After leaving Ardeth Lake, we repaired to Jack Main Canyon to retrieve the Bear Vault bear canister that we had stashed six days earlier.
This is part 4 of 4. Here is part 1.
This is part 4 of 4. Here is part 1.
We were a little nervous, never having stashed a bear canister before, but all was as we left it, and we were excited at the prospect of a bear can full of meals and snacks. From there, we set out to the Branigan lake to make camp and plan our wedding at the cascade the next day! We were stokked to see that our canister had remained unmolested. We packed it up and made our way back to the top of the Branigan cascade.
We're keeping our ceremony private, but we are happy to share a few photos. The next day, as we left Branigan, we shot this video of a area that was nicely restored, in part by our friend, and backcountry ranger Patrick.
The hike down the cascade was a breeze and we made our way easily through the northern part of the Vernon basin. It was dotted with a few ponds and a lot of wide open granite. Falls creek splits the granite slabs, so sought our a nice place to cross.
The hike down the cascade was a breeze and we made our way easily through the northern part of the Vernon basin. It was dotted with a few ponds and a lot of wide open granite. Falls creek splits the granite slabs, so sought our a nice place to cross.
The hiking back down Eleanor Lake is very nice. One thing we really wanted to point out was the spring at Beehive Meadow. I'd been through Beehive quite a few times before, and never had seen the spring. I have no idea why, but I just kept missing it. So, I wanted to make a special effort to take a few photos that might help others to see where it is.
We also chose to take the short trail section (1.4 miles), that runs along Frog Creek a spell. While mostly pleasant, the trail becomes seriously overgrown and hard to navigate from Frog Creek (traveling west) to where the trail comes close to the gully. Thorn-proof chaps would have been nice!
Once back on the popular trail, we made our way quickly to the area of the Frog Creek shortcut. But, we misplaced the trail heading down to Eleanor and it took us a while to find it again. Note to self: make special note of where the Frog Creek trail meets the Miguel Meadows trail. We spent our last night at Lake Eleanor and the next morning, after a little bit of water time, made our way back around Eleanor and back to the trailhead.
We also chose to take the short trail section (1.4 miles), that runs along Frog Creek a spell. While mostly pleasant, the trail becomes seriously overgrown and hard to navigate from Frog Creek (traveling west) to where the trail comes close to the gully. Thorn-proof chaps would have been nice!
Once back on the popular trail, we made our way quickly to the area of the Frog Creek shortcut. But, we misplaced the trail heading down to Eleanor and it took us a while to find it again. Note to self: make special note of where the Frog Creek trail meets the Miguel Meadows trail. We spent our last night at Lake Eleanor and the next morning, after a little bit of water time, made our way back around Eleanor and back to the trailhead.