[pct-l] Marble Mountain Trip

[Deems]

Since this is a hiker forum, this is a hiker's short tale of a great 
adventure into the Marble Mountain Wilderness last weekend. I drove to the 
Lover's Camp trailhead on Friday, and no cars were there. I hiked up the 
Marble Valley trail to Marble Valley, where I hit the first real snowfields. 
I set up camp near the vintage 1930s Marble Valley USFS cabin. My goal on 
this trip was to summit the limestone massif that is the namesake for this 
wilderness, which I last climbed in 1991. A small mountain, with many great 
stories, riddles, and views to enjoy. On Saturday I walked across the snow 
fields and climbed the long limestone stairway to the top, and remet old 
friends I had known from years ago, the foxtail pines on the limestone 
massif. This is one of a only few rare stands of foxtail pines in northern 
California. Kelly and I enjoyed the summit views, crossed over to Black 
Marble and descended to our camp in Marble Valley. We saw many bear tracks 
across the snowfields, or were they Bigfoot's?  When we hiked out to the 
trail head on Sunday, there was only one other car there, and we saw no one 
else in the wilderness.. We had a great trip!

The snow depth was about 4ft+ in the shady areas in Marble Valley at 6000ft. 
The south slopes are melted out very well, but the north pockets are holding 
snow. In northern Calif, the snow depth varies greatly depending upon which 
valley or basin you are in, but by June 1 or so the PCT will be opening up 
for PCT hikers, willing to hike across some snow. I was surprised by the 
depth in Marble Valley, and I have some photos on my website to share, this 
trip starts on Page 12 of my Marble Mountain gallery.
   http://www.pbase.com/losthiker/marble_mountains&page=12