EISPIRATEN

i ended my Sierra Summer 2009 with a one, two punch!... Mount Russell on 9/13/09 and Middle Palisade on 9/19/09.

i was in good company for both hikes. There were 5 of us on Russell including Dave G and Phil (lik2hik) from this board. Middle Pal was a last minute backpack invite when Dave G's climb of the Swiss Arete on Mount Sill fell through. Lucky me!

i look forward to the end of our current heatwave and the reopening of the ANF. today, i tried to beat the heat by hiking the front range ridges of the Santa Monica's from La Jolla Canyon to Sycamore Canyon. man, it was hot & there was barely a breeze. can you say, dehydrated?...

Mount Russell pix:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ryan.norma8 ... ssell91309#

Middle Palisade pix:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ryan.norma8 ... iddle91909#

It's just hot everywhere around here.

Nice pics!

Norma and Dave:
Gongrats on bagging Middle Pal! Nice pix and report. I like the way you teamed up with the lone climber and helped him out! That's the way mountaineering should be.

I love every picture of finger lake Ive ever seen, I've gotta get my ass up there

Very bad ass
Thumbs up....think i finally have a challenger for best nature shots!

That's an awesome shot.

Very excellent pictures and report!

thanx everyone!

edenooch, i think it's impossible to take a bad shot of Finger Lake. glacial fed lakes are my favorite. the colors are second-to none! there was a small lake directly at the bottom of a small glacier just southeast of Finger that i could not get a good shot of from above, that was the perfect glacial minty green. i have to check that one out someday.

Funyan005, yes, if you haven't been up there you need to. Finger Lake makes a nice day hike. also, i have not been up the North Fork of Big Pine Creek but there are 10 named lakes there plus other smaller ones and they are also supposed to be outstanding.

Lik2hik, Victor must have thanked us a thousand times. it was fun to have him along. i know how he feels, those two guys (Spencer & Patrick) that shined their headlamps in the dark on the lake outlet so we knew where to cross & also lit a signal fire to guide us down were the finest example of mountaineering. the next morning we checked their fire and it was cleaned up. they "left no trace." very cool.

i'll have to live vicariously through my photos & memories this weekend while i melt in this heat as i clean out my garage. unless i get a chance to go sailing?... water is the only cool alternative right now.

Wow - what a great way to end the season. Congrats!!!!!

Wow, done in true Norma R. style!! Kudos to your cohorts, as well. 8)

The views of the Palisade Crest are sublime. . .

Thanks.

Was there any concern over bears while camping near finger lake? I'm going to finally head up there in about 2 weeks, and bears scare me shitless

Funyan005 wrote:Was there any concern over bears while camping near finger lake? I'm going to finally head up there in about 2 weeks, and bears scare me shitless

Not only were there no bears, we didn't see anything bigger than a chipmunk the whole trip! After the experience on Sill of having our dinner eaten by marmots whilst we were summitting, I lugged a bear canister along this time, apparently for naught. This time, a food trash bag fell out of the tree I'd hung it in and it barely got nibbled on, and then by something very small.

FYI, you are not required to have a bear canister at Finger Lake.

Here's my pics if anyone is interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 262970865/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 434676296/

Dave G wrote: This time, a food trash bag fell out of the tree I'd hung it in and it barely got nibbled on, and then by something very small.

the only thing we could find missing was my toothpaste. if you see a Chipmunk with shiny teeth, you'll recognize the culprit!

also, if you happen to find a pair of Oakley sunglasses with a rainbow colored croakie, i lost mine on the benches above Finger Lake. we had visions of the Chipmunk with the shiny teeth wearing them!

I feel old now, the last time I visited that area was back in 1990. I was still in high school. I vividly remember the beautiful lakes. We made it as high as the 5th lake. Great photographs.

Haha I'll keep an eye out for sure, hopefully the first snow doesn't come early! And I'm taking a bear can just in case I'm thinking!

Nice finale to the summer! Congrats to you all and great job on the captions accompanying the pix. Hopefully we will have a good snow year -- coming soon.