Hiking Lost Lake to the Nipple

There's a peak in Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest called The Nipple. I forget how I spotted the trail to it when I was searching for new trails to hike a week ago.... I think I had chosen the Carson Pass area of the Sierra Nevada on AllTrails.com, and The Nipple was the thing that stood out. As nipples tend to do.

Getting there was a fun adventure in itself. Getting to the start of the trail, I mean. The trail to the top would be another adventure. But just getting to the start of the trail mean a Friday Night Halfway in the foothills, a scenic drive through the Carson Pass with a few stops along the way, and then an unforgettably beautiful 4x4 drive over the Forestdale Divide Road. All that put us at Lost Lake, elev. 8,600' or so.



Lost Lake is plenty scenic all by itself. And it's not even particularly lost. I mean, it is remote. Especially if you come in from the Carson Pass 5 miles north, like we did. The route up from Upper Blue Lake, 1 mile south, is passable even with a grocery-getter SUV. There were a few groups of people camped at the lake.

We weren't staying at the lake, of course. Not for more than 15 minutes, anyway. Our objective was to climb the summit of The Nipple. At first I thought it was that seemingly tallest peak, the one about 1/3 of the way in from the left in the photo above. As I consulted my contour map I realized The Nipple is actually that peak on the far left, the one with the very slight protrusion
atop it. A nipple. And it's actually higher than the other, craggy peak. It's just that it's farther away so perspective makes it seem shorter.



We parked near the 4x4 road where the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) almost crosses it. Our route was to hike the PCT up over the ridges, then take a spur to the top of the Nipple. Though this segment of the PCT started under tree cover near Lost Lake it quickly broke out into scrub-covered hillside. The beauty was as stark as it was expansive.



Also out here on these almost barren mountainsides it was windy. Like, hella windy. Like, even with the lanyard on my hat cinched as tight under my chin as I could comfortably make it, I still had to hold my hat down with my hand to prevent it from trying to fly away and strangle me in the process.



The wind wasn't constant. When we were far enough below a ridge and on the lee side from the wind, things were relatively calm. But get near the ridge, or cross to the wind-swept side, and it was like all Hell was blowing through.

In the photo above we found a spot with a bit of calm and considered the trail ahead. Hawk continued with me as far as the next ridge (in the middle ground) where it was hella windy again, and decided to turn back. I told her I wanted to hike as far as the saddle on the higher ridge to the right before turning back. The hike below that ridge was beautiful; it was on the the lee side of the wind. But as soon as I reached that saddle, all Hell broke loose on me.



Here's a photo (above) from just below that saddle. Yes, I went back down below the saddle to take the picture. The wind was so fierce on the ridge I couldn't even hold the camera straight while also keeping my hat— on a lanyard, mind you— from blowing away! Anyway, in the photo you can see the Lost Lakes below me on the right. Further to the right and below them is the Carson Pass. It's wild seeing these lakes in a basin that's practically spilling over the edge of one ridge while nestled below a few other peaks.

I gave thought to continuing on up from here. The problem was I told my partner I wasn't going all the way. I didn't want to turn a 30 minute side trip into 90+ minutes with no way to warn her. And, truth be told, with the fierce wind I was starting to not have fun on this trail anymore. I headed back down and met her in one of the calm areas of the trail. We'll try to gauge the weather for when there aren't gale-force winds whipping over this area and climb the Nipple again.

Update: More about this hike and where we went next!

A Lens so Nice I've Bought it Twice

It's been a few weeks since I lost a camera lens in an Alpine swamp. It was a bummer since it's a general purpose, mid-range zoom lens, a Fujifilm 15-45mm lens that I used for a lot of my photos. After losing it I delayed for a few weeks in replacing it as I considered whether I wanted to replace my whole camera— which I could order with an equal or better lens at a discounted kit price. I even considered whether I'm just done with dedicated cameras and willing to rely simply on my iPhone. 🫨 After giving it a few weeks thought I decided to go ahead and just replace the lens, not update the whole camera.



As I'd bought my original copy of this lens lightly used, I looked for used copies again. It's good I was open to used as there really aren't new copies anymore. It seems Fujifilm has stopped making this lens. ...Or if they do still make it, they only sell it in kits. One reputable online store had it listed for $300 but backordered. Amazon had a variety of used copies for sale from about $200. I bought my last one through Amazon for a bit over $200. But this time I checked eBay, too, and got one for just $150 plus tax. I bought on Friday night, and it arrived today (Wednesday).

I checked the lens out visually as I opened the box. First, I noted it was securely packed in a box with two layers of foam padding. Props to the seller for that. The last seller I bought this model of lens from simply tucked it in a padded envelope.

Cosmetically, the lens is in excellent shape. All the parts are present (front and back caps) and show no signs of wear. The seller advertised it as "very good, lightly used". I was a bit skeptical when I bought it as there are no defined grading standards for camera equipment like there are for various kinds of collectibles. "Very good, lightly used" could have meant almost anything. And the listing included only manufacturer's pictures, no photos of the actual item. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to receive a lens that, in another item category, could realistically be graded "near mint" or even "mint".



Next I attached the lens to my camera for a few test shots. The focus is accurate, with good detail (as expected) at the focus point, and rich, contrast-y color rendition across the frame. It's just a cursory test, but so far this copy of the lens appears to be everything I enjoyed about the one I left somewhere in a swamp at 6,700' in the Trinity Alps wilderness.

Part of what I enjoy about this lens is its small size and light weight. It's a bit hard to tell from the photo above, where the perspective makes this lens seem bulbous, but it's actually relatively compact. See the photos I took when I bought my previous copy 2 years ago. Ultimately this lens's quality for the low price and compact size were what won the decision in favor of doing it again vs. punting with a new camera— or no camera at all.