Originally planned as a 7:00 a.m. departure and a hike into the Rockbound Lake area, we settled for a 1:00 p.m. departure and a stop short at Buck Island lake. Driving about 3.5 hours from Moraga, we hit the trail much later than hoped and shortened our distance to 7ish miles in and then back out the next morning. It almost seemed like too hectic of a plan. How does one enjoy the wilderness when the coming and going subjects oneself to the famed red tail lights of California? But, I must say, I found my Zen. If only for a moment, I was happy to be there...then.
Well, temporary Zen, perhaps. Our dispersed campsite was on a rock outcropping by a big old broken cedar (?) across a lake from the end of the "Rubicon Trail", a famous place (?) where off road vehicle enthusiast's subject their otherwise pavement bound machines to the primitive wilds of the earth. Jeeps and other 4 WD vehicles clamber over boulders well into the evening. Aided by those roll bar topping lights, the purpose of which previously had always escaped me, they clanked and grinded gears well into the night. Where the track they were driving on meandered in our direction their lights pointed right at us. Our campsite was, to borrow a term from the Urban Dictionary, "Lit" from top to bottom. We had light beams both shining straight at us and reflecting up at us from the lake. I felt like Julia Louis-Dreyfuss character in "Christmas Vacation" when Clark Griswold turned his exterior Christmas lights on.
But I must say that it was entertaining listening to a guy curse at his stuck Jeep from across the small lake. Sound carries almost as well as light across open water. And it all just reinforced my love of cheaper hobbies. We continued to watch in amusement as we ate dinner. Turkey sandwiches and Pinot Noir, now that is more like it.
Mary got tired early and I can't say I blame her for wanting to turn it in. I spent entirely too much of the twilight, turned low light, trying to figure out the how to operate my camera on high ISO settings, necessary for night photos. But once I did I started taking some good night shots (see attached images). I snapped and snapped away. I started figuring things out after many missed shots including some images that had potential, but look too grainy, pixelated, over exposed, or underexposed. I am going to have to do my homework on how to better capture shooting stars on my Canon 60D. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile. After seeing countless meteors rain from the heavens only to escaped my camera's pixels, I think I caught one. See if you can find it in the night images attached.
It was a mild dry night, so we left our tent's rain fly off. Looking up through the screen, we could see shooting starts at least once per minute. A few little critters moved through our site while we slept, but none of the Sierras mischievous black bears. My first night sleeping outdoors is usually a restless affair, but I slept fine on the soft ground when I wasn't screwing around with my camera.
Up early, a quick cup of tea and some oatmeal, and back on the trail. We moved fast, turning a 3 hour hike in, into a 2 hour hike out. That's what 10 degrees cooler temperatures and a net drop in elevation over 7 miles would do.
Overall, I consider this a pleasant trip. You'll hear boomboxes coming from the road across Loon Lake when you first head in and, as discussed, more disturbing off road vehicle noises at night. I would definitely recommend getting an earlier start and pushing a few miles deeper into the Desolation Wilderness area. Some online posts said that our initial destination of Rockbound Lake wouldn't even have been enough to get away from the noise, so plan an initial ten mile hike, which shouldn't be too tough on this generally sand, gravel and pine duff trail.
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