The next story I want to share with you is about the second pack trip, with me and Melvin and Robert, the following year. We’re now a year older (11, 12 and 13 respectively) and a year wiser. We made the same deal with Dad and Mom: after haying we could take our little trip. This time we decided to go up to what we then had called Baldy Lakes. These are now called San Francisco Lakes up at Frisco Creek.
So we left home the same as we had the year before. But by now we had acquired a real pack saddle and panniers. And after (or because of) last year, we had learned a thing or two.
Early in the morning, we headed out, on up the same route to Rock Creek. From there, we followed the old horse trail up the North Fork. About half way up the mountain, there was an old, abandoned saw mill. We figured that was a good a place as any to pick for a camp, so we stopped there for the day. Fishing was tremendous; any old fly would catch a fish. Dinner was pretty special – sure beat just opening a can to warm up and fill you.
The next day, we packed back up, and rode up over the top of the pass between North Rock Creek and Frisco Creek, and continued on to just where you dropped into the basin of Baldy Lakes. That particular area was pretty unusual. It was formed in a way where it was made of a series of benches, each bench a 10 -1 2 foot grassy place with rounded rocks, then dropping 3 - 4 feet down to the next bench. So, it was like a big huge stadium in a way, but all in the high mountains above tree line.
We found our way down to the alpine lakes and figured we’d set up camp there. Our way of setting camp was with a tarp, no tent. Being above tree line, and with timber somewhat scarce, and little to tie the tarp to, we decided to lay the tarp out starting from an upper bench, going down over a lower bench where we’d have our little camp. Since there was not much wood, we used rocks to stake and tie down the tarp.
With camp set, off we went to fish the lakes. We caught some 2 lb beautiful native trout and again were lucky to enjoy a big fish dinner. Then we crawled into our bedrolls under that tarp and anticipated a nice long night sleep.
About 4 am we woke up with a start. Our tarp had caved in. It was snowing like crazy. We got up fast, got a fire started with scraps of wood we had gathered earlier. We then collected our stuff up, decided to have a warm meal, and pack on down to a lower – and warmer – elevation.
Another part of the deal of us being allowed by Dad and Mom to take the trip was that we had to buy our food with our own money. So, being the thrifty young men we were, I remember we had bought and packed a bunch of cans of Spagettios. They were sold 2 cans for 15 cents. A bargain. We bought them because they were cheap and easy. There we were in the snow, with a pot of water on the fire, and all we had to do was open the cans, put them in water to heat, and we’d be fed. Of course, it was still snowing, but there we were, huddled under a tarp, each with a spoon, eating from a can of Spagettios as the sky started to get a little light.
Well, we packed up and moved on, over the Divide and on to the other side, moving as quick as we could. It stopped snowing when we finally rode down to an elevation of about at 9000 feet. There, it turned to a light drizzle. We rode on to where the North Fork of Rock Creek meets the South Fork. We had known of an old Ranger Station just up the South Fork and headed that way. We rode up to the old site; no one was there. There was an old barn with a lean-to that was probably built for the Ranger to keep a car sheltered. But since no one had been stationed there for years, we figured that lean-to would be a mighty nice warm, dry shelter for these three wet and cold boys. We put our horses in the barn, and spread out the horse blankets there to dry. Then the three of us went into that lean-to (maybe we could be in prison still for this) and build a fire right in middle of that lean-do. As you can imagine, it was terribly smoky with the fire under that roof and the smoke hovering under the shelter there with us. It was a wonder we didn’t burn that thing down. We ran our ropes across top of lean-to and hung our clothes and bed rolls out to dry in that smoky warm air.
By evening, most everything was pretty dry. We spent a warm, dry night under that shelter, and the next day, rode home.
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