SummitPost.org

How challenging is it to follow the route up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek in the dark (with a headlamp)?

sampage wrote:How challenging is it to follow the route up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek in the dark (with a headlamp)?

(edit misleading stuff)
If you want to start in the AM, pick a night with a gibbous waning moon.

Mea Culpa, I was thinking of the N Fork PINE CR.

I've been up the E ledges in the dark and it was pretty easy but I had been up there in the daylight before; so I was familiar with that section.

If ya know where you are going (have you previously done it in the daytime??) then you shouldn't have any problem.

If not, it becomes hilarious for anyone there that knows their way and is watching all the headlamps roaming around aimlessly. In some cases, folks have gotten themselves into a major bind heading up corner systems that ARE NOT THE LEDGES.

I highly recommend one checks out and gets very familiar with the route during the day prior to doing it at night.

Ditto. During daylight it's not too complicated, but I'd imagine that route finding would be pretty tricky in the dark.

On a well moon lit night its very doable. Yet plenty of people have had problems route finding on the ledges in the daylight. I you find yourself to be occasionally “geography challenged” you might want to wait till dawn. The ledges are 1 to 1 1/2 hours from the trailhead.

I agree. tricky at night w/o having done it before. tricky maybe even if you did - it was for me!

I didn't find the ledges too tricky, but my first time up (in the dark without much moon) I followed Croft's directions for the slabs between upper and lower boyscout incorrectly and had a scary experience. Really is nice to have been up there in the day once before, as the line then becomes obvious. If you don't, well, cross lower boyscout when you first reach it, and when the trail enters a boulder field, stay low and look for cairns straight ahead (don't get suckered up too early)...

Thanks everyone. I'll be doing this early Sunday morning.

sampage wrote:Thanks everyone. I'll be doing this early Sunday morning.

Pack some "bad weather gear"

Good luck.

You can also just skip the ledges and wander up the stream bed in the bushes.
So many others have *not* found the ledges that there is a use trail....

technoCrank wrote:You can also just skip the ledges and wander up the stream bed in the bushes.
So many others have *not* found the ledges that there is a use trail....

NO!

Dave Kirk (BCUSFS Ranger for the NFLPC Area) has been busting his ass this summer RESTORING this entire area. EVERYONE needs to stay on the established trail and not wander into areas that are now in the restoration process.

If everyone did as you state, the entire drainage would be in shambles and the fauna trampled on. It would impact all of us in a negative way. Especially us that frequent that area weekly for our pay checks. It would most certainly impose more restrictions for sure.

We do not want that!!!!

I did not intend to encourage people to skip the ledges.
They're great fun.

It is a simple fact that many don't find the way.
Especially coming down, they just plunge into
the bushes, down the stream. Hence the "off-route"
use trail, which probably will remain....

I'd expect the result sought by the Chief requires directional signage,
which would contribute its own impact to the environment
and the experience.

I went up the N. Fork in the dark on Sunday morning and had no problems. We were able to see the ledges by headlamp from across the creek. It started getting light after the ledges.

The Chief wrote:...and the fauna trampled on.