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Julius Caesar 7.1.05 - 7.4.05 - thumbnails -
Mike, Martha, Chari and I cut back our ambitious goals of Merriam, Royce, Feather and Ceasar, deciding to lay back and get one good peak out of our brief vacation. It worked like a charm.
As you'd expect water levels are very high. The stream crossing at the upper end of Upper Pine Lake was about 150 ft across and 12-15 in. deep (and co-o-o-o-o-o-o-old. I had to cross it three times to ferry shoes across to Chari). Other crossings above Honeymoon Lake were tricky on the way up and downright treacherous on the afternoon return. In general, water flow is deep and fast. Bring water shoes.
Snow patches started getting their act together around 10,600 ft. A hiker returning from Pine Creek Pass made it to the lake at 10,600 and declared that going farther was "impossible." Well, with the right gear . . . anyway, on the trail up to Granite Park and Caesar the snow was constant above 11,200 ft or so. We had clear, excellent scrambling after Italy Pass.
Mosquitoes are out, folks! They were persistant from 1/4 mile before Pine Lake to 1/4 mile after Honeymoon. Night one did not stop them, night two did.
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