My Backpacking adventures in the Sierras with Rio Hondo College Geology Students and Teachers.
1979. I believe this was a 10 day backpack trip....In my book I may have written it as a 2 week backpack.
I will probably revise it ......
Miss Disco Benita Morgan , 1980 Photos by Mel Caskey
DUCK LAKE???
2015
in July of 2014 I went Backpacking in the Sierras again. I decided to go back to the Duck Pass Trail and went past Arrowhead Lake to Skelton Lake for 2 days. I should have taken a copy of the photo from 1979 to help me re-take the shot in the exact location.
Instead, I took a photo on the other side of the lake.
In 1979 I went there with a college Geology class. Below is a chapter from my upcoming book ......
Return to El Monte
The Summer of 1980 came with a promise of warm beautiful weather in California. I signed up for the summer backpacking trip for Geology studies with Mr. Mel Caskey. I had taken his Geology Lecture class and Lab in the spring semester at Rio Hondo College partly because I had always loved collecting rocks and identifying them since 8th grade. I loved Mr. Caskeys animated way of lecturing, making the class so very interesting. I have always had a problem with slow dull lecturers, losing interest and daydreaming in classes when I should have been paying such joyous attention as I found myself doing in Mel Caskeys classes.
The entire spring semester in Mr. Caskeys Geology lecture class, went by quickly. I loved the Field Trips up the San Andreas fault, to the Devils Punchbowl, and the famous Vasquez Rocks. Then the class hiked the hills above Rio Hondo College and had snacks while listening to Mr. Caskeys lectures.
There was one guy in the class that I found smartly handsome, and he made it a point to sit next to me in lecture class . He did his best to distract me with his flirtations. But I stuck to my guns and did my best in the class. Mr Caskey noticed my enthusiasm but I fear he may have added me to his ‘dingy girl’ list. He regularly commented on my fancy Disco attire obviously unimpressed with the whole Disco scene. I didn’t think I dressed all that fancy at the time but looking back now, I know I must have been a sight. I wore neatly starched Jordache , Sasson and Oscar De La Renta jeans to school when most students were still wearing Levis or Polyester pants. I Ironed my designer jeans with a crease down the middle every day. I wore dress boots where others wore sneakers. After growing up slightly homely and scrawny looking, I was being all that I could be. Of course at home I wore sweats, t-shirts, sneakers that for some reason, in that era we all called ‘Tennies’ made of cheap white canvas and very thin rubber soles.
By the middle of the semester, Mr. Caskey had nicknamed me, “Miss Disco Benita” But when I went to sign up for the summer backpacking trip, he seemed skeptical that I would survive such a treacherous adventure in my designer attire. He tried his best to talk me out of going. He had no idea the backpacking experience I had already had. I asked him “Please just ask the PE Teacher Mr. Ken Bozz. I have gone on snowshoe backpacks, Catalina Island, Bear creek, and ask Mr Quixote the History Professor, I have been through the Grand Canyon and Catalina with his class too!”
I eventually convinced him to let me go, but he jokingly warned me not to complain about a thing on this trip, and not to wear designer jeans. Thus began the adventure in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with Mel Caskey and the Geology students.
The students that signed up for the trip had to attend the mandatory meeting a few weeks before the trip. At this meeting we went over equipment lists, meal menus and distribution, carpooling instructions, Topo maps of where we were backpacking to, emergency procedures, and last of all, we had to choose partners for the tents. Two hikers per tent, one would carry the poles, the other would carry the tent itself and the rain fly. The four other girls going had already teamed up leaving me to choose a male partner. I saw a rather chubby boy begin to approach me and I turned quickly away and asked the guy next to me, whom I knew from Geology because he happened to be my experiment buddy in the Lab that semester, “Will you be my partner?” He was tall, slim, looking to be in shape enough to handle a two week excursion in the wild. Our partners were our buddies, we had to hike together, share food rations, and stay behind with them if they hiked slow.
I did not want to be stuck with the chubby guy who would probably bring up the rear and maybe want to give up before the trip was through. You wouldn’t find many chubby guys running track or climbing Mt Everest. So in my immature way of thinking, as a ignorant 20 year old girl, I had my theories about fat college guys. They ate more, and probably might fart more and snore more. I knew I could never sleep with a loud snoring farting dude.
Since my partner was a bit tall, I asked if he wanted to use my larger three man dome tent. He seemed relieved to find out I had a big tent and he said he would be willing to carry it for me. I had a premium top of the line North Face dome tent for backpacking and it was indeed roomy. My ex-boyfriend Mickey bought the tent for me on my birthday last year and we backpacked in the Sierras for a week last summer.
Everyone was paired up and ready to go. We met at the College to carpool. I was in a car with a super nice Japanese guy named Larry driving, who, for some crazy reason I found myself slightly attracted to, a girl called Lori, who also seemed to take a liking to Larry, and my partner Frank.
We listened to Peter Frampton and Zeppelin music all the way up. It took all day to get to the Mammoth Mountain area. When we got there we went to a campground by Lake Mary. In the evening, we just spread our pads and sleeping bags out on the ground to sleep, not bothering with the tents. The weather was still warm in the day and mild at night in the Sierras this late in the summer. The forecasted reports said there was a chance of some scattered thunderstorms in the high elevations for the next several days. We were prepared for any weather condition.
In the morning, we set out early. It was only four miles to the first camp. We took our time as per Mr. Caskeys instructions. He wanted us to adjust to the elevation slowly, so far no one was complaining of the altitude, but the chubby boy did prove my theory correct as he was the last one to arrive at this camp site.
There was one major problem that no one, including Mr. Caskey had noticed until we got to our first camp spot. Apparently, there was one student who signed up for this backpacking adventure who did not make it. No one knew why and of all the luck, that person had been partnered up with the chubby guy. Mr. Caskey spent ten minutes scolding the empty air about him in a fit wondering how this could have happened. On top of that the chubby guy had not brought a tent and had already lost his canteen full of water on the trek in. Everyone took turns laughing, crying and shaking their heads incredulously.
Mr Caskey gathered everyone about in a circle and said, “Okay now folks, we have a problem here. We have a big boy…(he paused to look at the boy and sighed) …with no partner, no tent, and everyone else here has just a two man Pup tent!” (another pause ) “What in the world are we to do?” At that moment I thought,“Oh crap!”
Just a second later my partner Frank raised his hand, like, this was a regular classroom or something, and said, “Mr. Caskey, I have a three man dome tent, we have room for one more.” Mr. Caskeys smile seemed to curve up almost to his eyebrows as he gleefully replied, “Frank, you’re on your way to earning an ‘A’ on this trip!” and he clapped his hands and walked off.
I started to open my mouth to, well, not to complain about arrangements, after all, what had to be done was what had to be done, but, I wanted to claim that the big tent was mine and had been MY idea, and that I should get the ‘A’, but Mr. Caskey had turned and walked away before I could say a thing. I realized that this meant he was our partner and we would have to hike with him, in back of everyone else. I thought that Mr. Caskey probably had me labeled as one of the ones who would be complaining on this trek. So I swore to myself that I would prove myself to be super hiker.
… .Deep in thought I hadn’t realized that the chubby guy was approaching me. He poked at my shoulder smiling and said, “Hey we’re partners now! My name is Gabby.” I turned to Frank who was already clearing an area to set up the tent and started to say what I thought of this whole thing, but decided the better of it and as I stomped away, I said, “I hope you guys don’t snore!”
I awoke a bit too early, it was not yet light out. There was condensation dripping on me from the ceiling of my dome tent. I felt like I was crunched up in a corner…in a round tent? Tall guy Frank was in the center, taking advantage of the full length of the tent, Gabby was on the other side, probably crunched up like I was, and I then realized why I had woken so soon. The noise Gabby made in his sleep sounded like a sick duck drowning in mucus. My second theory of chubby boys had proven true. They snore.
I was in the middle of the wilderness, partners with a tall guy taking up all the room in my tent, and a chubby guy who snored. What else could possibly go wrong?
As it turned out, there were two other teams who had a dome tent that would have fit three people. Of course Frank spoke up first so we were doomed with the slow hiker. At the end of our second days hike, as I came strolling in last with Frank and Gabby, I became the object of criticism and vowed again to prove myself. One of the guys who got to camp first, I silently nick-named him Macho Man because I couldn’t yet recall his real name, made a comment that made me want to kill him, someone, anyone. He said to Frank while glancing my way, “Hey, looks like your stuck with the slow ones” And before I could say anything, Gabby spoke up, “Yeah, we had to stop a lot to wait on Benita here.” Everyone around and even Frank laughed at that as I stood there with my mouth agape in agonized shock! Mr Caskey heard Gabbys comment and walked over to say, “Miss Disco here, she better not give us any trouble, this trip is only beginning!” I held my breath trying not to argue back. I promised myself I wouldn’t complain. This was supposed to be a Geology study trip for a actual grade in Lab, and I wanted an ‘A’. Gabby was not helping things.
Later that evening I confronted Frank when there was no one else around, “Hey Frank, since you volunteered to sleep with that….well with Gabby, from now on YOU are in charge of him, and I will hike with Larry and his partner Julie…you will only see me at night when we have to sleep.” There was a pause of silence so I took the initiative to voice more grievances, “YOU laughed at me and you know darn well that I wasn’t slow…” Frank looked surprised and said, “It was just all in fun, no one meant any harm…” I shook my head and cut in, “Mr. Caskey thinks I am going to be a burden on this trip because I wore Jordache Jeans and make-up to school! He doesn’t know me at all!”
Frank looked at me confused as I rambled on, “I have backpacked the Sierras before, and through the Grand Canyon as well as dozens of other places…” Frank looked around as if for help and then said, “This is a Geology study trip, not a hiking race…” I cut in again, “It’s a race for me now because Mr.Caskey doesn’t believe in me and I now have to prove myself.” A bird chirped but all else was silent in the pause. Frank said nothing and turned to walk away. I finally said, “Tomorrow I will carry half the tent.” Then off I stomped with my notebook and pen to the meeting place where Mel Caskey would soon lecture on the Geology of the Sierras.
After Mr Caskeys lecture on how the mountain we were camping on was created, we had our dinner and sat around the camp fire, some of us sharing food. I noticed that Frank shared his dinner with Gabby because all Gabby brought to eat was, trail mix, beef jerky, scooter pies, and tons of candy bars of all brands. Frank had canned chili and I wondered if he brought more canned food, because if he did, along with my tent, he must be carrying a ton of weight. I had my favorite ramen noodles boiled with pieces of chopped up beef jerky. In my pack for later in the week I had the food that Mr. Caskey had distributed to us to carry. It was all neatly sealed in plastic baggies. Most of our dinners would all be cooked together as a group. After the first week we were scheduled to get our second weeks rations delivered to us by mule train, along with a special treat Mr. Caskey had planned.
After dinner, a short but seemingly athletic guy named Mark, pulled out his Uno card game and several students joined in the game. I didn’t care for card games and went to the tent. Gabby was already there in his sleeping bag sprawled out in the center of the tent. I figured when Frank showed up to sleep, he could get Gabby to move over because I was not going to care.
Just as I settled in and closed my eyes, Gabby spoke in a pleading tone , “Benita, Nobody likes chubby people and …I know you don’t like me because I’m …kinda chubby, but I’m a nice guy and it’s not my fault that my partner didn’t show up. By the end of this trip, I’ll be as fit as everyone else. That’s why I signed up for it. We should just try to get along, okay?”
I wondered if he had rehearsed what he said. He sounded sincere at the end of it all. I could not think of a reply. Finally all I could think of to say was, “I don’t hate big people; my best friend Anisa Bonilla was really big and we had a lot in common.” What I said was true but I don’t think he really believed me. I guess I hadn’t been too friendly with anyone yet on this trip. I had been so determined to prove myself an outdoors person to Mr Caskey that making friends on this trip was not a priority. We were all competing for favor with the teacher, trying to be the ‘A’ plus student. I knew that at the young age of twenty, I had not the best social skills for making new friends. I have in the past let others become friends with me if they chose…but I never outwardly tried to approach others to begin a relationship.It made some think that I was 'stuck-up', but I was actually kinda shy. Maybe I should have joined in the game of Uno with Mark. Did he think I was stuck up in not wanting to play?
I decided right then that I needed to calm down, stop worrying about my grade and enjoy this backpacking trip in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Frank finally came to the tent to sleep. He woke up Gabby to move him over, which took some prodding, I was still laying there half awake, fantasizing jumping into a cool stream after hiking eight miles on a hot day, which was what was planned for the next day. I heard Frank take a drink of water from his canteen, then I was asleep. It must have been after midnight that I awoke to the serenade of two young men snoring, first one, then the other, over and over. The smell in the tent identified what they had eaten for dinner. I sat up and opened the windows of the inner tent. The rain fly on the outer frame kept the outdoors moisture out, but the human breathing inside caused a inner condensation that dripped from the ceiling of the tent , especially if all windows were sealed shut.
Once the windows were open, a cool air entered the tent through the light screen, which keeps the bugs and mosquitoes out, letting in only the fresh night air. We were lucky so far to have mild weather in August in the High Sierras. Sometimes thunderstorms and even snowstorms surprised Backpackers, in the Sierras in late summer.
The snoring continued though, even with the fresh air, so I buried myself under the fiber filled sleeping bag to muffle it out. It seemed like just a few hours later we were up and packed and heading out for our eight mile trek for the day.
Mark spent the hiking day proclaiming to all of us and to the general wilderness that he was “King of Uno!” so I figured he must have won the card game last night. I was hiking with Larry talking about the plants and rocks and from somewhere ahead of us we would hear, “I AM KING OF UNO!!!!” He remained champion the entire backpacking trip.
Larry was actually very shy but we hit it off as friends and could talk to each other comfortably. He hiked at a good pace and I only had difficulty keeping up with him on the switchbacks going over the passes.He would periodically stop to wait for me. Half the group was ahead of us, half was behind us. For the next few days I didn’t feel like one of the slow ones. Mr Caskey didn’t take notice at first being that he was in the lead group. He assumed I was still hiking with Frank and gabby in the back. On the fourth day I asked Larry to not wait for me but to go at his pace. I then pushed myself to keep up with him. His partner Julie was left behind in the last group. There turned out to be three groups by the fifth day. Mel Caskey, Mark and three others were the lead group. Then Larry, myself ,and two others, Joey and Ken were in the middle group, and finally Frank, Gabby, Julie and anther girl were in ,what Mel considered the ‘slow’ group. There was a Geography professor and his son who joined us on the fourth day out. The took the more cross country routes while we kept to the trails, and thus were usually a day ahead of us waiting for us to catch up to them.
Every day was the same routine; get up, eat, pack up and hike four to eight miles, then set up camp, hear Mr Caskeys lecture of the day, which I thoroughly enjoyed along with everyone else. Then two or three hours of free time to explore around, jump in the river or lake if it was sunny enough. Then we would all prepare dinner together and clean up, sit by the campfire telling stories or jokes or playing Uno, which I never played.
We arrived one day early to Duck Lake, to await the rendezvous with the hired mule team. With all that free time we all split up and did our own thing. The girls hiked up to a small stream where there were pools of water to bathe in. We spent the afternoon washing our clothes and taking baths in the pools. I never had thought that I would feel clean ever again.
The next morning the mule team arrived with supplies. Mel Caskeys surprise was a fresh dinner for that night. We had fresh steak, A-1 sauce , baked potatoes, butter, sodas, beer and more beer. We had a party that night. At higher elevations, just a few beers will kick in and everyone was feeling good. King of Uno became Emperor of the Universe. Gabby proclaimed having lost ten pounds , Larry found Garnet crystals on a mountainside, Frank found obsidian. Julie got lost going to find a place to go to the bathroom, we made a bigger campfire as colder weather was creeping in and scattered thunder clouds were congregating all around us. Some decided to sleep under the stars, not the tent.
Although the climate was not freezing, the snow found our campsite that night and the ones who slept under the stars had a light blanket of snow over their sleeping bags in the morning. My tent was under the cover of pine trees and I had no idea it snowed during the night until I stepped outside in the morning.
........TO BE CONTINUED....
Miss Disco Benita Morgan, Photos by Mel Caskey, 1980
