Treasures in the wilderness

A few years ago, I was relaxing in the restaurant at Mono Hot Springs after my three hour drive through the mountains. While capitalizing on a few personal adventures with the local residents, an individual dressed in hunting attire sat down at the table next to us.

The hiker looked exhausted sitting by himself waiting for his evening meal. So we invited him to our table to join in our little group thinking maybe he’d have an interesting story to share.

He stated that hiking cross-country makes a man hungry for a home cooked meal. Between a few bites of food, he continued to share his background and his love for the wilderness.

Over the last 20-plus years he has hunted in these Sierra Nevada Mountains. As his conversation progressed it really got my attention when he mentioned a downed aircraft he stumbled upon two years ago.

After his lengthy conversation, I had the coordinates of the general location to this wreck site. I was so excited that evening packing my gear for early departure tomorrow morning to start my personal search.

The drive to the trailhead only took 25 minutes through the winding mountain roads. This old horse trailhead was located at the south end of Edison Lake at an elevation of 7,600 feet.

Looking at my map, I would follow the horse trail until I reached an elevation of 8,000-plus feet. Upon entering the trailhead, I noticed fresh footprints from two hikers. Maybe I’ll have company somewhere along the trail this morning?

The information written by the hunter said: cross the first major stream then at the second stream, back-track five minutes, turn south and head across country.

Mountains can surprise you with their canyons thick with vegetation and old growth trees. After 20 minutes, I located the second stream. N ow to backtrack, find my location on my topographic map and start my cross-country trek.

Hiking through the first canyon, I came upon a huge 10 foot girth oak tree that was cut quite a few years ago. Whoever the person was, looks as if they tried to build a cabin and was unsuccessful and did not complete their project.

No aircraft in this canyon, so I’ll hike to the next canyon which is 200 feet higher in elevation. In front of me was a used game trail; now just follow this path to the top.

The plateau revealed a small seasonal lake about an acre in size. Trees and large rocks surrounded its borders. The tracks of deer, bear and other small animals were along its shoreline.

I followed this plateau to its western edge to the point where it dropped off into a canyon 200-plus feet below. I searched the canyon walls with my field glasses and there was no sign of a crash site.

Below me were two hikers, maybe they were associated with the footprints at the trailhead earlier this morning. They were following an established trail skirting around the mountain. I didn’t contact them because the distance between us was out of voice recognition.

Now to double back and I’ll hike to the western end of this plateau. This long, winding plateau led me to the second stream before it descended to the original trail.

I checked my map again to set a new direction. If I hiked northwest, I would discover two small canyons with only an elevation gain of 150 feet. So far I have covered about two square miles of mountain, still without a sign of the downed aircraft.

I have only two hours of daylight remaining and I would use most of that time locating the trail and hiking back to my truck.

I hiked back to the stream and followed it down to the trail. My map showed that I had another canyon to cross before reaching the second stream.

Maybe the aircraft would be in that canyon. On a positive note, these high elevation canyons are beautiful with the old growth trees, small mountain brush and interesting rock formations.

Once again, no aircraft, but the stream was there for me to follow down to the trail. Following the stream was not easy. The foliage was very thick and in some places the rocks were very slippery. So I stayed above the stream and eliminated this hiking problem.

Twice I heard something large moving through the bushes next to the stream. It could have been a deer or a bear, but I was not going to investigate.

After 45 minutes, I came across an old Native American campsite. The setting rocks and small stones circling the fire pit were still in place. This is an ideal location for a campsite only 30 feet from the stream.

Finally, I located the trail and estimated I should arrive back to the trailhead before dark.

While hiking along the trail I met a friendly gray squirrel. I watched him leap from tree to tree following me. With each leap the distance between us shortened until only six feet separated us.

Then I remembered I had a bag of peanuts in day pack. The squirrel and I shared the peanuts before I continued down the mountain. I arrived back at the trailhead just before having to use my flashlight to follow this trail.

The following day I phoned the hunter and explained my day’s searching. He apologized and said he had given me the wrong directions.

He estimated that I was only two miles from the aircraft location.

The conclusion of this adventure will have to wait until spring so I can plan another adventure with the correct directions.

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