Day 4 ~ August 5, 2006 ~ Hike to Cirque of the Towers, Camp 3           

Last night was windy and at some point I heard light sprinkles. But I slept well and was excited about the day ahead. We crawled out of our tents at the usual time, 5:30am, gathered our cameras and strolled over to the Deep Lake outlet. This was now very familiar ground. We each picked a spot for sunrise and waited in the cold pre-dawn for the light to break. We both shot different views than we had the morning before. And we because of our new knowledge of the local area, we were able to maximize our efficiency and get a number of images.

We wrapped up shooting around 7:00am, ate a quick breakfast and began breaking down Camp 2. I had mixed feelings about leaving this place. I could easily spend another 2 days here, but I was also eager to see what was waiting for us in the Cirque of the Towers. We hit the granite slab "trail" back down towards Clear Lake around 8:00am. The hike down was quick, easy and scenic - clear waters flowing down the rocks at our feet and morning light bathing our destination, the Cirque of the Towers. We reached Clear Lake in less than 30 minutes. I saw a small cascade and the distant Warbonnet in the background and thought I'd take a digital snap. I was composing the shot, in my mind, as I walked across the granite slab. And obviously I was not paying enough attention to the footing. Slip! Clunk! Down I went - right on my backside. I must have sufficient padding back there, because, luckily, even with the extra 60 lb. of my pack I didn't really get hurt. Rick was kind enough to be (or act) concerned, instead of bursting out laughing. Anyway... I took the shot, which wasn't worth it, and we continued downhill to Big Sandy Lake. There were a number of camps now around Big Sandy Lake. It was the weekend. And there were definitely more people. We took a water and snack break on the North side of Big Sandy Lake near the trail junction to Jackass Pass. It was time to load some fuel into our bodies for what we knew was going to be a difficult, uphill climb.

The Jackass Pass Trail wastes no time in letting you know what the conditions will be like. It climbs steeply out of the Big Sandy River valley - switchback after switchback. We met a group of backpackers on this first set of switchbacks. They were headed out, gave us some info on the conditions and we had a nice conversation. I welcomed each opportunity to stop and catch my breath by talking to others on the trail. Where have you been? Which route did you take? How was the weather? Were there a lot of people camped in the cirque? I'd read well justified reports about the frustration people have felt while hiking the trail to Jackass Pass. It goes uphill, has some flat, more uphill, then downhill (!), only to start back uphill again, and uphill once more, before descending back down into the Cirque of the Towers. Lots of up and down and some of it over difficult trail conditions - steep switchbacks, boulder fields, tree roots. It is not an easy trail, even for the seasoned backpacker accustom to carrying a large pack. We arrived at North Lake at 11:00am. You must climb several hundred feet up the ridge along the Southeast side of the lake before dropping down to the lake itself. Continuing on the trail, the climb out of the North Lake depression is probably the steepest section of the trail. The hot sun reflecting off bare ground and granite rocks combined with the steep, almost stair stepping, grade made for an energy sapping climb. Luckily, this ascent is fairly short - 1/2 mile or so - and it tops out into some tree cover. And then it is only a short distance to the Climber's Cutoff. This is a shortcut into the Southwest, upper basin of the Cirque of the Towers. It is often used by climbers because it provides access to base camp locations closer to the climbing routes. It takes you around the West side of Arrowhead Lake and over the true "pass" on Jackass Pass ridge. This "true" pass is a couple hundred feet lower in elevation than the "official" Jackass Pass along the main trail. Perhaps this is what gives the pass it's namesake? Rick and I regrouped at the Climber's Cutoff trail junction where we met several people whom we probed for the trail conditions of both the Climber's Cutoff and the main Jackass Pass trail. I was set on taking the Climber's Cutoff. I knew it would save us some climbing and should put us closer to our planned Camp 3 location. Rick was not sure about the Climber's Cutoff route due to the descriptions of navigating the boulder field on the West side of Arrowhead Lake. He was also not feeling good and was just about totally "spent" from the climbing so far. After much deliberation and stalling we finally decided that I would go on into the cirque and try to find Jack. And he would meet up with us later in the afternoon or, maybe, spend the night near North Lake and day-hike into the cirque the following day. Again, our gear independence allowed us more options...

Shortly after noon, I headed down the Climber's Cutoff trail alone. Rick was partially justified with his reservations regarding crossing the boulder field. It was fairly difficult with a large pack, but certainly do-able. Unfortunately, I did not make the task any easier on myself by getting off track and too high in the boulder field. The best route is to stay low until approaching the very large, bus-sized boulders at the Northwest side of Arrowhead Lake, and then follow the cairns through the large boulder field. I followed some cairns that led me up higher right to the sheer face of the East buttress of Warbonnet Peak. There is a cairn marked route that works it's way through the top of the boulder field, but it is certainly more difficult. I was glad that Rick was not following me. I would have felt bad leading him astray and off-trail. Although, had he been with me, he probably would have kept me on track! I emerged from the boulder field about 100 feet above the trail as it carved a path through the tundra of the "true" Jackass Pass. Until that time, I did not know that I was off-route. My reaction was, "D'oh!" But since the trail was right in front of me and the additional hard work had already past, I just shrugged it off. Only then did I look up to see the spectacular view into the Cirque of the Towers - granite spires of all different shapes sprouting out of the tundra and trees and rising into the sky. What a site! It was about 1:00pm which was a little earlier than Jack was expecting us. And the cirque was much larger, more treed and contained more topography than I had pictured in my mind from studying the topo maps. It was not going to be trivial to find Jack in all this jumble of willow, trees, boulders, and water. I should have dropped my pack right then and scouted the area for signs of Jack's camp and/or a place to make my own camp. Instead I trudged down into the cirque with my full pack. What was I thinking? After hiking around a while and no sign of Jack, I began to "bonk." I was really tired. I decided to just find my own campsite and would plan on running into Jack while shooting in the morning. Right as I made that decision, I saw movement in my peripheral vision, snapped my head around and saw Jack hiking up the trail. He was about 60 yards away and stopped dead in his tracks when he heard me yell his name. He looked around but didn't see me through the opening in the trees. A second shout out and he located my direction. We met up near the North Popo Agie River and I practically collapsed, sitting down on the nearest rock, exhausted. He gave me the good news that he had found a sweet campsite. And then he gave me the bad news that the camp was located most of the way back up the trail to Jackass Pass. We caught up on the past day's events and Jack let me take a break, getting a snack and some water. Then we made our way back up the trail to Camp 3, high, up on the Jackass Pass ridge. Jack was right! This was truly an incredible campsite - a flat tundra shelf on the Northwest side of the Jackass Pass ridge overlooking the entire cirque. We had a front row seat view into the Cirque of the Towers. Shoes optional - the unbroken tundra was soft underfoot. Just don't step on a bumble bee attending one of the many wildflowers.

I was beat. I slowly unpacked gear and set up my tent. Jack took off to a vantage point overlooking Pingora Peak for a late afternoon shot. I eventually began to recover, grabbed a big snack and meandered down to join him. After Jack burned a sheet or 2 of film (I think?), we returned to camp for a 6:00pm dinner and kicked back conversation. The discussion turned to where we should shoot sunset. Jack had been here the previous night and said the evening opportunities were slim due to the height of the cirque's peaks and our proximity to them. We decided that Jackass Pass ridge, above camp, would allow us to shoot back towards the Deep and Temple Lake basins and/or over the Cirque of the Towers, so that's where we headed - up. Ouch. I quickly found out that my legs had not quite recovered from this afternoon's exercise. The sunset light was disappointing. Clouds moved in and the skies went mostly gray. I didn't take any large format shots.

We strolled back into camp around 9:00pm. I set up my tripod for a night-time star trail long exposure using an extra stuff sack weighted full of rocks. Then I set my alarm for 1:00am and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Total distance traveled: 8.3 miles, Total vertical: 1580 feet   ~   Download Route: GPX, Google Earth