Bear Lake

Camp Review

Cassie and I camped at Bear Lake for one night.
The dispersed camp spot we found was a 5-star campsite with level/soft ground, logs around a fire pit that worked well as a bench, lots of trees for wind protection, and it was not too far away from the lake (maybe 200 ft). It had 3 amazing spots for tents, and we took the one closest to the trail/lake. It’d be awesome to come back to this spot with a group of friends.
There were lots of people at the lake, but in a dispersed fashion. We camped at the north-west end of the lake, which was less popular compared to the south end of the lake.
The lake was chilly with lots of ducks in the water. It meant the closest beach to us had lots of duck feathers floating about. I also spotted some medium-sized fish swimming around.

Hike Review

We hiked starting at about noon, and it was hot, even though the high was less than 80 degrees.
The trail had lots of fine dust, which was easily thrown up in the air. It was an easy trail with less than a thousand feet of elevation gain, but because it was so warm, my heart rate got up to 160. I always feel extra hot on dusty trails, and this was no exception.
There were probably a dozen people we passed, got passed by, or met while walking in the opposite direction.
The trail has about 40% shade, which meant that the shaded parts were welcome, and the trail never felt too dark.
Camp Lake was only 3 miles from the trailhead, so we did not need more than a liter of water per person.
There was a lot of horse manure on the trail. I really wish horse bags were required.

What I Learned

I swam across the narrowest strait of Camp Lake and back to get to a diving spot. I swam freestyle on the way over, and I got gassed and felt very tired. I am so out of swimming shape! On the way back, I swam just floating on my back, and it wasn’t so bad.
I hiked with sandals and really wished I had brought thin socks for sleeping. I washed my feet, but the bottom of my feet would not change back to my normal skin color.
We had an extra head of lettuce, and we made salad by putting it with a bunch of sauce (soy sauce, hot sauce, and honey) and shaking it. I wished it had a little more vinegar and sugar, but it was way better than I had imagined it being.
I brought a Bluetooth game pad, and I was able to play Final Fantasy Tactics using an emulator on my iPhone. I don’t think I’ll bring it with me often, but it was fun being able to play such a classic masterpiece lying on my sleeping pad.
Cassie wanted to carry the Bear Vault this time, which meant that she carried a heavier pack than usual. She carried 24.2 lbs, while my pack weighed 26.4 lbs.

What Happened?

In San Jose, the forecast was calling for highs in the upper 90s and lows in the lower 70s. Given that my favorite temperature range is 50-60 degrees, we wanted to get out of Dodge. Our first choice was Sequoia National Park, where we were planning to go on a fun multipitch climb. Unfortunately, there was a fire that was outputting lots of smoke into the park. So instead, we headed towards Emigrant Wilderness.

We first drove to Summit Ranger Station near the town of Strawberry to get our dispersed camping permit. We parked and headed inside a clean building where a ranger helped us secure the permit (it was free with no daily limit). He asked us about having a fire permit and camping at least 100 ft away from the lake. We also picked up a patch, a sticker, and two pins. We then drove to the trailhead, ate our packed lunch (a baguette, salami, and cheese), and started hiking towards Bear Lake.

It was pretty warm but because it was just a few miles to the first lake, it was easy to keep focused on how good the water would feel when I got into it. Camp Lake was a visual delight when I saw it and we quickly found a granite rock outcropping where we could get in and out of the lake without mud sticking to us.

The first jump in was shocking to say the least. The cold water made me gulp for air and I quickly got out of the water. After about 10 minutes I felt all hot again, and tempted by the rock cropping on the other side of the lake, I jumped in and swam across. When I got there, I was totally out of breath and feeling a little light-headed from the exertion. I rested for a few minutes, then jumped into the deep end and swam back looking up at the blue sky.

The rest of the hike was mostly flat and we hiked it in good time while singing funny songs to each other.

When we got to Bear Lake, we hiked to the northwest part of the lake (while hiking down some granite slabs the “fun” way) and found an amazing campsite—probably the best backpacking site to date! We changed to see if we wanted to jump in for a quick swim, but the lake was shallow, had lots of silt, and was cold to boot, so we hung out at the camp instead.

Our dinner was our current favorite—peanut noodles with fresh veggies. The delicious meal was rejuvenating and we enjoyed it while the light from the sunset painted the mountains around us in orange.

After washing the dishes, we found a flat slab of granite to lie on to watch the stars (there was no moon nor clouds). We talked about the nature of friendships and how we were gifting each other the greatest gift which is time (besides love and the feeling of belonging). We both saw numerous shooting stars, but forgot to make wishes, as we were just so engrossed with just being present. When I got too cold, we headed in for the night.

Unlike all of our backpacking trips, we slept terribly, waking up many times—I woke up around 1:45 a.m. and could not go back to sleep until about 3 a.m. We woke up around 7:30 a.m. and realized that unlike the silent night, we were being serenaded by Townsend’s Solitaire and Dusky Flycatchers. We made ourselves a cup of hot milk tea, cleaned up, and headed out.

The hike out felt fast and it wasn’t too hot. We also kept our minds off the exertion and on fun as we discussed a backpacking cookbook we could make—we named 40+ dishes we think we can make while backpacking!

Ramona was patiently waiting for us right where we left her the day before. We put everything in the bed of the truck and started our journey home.