Rewarding adventures into the unknown

Sometimes we can get involved or challenged into a problem-solving situation.

This happened to me a few years ago when the decision was made between Greg Winslow, his son, Ron, and me to venture back into a remote area around the San Joaquin River.

The difficulty was in locating a route descending from this mountain down into the canyon cut over time by the San Joaquin River. We could see the river 800-plus feet below us flowing through a large flat area, which would be ideal to set up a base camp.

Now could we find a direction down into this area without using ropes to descend?

It was the late fall season when we decided to attempt searching the area for a possible route to the river. First we followed an old forest road for a half a mile before starting the cross-country hike to the canyon rim at 5,700 feet.

Next we descended down this mountain roughly another half-mile before arriving at our designated base campsite at 4,800 feet. This camp offers views into the canyon with over two miles of distance visibility.

The base camp is a necessity because of the variation in altitude between future campsites. After looking through our field glasses, we knew it would be impossible to hike from one campsite to the other after reaching the river.

The steep canyon walls and turbulent water between locations makes it impassable. Now our main objective was to locate a new route descending into this new area.

First we decided to descend on a trail we used the previous year to set up our second camp along the river to spend the evening fishing for that trophy trout hiding in this remote section of the river. Nineteen inches was the largest trout, but many were caught between 12 and 16 inches.

Being sportsmen we used the technique of catch and release for 99 percent of our fish. Just think, next year those lucky fish will be larger to tease those fortunate fishermen who find this remote trail.

The first morning came early and I was up and around at 5:30 a.m. I grabbed my camera and hiked the river looking for a photo opportunity in the soft morning light.

This entire canyon was boasting natural caves carved by centuries of valiant water during the spring runoff. While walking inland, I decided to investigate one particular cave again this year that had a natural shower.

Water would cascade down the mountain and flow through the cave to create a natural shower bouncing off the rocks on the cave’s side walls. The floor of this cave was covered with sand with only two inches of water flowing toward the San Joaquin River.

The cold shower will be the only adjustment each morning.

While walking toward the cave my attention was interrupted by the crunching of dry leaves behind this huge boulder. My first thought was that it must be a deer because the crunching was not loud.

I immediately put my camera in hand and waited for the deer to appear. As the crushing noise got louder and, to my surprise, that expected deer turned out to be a 400-plus pound black bear.

As quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. During that excitement, I forgot to push my shutter button on my camera. Both the bear and I were surprised.

Last year, I found bear tracks following a small stream flowing down the mountain. We decided to follow these tracks during departure and maybe this would be a shorter trek leaving this area to our base camp at 4,800 feet.

We were lucky once again, and this remote route was much easier and we saved over half an hour in climbing.

There was a clear sky that night and every star was clear and bright with added bonuses of shooting stars streaking across the night sky. Mother Nature gave us a memorable light show that evening.

Morning would be another drop in elevation to the remote area we previewed with our field glasses the previous year.

We followed the tree line, skirting over huge slabs of granite and using Class 3 maneuvers. I could feel success with each step as we got closer to the San Joaquin River.

Only 300 feet to our objective, but the mountain resisted our advances. She would not offer us safe passage to our destination.

Yes, we were disappointed but looking through our field glasses and scanning the area, it was a Class 4 descent beyond this point.

After our strenuous climb back to our base camp at 4,800 feet, we decided maybe next year after studying our maps we’ll look for another route down to that remote area along the San Joaquin River.

Tony Krizan describes himself as an “adventurer” and he explores the Sierra Nevada range on a regular basis. He can be reached at MTNMANP40@iCloud.com.