How To Fall Off A Mountain

Rich Benbrook

Using the Maps

Mount Whitney

Monarch Lake

Vidette Meadow

Cottonwood Lakes

Onion Valley to
Whitney Portal

Symmes Creek to
Mineral King

Mount Tyndall

Whitney Group

Mount Shasta

Mount Williamson

Palisades

Middle Palisade
Revisited

Thunder Mountain

Middle Palisade
Try Again

Middle Palisade
Take Three

Mount Sill

Thunderbolt Peak
Climbing Up

Thunderbolt Peak
Climbing Down

Thunderbolt Peak
Rescue

Aerial Photos

National Park Service Search and Rescue

Links

Vidette Meadow

maps:

Many years passed during which I had neither the time for backpacking trips nor the cash to purchase my own gear. Just getting started in my first career as a glider flight instructor, I worked six days each week and made very little money. As I became more established in this job, my schedule grew more flexible and I was able to take some time off. I rented backpacking gear and, along with three friends, entered the John Muir Wilderness from the Onion Valley trailhead on the east side of the Sierras. This area is very popular with backpackers, as it offers the shortest route across the Sierras. After climbing Kearsarge Pass, the trail drops rapidly to Bubbs Creek and continues west, eventually terminating at Cedar Grove. This was the backcountry into which I had longed to travel since that early vacation in 1969, and I was finally here.

We planned to follow the trail southwest to Bubbs Creek, then turn back northeast and eventually work our way up into Center Basin, a very remote and infrequently traveled area. We spent the first night at Kearsarge Lakes, just west of Kearsarge Pass. This area is also very popular with bears, who gather here to feed on bags of gourmet camping food improperly stored by hikers. There are a number of "bear poles" around Kearsarge Lakes, and long metal rods are provided to hoist food bags up to hooks on top of these poles. I expect some day bears will evolve opposable thumbs so they too can operate the food retrieval devices.

On the second day, we descended to Vidette Meadow on Bubbs Creek. Here we found a lovely campsite. We caught fish and had a great dinner. As there were no bear poles nearby, we hung our food from a large tree. Using the recommended counterbalance method, we placed all our food in nylon bags, tossed a rope over a tree limb, and pulled our cache up to safety. Campfires were allowed, so we enjoyed this rare luxury, then went to sleep under a bright moon.

Not long after the moon disappeared behind high ridges to the south, we heard a great crash from our food tree. A bear had climbed up, then crawled out onto the limb supporting the bags of food. The textbook says to select a limb too big to break, but not big enough to support a bear. They claim food will be safe here. This is fantasy. The bear simply climbed out as far as the limb would support, then broke the rest off and came plummeting to the ground. Bears, apparently, are well-padded and do not mind a little fall if it results in dinner. I later read a warning posted by a backcountry ranger; they even had a name for this all too common behavior: Kamikaze Bear. With our food carried just outside range of our flashlights, the bear proceeded to feast. We had to listen as he munched away on our supplies, and were unable to do anything to stop him. Periodically, he would let out a loud, uncomfortable sounding groan. I don't think freeze dried food in foil packets is particularly easy to digest. The noises did not induce a peaceful sleep, and eventually we gave in, stoked the campfire, and set up until dawn.

In the morning light, we explored into the forest from where we heard our food disappear. We found a few scraps of litter, which we collected for proper disposal, and some great piles of bear vomit which we did not collect. We also found the bear's den, a matted area of tall grass and brush near the meadow's edge. We knew it belonged to the bear because of all the fur snagged by the thorny bushes. In our haste to set up camp the night before, we had not noticed that we were squarely in the middle of the bear's summer hangout.

We cancelled our plans to enter Center Basin, and prepared to end our trip early. We had very little food left, but still had fishing gear, so we decided to spend one more night. We caught more fresh trout, and cooked them with wild onions over the campfire. The bear returned for dinner, this time while we were cooking. He was crossing a creek on a fallen log as he made his way into camp. We shouted and banged pans, but he didn't seem properly frightened. He stood up on his hind legs and sniffed the air to better assess the risk we posed. Determining we didn't smell like much of a threat, he continued toward us. I threw a couple rocks in a last minute attempt at discouraging the beast, and prepared to abandon my fish dinner and run for the hills.

A direct hit with a rock did the trick though, and the bear finally retreated. A comfortable motor home was waiting for us at the trailhead, and it suddenly seemed like a much better place to camp. Too late to retreat before nightfall, we spent another sleepless night under the stars and vowed never to leave the motor home again.