The Silence of Lundy Canyon (Part 2)

(GPS: N38° 00.467 W119° 17.256)

Continuing from yesterday’s blog…

I used to not like the fall as much when I was younger. It was probably school starting, the trees losing leaves, nothing really green anymore, the smells of the trees and plants not around anymore, the lake levels get low, and it just didn’t feel right. Now I enjoy it a lot more than the summer, but I think that has to be the feeling that I have an obligation to myself to do a lot more then than in the fall. I am talking about both work and play.

I’ve just learned to appreciate the fall more, and it is a more enjoyable time of the year for me. Things start to get colder, the leaves fall, sunlight turns a little more orange, less daylight, and the stillness. There is a lot less people too. Which, I hate to say it, but does make it a lot more fun too. You don’t have the loud noise level and the roads being ripped up that happens closer to the first week of July.

My friend describes it as a sense of melancholy in the air. After everything we have been through it becomes clear the end is near for the year. Within a short amount of time everything is packed up for the year, and it is over. There is nothing we can do about it because it is coming. Break out a few compositions from Chopin and embrace it.

There is also that sense of creepiness with the stillness and no people around too which makes sense as to why Halloween is just around the corner:

Is there anything out there?

Further along the trail looking toward my right (north) one can see the side of the canyon. I have been above there before on my hike to Mt. Excelsior. Burro Lake is where the water is coming down from.

More stream. I think I stood on a rock in the middle of the stream to shoot this.

A smallwater fall, some of the pine trees, and a little ice.

Coming to an end. This was done during the early morning hours, but had this been during the summer the sun would have cleared out all shadow you see. The trail started to get icy here which meant I was going to have to turn around soon. This is one of the issues that one has to face anywhere in Lundy Canyon at some point. As the fall season kicks in, the snow and ice eventually take over which is why the season for humans in Lundy Canyon is really just for the summer months.

In the past I have covered some of the issues of the people that lived in the canyon during the gold mine camp era. While there were a few gunfights in its Wild West area, the people of Lundy had more fear of snow avalanches destroying their homes and killing them.
This is looking up. The trail continues up that way. It is where I would have hoped to have hiked to, but I knew it wasn’t realistic even before starting this hike during October. The ice was bad to walk on a level trail, but going uphill on it would have been a disaster.

I have been up above looking down on Lundy Canyon from a few different spots. The most relevant one is Lundy Pass which connects this trail to the one that starts up above at Saddlebag Lake. Part of the reason I wanted to show this hike is to set that one up which I will probably have up on here sometime in early 2014.

So, to wrap this one up, it was a nice easy hike the day I did this one. The fall colors could have been better because I have seen pictures and postcards of them during better times. It is known for fall conditions, but the summer is nice here as well. I’ve taken other pictures and video over the years of different parts of the canyon. There is some history and nice looking scenery around this area that is worth pursuing if one desires that. I don’t know when or if I will get to that on here, but it is out there.

This video was done with the old camcorder. So, take it for what it was and is:

The Fall in Lundy Canyon (Youtube Version)

The Fall in Lundy Canyon (Vimeo Version)

Music used from Incompetech.com was Awaiting Return and Trio for Piano, Cello, and Clarinet.

 

Another somewhat related hike was the one I did that started out at the Virgina Lakes trailhead as I hiked to the top of Mt. Excelsior which looks down on Lundy Canyon. I just re-edited a video for that one too. The Snowslide 1911 is relevant to this area as well.

With that said, it appears October and its creepiness is just over a week away...

The Silence of Lundy Canyon (Part 1)

(GPS: N38° 01.330 W119° 15.700)

 

As we transition from the summer to the fall this weekend, I thought I would put up a fall hike I did a few years ago. Lundy Canyon is one of the better places to go for an easy trail hike during the fall. There is not very much uphill, and you can probably get in an out within two hours or so depending on what you want to do.

Within a few miles of HWY 395 near Mono Lake, one takes a road back into a canyon that passes Lundy Lake. Lundy was once a gold mining camp, but it is now a summer season resort area. Past the lake, there is a dirt road that gets kind of bumpy at some points, but most vehicles should have no problem getting there.

 

Along the way there are small streams and ponds like the following that have small beaver dams. This is something one encounters more of along the way. The main stream you will see is called Mill Stream. It is hard to believe now, but around 1880 this was known as the town of Wasson. There were stamp mills, cabins, other town buildings built around this meadow due to the gold in the mines up above. It only lasted a few years due to the avalanches destroying the buildings during the winter. The beavers have taken over since then and created ponds like this.

At some point, the dirt road ends and the hike begins.

The following gives you the big picture of how this hike is. Some fall color, lots of streams and ponds, lots of trees, and going far back into a canyon.

 Trees in a pond:

Some fall color here. In the past few years of my fall experiences in the High Sierra, you have a very short time to see colors at certain areas. One week it could be yellow then the next week it could be a leafless tree. Last year I felt I got short changed on fall conditions so it is something I have been thinking about for this year. Just a month ago I noticed some colors were turning which is quite early. Last weekend I noticed some at the higher elevations were turning from yellow to red where I am at.

 Eventually, the miner's cabin is encountered:

It tells you at the trailhead to leave this one alone. There are a few broken down cabins that one can see along the trails of the Eastern Sierra. Another one I have shown before was on the trail at Virginia Lakes.

 Beautiful, yet spooky being out here all alone.

I'll continue this one in the next blog tomorrow.

This video was done with the old camcorder. So, take it for what it was and is:

The Fall in Lundy Canyon (Youtube Version)

The Fall in Lundy Canyon (Vimeo Version)

Music used from Incompetech.com was Awaiting Return and Trio for Piano, Cello, and Clarinet.