WIXLIB

Merced Group NewsDecember Awards “Banquet”I think all would agree that this year’s potluck awards dinnercould indeed qualify as a “banquet”. The dishes were varied both iningredients and ethnicity, and choices for the omnivore, vegetarian,and vegan were plentiful. Lots of home cooking was represented atthe table—this was no “Costco catered” affair. The conversationaround the tables was equally eclectic. We all had lots ofopportunities to make new acquaintances, as well as catch up withold friends.Our presenter, Bob Turner (the editor of this publication amonghis many contributions to the Tehipite Chapter), gave us an inspiringtour of his two decades of travels throughout the wildlands of theAmerican West. Literally sometimes spending months at a time outon the road and on the trails, he tasked himself with visiting asmany national parks and other sites of natural beauty as he could.Sometimes soloing, sometimes linking up with mountaineeringbuddies, he sought out the most impressive views and vistas. As youmight guess these were often the highest points of land in a region.Some were accessible by 4-wheel drive vehicle, some by establishedtrail, but many only by cross country treks. I think even the mosttraveled of the audience found Bob’s extensive explorations of ouriconic western wild lands impressive and inspiring.This year’s Banquet awardee—Candice MedefindThis year the Merced Group's annual award could almost betermed a lifetime achievement award, but it can’t because CandiceMedefind is still engaged and still contributing to her community inmany ways. She is not the type of person who retires from serving,though she certainly has earned such a respite. To give you someperspective on this journey of hers, here are some highlights:CANDICE MEDEFIND, SIERRA CLUB HONOREE 2016THE PLAQUE READS: “IN RECOGNITION OF MANYYEARS OF SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP, AND FORYOUR COURAGE, FORTITUDE, AND INTEGRITY INSUPPORTING HUMANITARIAN ANDENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES."Fresh out of high school Candice was walking the picket lines with Cesar Chavez during the UFW’s grape boycott in the 60s.In the 80s when a rocket fuel manufacturing plant threatened to plunk itself down in the middle of Merced Countyagricultural lands, Candice was one of the organizers who helped defeat the proposal. Later she helped consolidate amovement to protect the local family planning clinic. Her law degree from Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley found use in aninteresting way. Candice became the executive director of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). This agency is chargedwith helping children receive support and representation in the legal system.While a full time teacher at Merced College and later UC Merced, Candice still found time to head up a local recyclingeffort. In the early stages it took the form of a recycling center at her church. Later she was a key leader in the communitycoalition that got the city and county to finally adopt a full scale recycling program as part of normal refuse collection.When winter housing for Merced’s homeless at the National Guard Armory had to close for periods of time, Candice wasinstrumental in opening her church to them. And when the Armory finally closed permanently to the indigent, the church,primarily under the efforts of Candice and her husband Mark, fed and housed the homeless on a permanent basis.And finally, bringing you up-to-date, Candice is currently the Executive Director of Healthy House Within a MATCHCoalition, whose mission is to promote the well-being and health of all people in our multi-ethnic community througheducation, services, and advocacy. One very successful program that has been fostered by that program is the fusing oftraditional Hmong medicine (shamans) with traditional Western health care providers. In fact, it has been so effective forHmong patients that it has become a prototype for nationwide use.And so, having heard this long list of remarkable contributions to community, I think you can agree that the MercedExecutive Committee chose wisely in selecting Candice Medefin to honor this year.TEHIPITE TOPICS – Winter 20175

Letting a Pack Train Carry the Weight in the Sierra High Country– CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 –orientations to the next day’s activities, and then headed offto meet our sleeping bags.Acclimatizing before the official startOur first two mornings, we awoke to crisp sunrisetemperatures. Outside, the water bags had frozen overnight.After an ample delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausages,and “camp coffee,” we carpooled to the Mosquito Flatparking area at the end of Rock Creek Road, at 10,200 feet.We hiked one of several trails that lead up the canyon,offering fantastic views of beautiful Little Lakes Valley andthe surrounding 12- and 13,000-foot peaks. Our firstacclimatizing hike was a 4.5 mile round trip that followedthe Mono Pass Trail to turquoise colored Ruby Lake at analtitude of 11,129 feet — that’s Ruby Lake and Mono Pass inInyo County, as there is another Ruby Lake in TuolumneCounty and a different Mono Pass in Yosemite NationalPark.The next day we were taxied to the official start of thetrek, Devils Postpile National Monument. We stoppedbriefly at Minaret Summit Vista Point near MammothMountain to get a fantastic birds-eye view of the backcountry through which we would be trekking over the nextten days. With a little imagination we could even seeDonohue Pass, the highest point of our trek! The valley ofthe Middle Fork of the San Joaquin lay before us, making itsway south before it would turn west toward Fresno. Sincethe distance to our first camp was only six miles, we tookthe opportunity to visit the famed Devils Postpile itself, acollection of 60-foot-high hexagonal pillars of basalt,formed less than 100,000 years ago in a cooling lava flow,then cropped by glaciers, leaving the unlikely collection.After lunch many took an opportunity to cool off in anidyllic cascading stream before joining the pack team andstock at camp near Johnston Meadow.Nutritious and delicious foodThe trip announcement advertised food to be nutritious,delicious and in quantities to feed you well. As the packer’snotes announced accurately:“The smell of fresh coffee on the stove; the muffledsound of mules munching their morning grain; quietwords of reassurance as the packers groom and tackthe stock in preparation for the day’s move. That is thealarm clock that awakens you to a new morning ofhiking with pack stock. You pack your duffle and takedown your tent between sips of fresh hot coffee, tea, orcocoa.A table is set up with lunch meat, cheese, breads,cookies, nuts, fresh fruit, and candy. You bag up yourselections before breakfast, which is usually servedaround 7:30. During your hearty hot breakfast, guestsand crew agree upon where to meet for the next campand any side trips you might take. Now you canshoulder your day pack and start hiking toward the6ON THE INITIAL ACCLIMATIZATION HIKE, MARY ENJOYS A VIEW OFLITTLE LAKES VALLEY, WITH 13,713 FOOT BEAR CREEK SPIRETOWERING OVER THE HEAD OF THE VALLEY.next camp. Those of you who are backpackers will beamazed at the food served on the trip. Fresh fruit andvegetables are served throughout the trip. Dinnerstypically include hamburgers, grilled chicken, porkchops, steak, roast beef, ham, or corned beef. The packstation serves a full breakfast, such as eggs, hashbrowns and bacon, or pancakes and sausage.”Traveling with stockWe were accompanied by the pack team comprised ofthe lead packer, an assistant, and the cook. The stock, twohorses and eleven mules, carried the pack team and all ourfood, kitchen gear, charcoal and propane tanks (due todrought conditions we were not allowed to make camp firesat all this year), camp chairs, and of course personal duffelsfull of tents, sleeping bags, extra thick air mattresses, extraclothes, and whatever else you wanted to bring along withina 35 lb. weight limit. Without the stock performing theirbeast-of-burden duties, I personally would no longer bewilling or able to carry the heavy backpack necessary toenjoy wilderness trips of ten days.When in camp the stock animals were picketed (tied) ona line to keep them from roaming around camp or chewingthe bark on the trees. They were allowed to head off tograze during the night, and before sunrise the packerswould head off to gather them up. Stock grazing issupplemented by feeding them a special grain, preparedwithout seeds in order to protect the wilderness frominvasive plants.When released for grazing and before leaving camp themules would take the opportunity to explore the camp,TEHIPITE TOPICS – Winter 2017

galloping between the tents and having themselves a dirtbath by rolling in the dirt, which created great clouds ofdust. This provided us all with more than a little anxiety andmuch entertainment. It took a few days to feel totallycomfortable around the stock when they were set free.beautiful lakes in the Sierra. It is surrounded by strikinglycolorful granitic outcroppings, sharp peaks, and sparselydistributed but highly picturesque pines.Grazing was not allowed in some of the areas around ourcamps. We were surprised that sometimes the stock werenot allowed to graze freely for several days at a time.A typical day between campsTypically after breaking camp, packing our duffels, andhaving breakfast, we would start our hike to the next camp.The stock crew would pass us up sometime around lunch.By the time we hiked into camp pack animals would beunloaded, the kitchen set up, and our gear laid out on tarps.Our task then was to find the perfect tent spot and get readyfor hors d’oeuvres.Besides having all of our gear transported, additionalluxuries of traveling with stock included having camp chairsand the tarps that the packers deployed if inclementweather threatened. The great weather this year made thetarps unnecessary on this trip, but on previous trips it savedus from having to sit for hours in our tent waiting for therain to stop.Conservation issuesWe had informal discussions that touched on severalconservation issues, including the water shortage that thewest is currently going through, and various proposedsolutions such as water conservation, dam building, anddiversion to recharge our aquifers. We were all givenwritten information provided by the National Park Serviceabout “Leave No Trace” principles and were remindedabout these intermittently. Wilderness conservation was afrequent topic, which included reviewing the rules ofsetting up camp, wilderness toileting, and of washingclothes and bodies at a safe distance from streams andlakes.Answering nature’s call in camping areas was animportant conservation issue. At each camp the packers setup a sit-down toilet, a deep pit covered by a seated woodenbox and surrounded by a tent. This would be disassembledand the hole covered up when we moved on to the nextcamp. Rules of what could go into the toilet depended onwhether we were in the National Park (nothing but organicwaste, not even toilet paper) or in the National Forest andJohn Muir Wilderness (toilet paper allowed). Mules on theother hand—well, enough said! Manure deposited aroundcamp had to be raked up by the pack team and dispersed inan attempt to leave the camp usable by the next group. Weusually stayed in designated pack camps. We too wereencouraged to use the rake after breaking camp to returnour tent site to the way it was before we set it up.THIS SIERRA CLUB OUTING HIRED PROFESSIONAL PACKERSBASED ON THE EASTERN SLOPE OF THE SIERRA NEVADA.Another day hike took us to Ediza Lake. At 9,291’ it liesdirectly at the foot of 13,143’ Mount Ritter and 12,936’Banner Peak. Also in Ansel Adams Wilderness, this lake istruly a gem, surrounded by forests, meadows, and graniteboulders.We camped two nights at Thousand Island Lake, 9,840’and one of the most spectacular lakes in the Eastern Sierra.Both the John Muir and Pacific Crest Trails skirt this lake.We were captivated by breathtaking sunrises and sunsets,and the lake reflections of Banner Peak. Day hiking aroundthe lake on our layover day was particularly enjoyable withgrand vistas and abundant pink-flower-bedecked fireweedbushes decorating the lakeshore. I will long rememberenjoying a very relaxed lunch on the end of one of thenarrow peninsulas, almost completely surrounded bywater, watching three redhead ducks landing nearby. AnHighlights of the TrekI will mention just a few of the many highlights. On oneof our four layover days, we day hiked to Minaret Lake,9,800’ at the foot of Minaret Pinnacles in the Ritter Range.Located within Ansel Adams Wilderness, this is one of mostUSING STOCK GAVE US SEVERAL CAMP COMFORTS THAT WOULDNOT HAVE BEEN PRACTICAL ON A TYPICAL BACKPACKING TRIP.BESIDES FOLDING CHAIRS, THERE WERE LARGE TARPS SO WECOULD STAY OUTSIDE OF OUR TENTS IN THE EVENT OF RAIN.TEHIPITE TOPICS – Winter 20177

world. Before us stood Mount Lyell, 13,114’, the highest peakin Yosemite National Park, its glacier hiding from us on itsnorthern flank. Looking southeast, back from where we hadcome, we were reminded how high and far one can gettaking one step at a time. To the east we could see the WhiteMountains, and to the north Kona Crest and Lyell Canyon,where we would camp on our last night in the wilderness.“The mountains are calling and I must go .”— John MuirON ONE OF OUR FOUR LAYOVER DAYS, WE HIKED THE SHORES OFTHOUSAND ISLAND LAKE, THE SOURCE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER,AND ENJOYED A GRAND VISTA FROM OUR CAMPSITE.osprey soared overhead, then dove to catch its trout lunchbefore flying off to tall trees not far from camp. Several of ustook the opportunity to fly fish, catching appetizers for ourmeal that day.Summiting Donohue Pass at 11,066’ gave us all a greatfeeling of accomplishment. From here we enter YosemiteNational Park, and in two days we would finish our trek atTuolumne Meadows, but for now we were on top of theEditor’s Note: The Sierra Club and Stock Use in the Sierra NevadaEarly in the twentieth century, notions of wilderness recreationencompassed, as Aldo Leopold put it, “the primitive arts of wildernesstravel, especially canoeing and packing.” In 1921, Leopold suggested thatdesignated wilderness areas should be at least large enough to allow for atwo-week pack trip. Long-distance hikers like John Muir, who struck outfor days in the backcountry, were not the usual wilderness user. Visitorstypically entered the region with the aid of pack stock, camping at lowerelevation and alpine meadows so they could let their animals free to grazeat night. The popularity of this method of travel was the impetus fordevelopment of a trail system in the national parks and other primitiveareas. The John Muir Trail, as a prominent example, was conceived as theroute closest along the Sierra crest as would allow a horse to traverse theentire length of the range. One of the goals of the early Sierra Club was tointroduce as many members as possible to the wonders of the highcountry, so as to create a corps of activists who would lobby forpreservation of wildlands in the new national parks. The Sierra Club wasincorporated “to explore, enjoy and render accessible the mountainregions of the Pacific Coast.” Sierra Club outings in the first half of thecentury were very large affairs, numbering as many as 275 participantsincluding packers, who stayed in the high camp for as long as a month. Asbackcountry users and managers began to note the adverse impacts ofpack stock in trampling vegetation, eroding trails, and fouling rivers withanimal waste, the consequent debate centered not on eliminating stockuse in the wilderness, but on reducing the size of the stock-supportedparties. In 1947, high trips were reduced to no more than 125 people.Further discussions centered more on establishing a national wildernesspreservation system than on reducing impacts by visitors. David Browernoted, “Those who like best the most Spartan of wilderness trips—crosscountry backpacking—must make haste slowly in any attempts to imposesuch trips upon others, or there may be too few men in the wilderness toprotect it.” William Colby, secretary of the Sierra Club for 46 years, whohad organized and led these high trips annually for 29 years, defended thelarge high trips by arguing that the number who enjoyed the mountainsthrough these trips “more than made up for the fact that the Sierra Clubpack trains did eat up a great deal of grass.” Since 1946, the Sierra Clubhas cooperated with associations of commercial packers in keeping stockcamps clean. These organizations have been instrumental in helping8AT THE SUMMIT OF DONAHUE PASS, THE HIGHEST POINT INOUR TRIP, WE ENTERED YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK.improve packers’ methods and equipment in order to preserve the HighSierra wilderness. Sierra Club leaders supported continued stock use, butrealized that the emphasis on improving access with more trails and roadswould endanger the character of the high country in the parks. In 1951 theSierra Club revised its statement of purpose to read “explore, enjoy, andpreserve the Sierra Nevada and other scenic resources of the UnitedStates.” High trips continued, but the new emphasis was on minimumimpact camping. The Club published a guide, Going Light—With Backpackor Burro, edited by Brower. Even as the individual outings became smallerand more self-reliant, the total number of people participating in theoutings increased dramatically. The belief that the mountains are bigenough to sustain high use and recover from impacts persisted into the1960s. Then, with the passing of the Wilderness Act in 1964, the explosiveawakening of ecological awareness in 1969, and the ready availability ofultralight aluminum-frame backpacks, the numbers of recreationalwilderness users increased dramatically, increasing tensions betweenbackpackers and stock users. In 1970, the Sierra Club commissioned aseries of studies examining the social and environmental impacts ofrecreational stock use in wilderness, documenting for the first time theconflict between hikers and stock users. The study recommended thatpack stock should be regulated and restricted to areas specifically setaside for stock use. The Club changed its own stock-supported trips,reducing numbers of animals and allowable weights. The famous high tripswere abandoned in 1972, and stock trips were limited to 25 participants.Stock users around the country began to organize in response, realizingthat if they didn’t clean up their act and change their image, they couldlose their right to use horses in the protected wilderness. 1979 saw thefounding of the Back Country Horsemen of America, a service andeducation organization of non-commercial wilderness stock users with ami

Notes from a Sierra Club Outing . Devils Postpile to Tuolumne Meadows — August 5-16, 2016 — Story and photos by Dan Comelli. My wife, Mary, and I signed up for this popular Sierra Club Outings offering nine months in advance, as soon as the trip was posted. We knew these treks fill up quickly, as this would be the third trip of this kind .