looking
forward to a return trip. However, it has been a big snow year, and
it's possible our route might not be runable by our late July target date.
Tom and Dianne have been monitoring the snow melting process on a couple
of reconnaissance runs. 
We
all arrived at Agnew Meadows just before the 7:30 cut off time when the
mandatory shuttle bus is the only way to get into the valley. We slopped
sunscreen and bug stuff on as we prepared for the run, and of course posed
for the group picture.
Debby
Rios snapped this picture of our group: Tom Rindt, Chris Rios, Pat Oliver,
Larry Harlan, Joe Oliver, Jo Kajiwara, Chuck Lewis, Linda Sappington, Eric
Kajiwara, and Dianne Rindt. Debby, Chris,
Pat and Linda formed our hiking contingent.
Then
the trail straightens out a bit and the views begin to open up. 
We
were at once rewarded by spectacular displays of lupine, tiger lilies,
and other colorful wildflowers, blooming especially profusely in the drainages. 
As
much as we enjoyed the flowers, the water that allows them to grow sometimes
made for difficult footing on the trail. We carefully negotiated
the muddy sections and continued steadily gaining altitude.
At
the three mile point is perhaps the best view of the run. It's as
if CALTRANS had come in and put in a scenic overlook. From the edge
of the cliff we could look down to Shadow Lake (the destination of our
hikers) with its falls tumbling down to the San Joaquin River far below
us, and on up into the Lake Ediza drainage. The Minarets stretch
out to the right above Ediza, and on to Mts. Ritter and Banner looming
above our goal; Thousand Island Lake. We were all feeling great at
this point and were looking forward to the rolling trail ahead after the
three miles of nearly continuous up hill.
The
run continued across the rolling hillside, which was covered with lush
overgrowth and flowers.
There
is so much to look at, yet negotiating the trail does require attention.
Here, surrounded by scenic peaks and lush greenery, Tom, Eric and Jo try
to concentrate on the trail.
We
stopped at a stream crossing to refill our water bottles. Pumping
water through a filter kept us safe from the Giardia bugs which inhabit
most mountain streams these days.
Our
goal and turnaround point, Thousand Island Lake, afforded a relaxing break
and great views. Here Banner Peak rises above the far end of the
lake. From here we backtracked about a mile to a junction, then followed
the River Trail (which hangs close to the San Joaquin River for most of
the way) back to Agnew Meadows.
There were some particularly impressive stands of Indian Paint Brush and
Sego Lilies.
We
did have one casualty. Joe pulled a hamstring in the last mile, and
the injury ended up plaguing him for months.
All
that running requires calorie replacement. At Gomez's in Mammoth,
we wolfed down huge burritos and beer. This didn't keep any of us
from pigging out later on barbecued chicken and all the fixens at Tom and
Dianne's house in Mammoth.