The personal and professional website of Douglas Van Bossuyt
On my way west to California for my annual backpacking trip with my dad, I stopped at an exit in the desert, found a place off a dirt road back between some joshua trees, and camped out for the night.
The next morning near Prather, CA, I saw this awesome truck heading up to the trail systems near Shaver Lake. Maybe they were going to run the Dusey trail?
After successfully coming over Hummingbird Pass, we headed down the drainage toward Hummingbird Lake and into Crown Basin.
Looking back up toward the pass.
We spotted a white-tailed ptarmigan among the rocks. It must have had a nest nearby with eggs or maybe even chicks based on how it was acting. The ptarmigans were introduced to the Sierras many years ago and now live happily at high elevation.
Hummingbird Lake comes into view. I recall as a kid that we did encounter many hummingbirds around here.
We encountered another bird in the brush as we walked past Hummingbird Lake. She had several chicks that fled as we approached. If they hadn’t moved, we would never have seen them.
Standing on the lip before descending down into Crown Basin.
Entering into Crown Basin. We camped in this area several times with the llamas when I was growing up. There is an old cross country route that descends out of this basin and winds its way over to Woodchuck Country on its way out to Wishon Reservoir. The last time we took that trail was at least 15 years ago. I doubt many people have been on it since.
I once found a 50 calibre shell out in this big meadow. Back during the Vietnam War, it was somewhat common for jets and helicopters to come up into basins like this for target practicing. That is frowned upon now.
At the old shepherd’s camp where I spent several nights sleeping in a tent growing up you can still find carvings on the trees from the cowboys and herders who spent their summers up here. There are some carvings that date back to the 1870s and 1880s.
