North Maggie Mountain, Moses Mountain

May-62

By: John Robinson

From The Sierra Echo (Vol. 6, No. 3), May-June 1962

SNOWSTORM CANCELS NORTH MAGGIE-MOSES TRIP … John Robinson

The SPS seems to be batting 50% on trips into (the) Balch Park region on the heavily forested western side of the Sierra. Two of the four outings into the area scheduled by the section since 1956 have met with foul weather.

The several participants who arrived at Balch Park Friday evening noticed cloudy skies, but encouraged by favorable weather reports expected nothing unusual. After all, this was May and the stormy season was supposedly over.

However, snow began to fall about 2 a.m. and continued on into the late morning, covering the area with about a 5 inch blanket of white. Needless to say, the several carloads of prospective hikers got out while the slippery roads were negotiable.

The cancellation of the trip proved disappointing, especially to Ralph Merten, who was on the ill-fated Sanborn expedition of Nov., 1957. He's batting zero, but still determined to try again.

Perhaps we can reschedule the trip next Oct., when the weather is good (?), the streams (are) low, and the autumn colors (are) at their brightest.

P.S. (written by Bud Bingham): While John cancelled the trip back at Balch Park, 4 carloads of people met at the designated meeting spot, Shake Public Campground. By the time everyone crawled out of the sack Sat. a.m., the entire landscape was white here too! It was quite obvious that the pack-in and climb had to be cancelled. Everyone was disappointed and a discussion seemed to be in order. Plans were made to drive to California Hot Springs for a swim, have lunch, then see if there could be any change in the weather.

The swim was enjoyable, but the weather did not look very encouraging. Sat. night camp was made northwest of Johnsondale in a beautifully timbered area just below the snow line. Everyone enjoyed their dinner around a pleasant campfire. Sat. night's sleep was not interrupted by snow or rain. Sunday, the visibility was still poor and most everyone returned home.

B.B.

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Note: This trip is among the earliest scheduled attempts on North Maggie and Moses. Although specific dates are not stated in the report, the Angeles Chapter Schedule gave the dates as May 12-13, 1962, with the leaders shown as John Robinson and Bud Bingham.)