Grinnell Mountain

25 June 1994

By: Luella Fickle

Leaders: Erich & Luella Fickle, Jennifer Lambelet

The weather was warm for June, so I had the group meet at 7:00 am. The South Fork parking lot is not beside Jenks Lake. I did not notice that there are two roads at the junction 0.5 of a mile from the trailhead. Last year only the road to South Fork was labeled. This year both are and the other road says Jenks Lake. This created confusion. I told the group to meet at the South Fork Trailhead near Jenks Lake. One carload went to Jenks Lake and didn't figure out the error in my directions until after we left. So they joined another group which had room on their permit.

We made the warm crossover to the Poopout Hill trail in about an hour. We then continued to South Fork (Slushy) Meadows where we took the trail to Dry Lake. The creek crossings were very easy this year. Last year we had to walk logs doing the same hike in late July. This is a very dry year. We had a good break beside beautiful Dry Lake with great views of Jepson and San Gorgonio. Jennifer Lambelet decided to go back here because she was not feeling well. This left me with an "O" rated assistant. I found the trail from Dry Lake to Fish Creek Saddle that I missed last year. It's marked at Fish Creek Saddle. On the bottom there is a sign that states Lodgepole Camp. Go thru the camp and pick up trail on the other side. We ate a late lunch (12:30) on the summit of Grinnell. Since I didn't have another "I" rated leader, we didn't do Lake. We went back via Mineshaft Saddle and the trail on the other side of Dry Lake. We had another beautiful break beside the lake with views of Lake Peak.

Leo fell on the trail between Dry Lake and South Fork Meadows. He cut his head. Erich administered first aid and Leo was able to walk out. Leo had to have stitches but was mending well when I checked on him the second time, the Friday after the hike.