Recently in Eastern Sierra Category

Dave finally got me out to the Sierra to share one of his favorite outdoor obsessions (among many): fishing.  We originally planned to head out to the East Sierra about three weeks ago to take in the fall colors along with the fishing, but Mother Nature had other plans, closing the passes with small snow squals just in time for the weekends.  Thanks. 

So, this year we missed the fall colors, but at least we got some delicious fishies for dinner. Pictures are posted here:

East Sierra fishing

It's the last day on the trail, and the biggest one as well. We got up early so we could hit the trail just before sunrise, hiking by headlamp for the first mile or so. As we climbed towards Trail Crest we got to watch the sunrise over the area - first with the light hitting Kaweah Divide, and then slowly hitting the peaks around us. The reflections in the lakes were beautiful.

Just below Trail Crest is the junction for the summit trail. We dropped our packs here and headed up with water and cameras. This last 2 mile, 1000 foot gain stretch to the summit was quite easy, especially without having packs. We got to the summit quickly and enjoyed it for a while with only a few other people around. The smoke had settled in the Owens Valley and it was like a dense fog to the east. But the views to the North, South, and West weren't obstructed.

What really blew me away wasn't the summit, but the actual summit trail. It follows the ridge, which is at times steep and narrow. Still, the trail engineers found a way to build an interesting and fun trail along it, with regular peeks through 'windows' to the east side. Some people get a little freaked out by parts of this trail, but I just thought it was a lot of fun.

After bagging the summit we had a long, long descent. From the summit it is about 11 miles back to the trailhead at Whitney Portal. But the hard part isn't the mileage, it's the 6000+ feet of altitude that is lost. This isn't a well-graded trail, either. It is steep with lots of steps, making it hard to keep a regular or fast pace. I thought we'd never get off the '97 Switchbacks', which is the steep section of trail that takes you down from Trail Crest and into the canyon/valley that leads to Whitney Portal. Yes, there are actually 97 switchbacks. No, I did not count them myself.

I had been thinking of pizza ever since the summit, so when we got back to the trailhead I ran in the store for a cold beer but no hamburger. We shared the beer while packing up the car, then drove into Lone Pine for some Pizza Factory. Mmm. After that, we drove back into Bishop and checked back in to the Ramada. We ended the trip with a dinner at Amigos, which has possibly the best Mexican food ever.

This day's stats:

• Mileage: 14.97 mi
  
• Ascending: 3319 ft
  
• Descending: 6502 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 160.77 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 31,888 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending: 31,965 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

After yesterday's big day over Forester Pass, today was a relatively easy day. There were no real steep ups or down - the trail was rolling and gently graded through this stretch. The day's highlight was Big Horn Plateau, a large, barren, flat area a couple of miles beyond our campsite. Unfortunately the smoke once again interfered with the views, but it was still impressive.

After a few hours of wandering through the trees, we met the turnoff to Crabtree Ranger Station - and Mt Whitney. As we climbed above treeline we were treated to the incredible sights of the Whitney region - peaks, ridges, alpine lakes, and meadows. Our plan was to camp at Guitar Lake, since we had been told that the smaller lakes/tarns above Guitar were dry. Having heard of the crowds that can accumulate at Guitar, I wasn't really looking forward to it.

Instead, the lake was nearly empty. There were a couple of other tents set up, but most of the time it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Our night at Guitar ended up being one of my favorite campsites on the whole trip. Scenery that couldn't be beat, quiet, and comfortable.
This day's stats:

• Mileage: 12.24 mi
  
• Ascending: 2558 ft
  
• Descending: 1911 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 145.80 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 28,569 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending: 25,463 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

What an incredible day! This was the day I had both been looking forward to and also dreading - it was one of my higher mileage days, along with the biggest climb yet. But, since I had been on the trail nearly two weeks I had nothing to worry about - it was much easier than I expected. The highlight of the day was Forester Pass, which, at 13,200 ft, is the highest pass on the PCT. I had never been over this pass before and had heard how scenic it was, and it didn't let me down.

Again, the clouds built up but ended up fizzling away into nothing. The smoke interfered with views on the south side of Forester Pass, but I could still make out my first glimpse of Mt Whitney in the distance, and even managed a fuzzy photo through the smoke. I also defended our packs from a roving gang of killer marmots at a lake below the pass while Dave refilled water.

This day's stats:

• Mileage: 13.01 mi
  
• Ascending: 3587 ft
  
• Descending: 2220 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 133.56 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 26,011 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending: 23,552 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

I was a bit concerned about today's logistics and timing, but it turns out that everything went quite smoothly. We left Bishop at about 9 am and drove down to Lone Pine to pick up our permit at the Inyo National Forest visitor's center. After taking possession of our Wag Bags we drove up to Whitney Portal where we parked the Prius and met our shuttle service. While we waited we had one of the well-known burgers, but I was most impressed with the fries. Mmm.

Our shuttle was there on time and drove us up to Onion Valley. By 1:15 we were on the trail and heading up to Kearsarge Pass. We continued over the pass and past the lakes to where the trail connected to the John Muir Trail. Home again! We turned south on the JMT and headed down into Vidette Meadow where we camped for the night. This was the only place where I was nervous about bears, but nothing bothered us or our food all night.

This was Dave's first day on the trail but he kept up with me. :)

As a side note, I should mention that I skipped the stretch of the John Muir Trail between Piute and Kearsage because I hiked it last year. I would have loved to have done it again, but I chose to budget my vacation time this summer on places I hadn't yet been, like the Yosemite High Passes Loop. Now that I've seen the whole JMT I realize that someday I want to take the time to do the whole thing beginning to end, but this year it wasn't in the cards.

This day's stats:

• Mileage: 8.12 mi
  
• Ascending: 2733 ft
  
• Descending: 2401 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 120.56 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 22,424 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending: 21,332 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

I awoke to the smell of smoke. The distant smoke from the previous night that had given me such a stunning sunset had blown into Humprey's Basin overnight. I had no idea where the smoke was coming from, so I was glad that today I would be getting off the trail. This day's plan was to hike out to the North Lake trailhead over Piute Pass and catch a ride into Bishop, where I had reservations at the Ramada. Dave would be driving out from the Bay Area that evening and would meet me there.

The smell of smoke was a bit overwhelming - I'm sure the air was just terrific for me to be breathing in while hiking. Some of the peaks that had been so beautiful the night before were now completely obscured by the smoke. But, as I climbed the short 2 miles and 400 or so feet up to Piute Pass, I quickly got out of the smoke. It had settled in the Basin, so at the Pass I was just above it. I ran into a couple at the Pass who told me that they had heard the smoke wasn't a fire in the Sierra at all - it was actually smoke blowing in from the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara.

With the knowledge that I didn't have a forest fire nipping at my heels, I took the short walk over to Muriel Lake to find a geocache and have a long lunch. Muriel Lake is about level with Piute Pass and the trail over to it is incredibly flat, by Sierra standards. I scrambled along the shore of the lake until I got to the cache location. After finding the cache I lingered for about an hour, enjoying the views and my peanut butter tortillas.

Once back at the Pass, I started thinking about a shower, cold soda, and Cheese Nips (those random trail cravings...), so I kind of rushed through the last couple miles of the day. The trail down from Piute Pass is beautiful, so I did stop a few times to take in the views and enjoy myself. I also noticed the clouds building, so I wanted to get off the trail before it started raining.

At the trailhead I caught a ride down into Bishop, and by 6 pm I was checked into my hotel room and freshly showered. Dave would be arriving around 8 pm so I waited on him before dinner, and took the time to walk down to Wilson's to pick up more tape for my mummy hands, as well as a new pair of socks.

This day's stats:

• Mileage: 9.57 mi
  
• Ascending: 738 ft
  
• Descending: 2277 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 112.44 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 19,691 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending: 18,931 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

Today was the day I said goodbye to my hiking friends and headed off on my own. While Mary, Michael, and Kerry continued south, I left the JMT to head east through Piute Canyon. My goal for the night was to camp somewhere in Humphrey's Basin.

I had heard that Piute Canyon was beautiful, and I'm glad to say that these reports were not exaggerated. The canyon was stunning - rocky and steep at the beginning, with tumbling cascades and great views. Followed by the gentle, flat, green Hutchinson Meadow. The trail then climbed slowly at a comfortable grade as it ascended the last 1000 feet into Humprey's Basin. I could follow my progress by keeping an eye on Pilot Knob, a peak that was within view almost all day.

This was the first day I was concerned about weather - several lenticular clouds were forming and there was a strange haze to the west - a haze that later became obviously smoke. Fortunately nothing turned into rain and I was able to enjoy myself at my camp at Upper Golden Trout Lake, including a swim in the warm and clear water.

The sunset was one of the best in my seven year Sierra backpacking career. The smoke (which I later found out was from the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara) created stunning oranges and reds, and the entire Humphrey's Basin lit up in these brilliant colors.

This day's stats:

• Mileage: 10.42 mi
  
• Ascending: 3055 ft
  
• Descending: 230 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 102.87 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 18,953 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending: 16,654 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

Another beautiful day on the trail today, starting off with a climb to Selden Pass that took us by the stunning Marie Lake. I regretted not making it all the way to Marie for camp the night before, but it was a bit windy up there so at least it wasn't a perfect spot.

The climb to Selden was easy, as was the descent past Heart and Sallie Keys Lakes. The lakes in here were beautiful - I wish we'd been able to camp around there, but the schedule just didn't work out. Next time. A couple of miles beyond Sallie Keys the trail spit us out onto a steep hillside covered in manzanita. I swear that the temperature instantly jumped 20 degrees. As we went down the long, never ending switchbacks I found myself desperately longing for the next small spot of shade. Unfortunately, as the trail descended to Muir Trail Ranch it just got dustier, sunnier, and hotter.

While the rest of the group headed down to MTR to pick up their resupply, I took the cutoff and headed up to the Piute Bridge to set up camp. It was miserably hot in the sun, but the only non-horse poopy site was sunny. I set up my tent and then went down to the creek where I could soak my feet. I camped at this same spot last year and the water was dangerously high and swift. This year it was a gentle flow, several feet lower. A few hours later the rest of the group showed up for our last night together on the trail.

This day's stats:

• Mileage: 12.42 mi
  
• Ascending: 1244 ft
  
• Descending: 3186 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 92.45 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 15,898 ft (Whitney!)
  
• Cumulative Descending: 16,424 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

As planned, we got an early start out of Lake Edison so we could get up and over Bear Ridge before the day heated up. As it turned out the climb wasn't bad at all - we took it slow and steady and before we knew it, we were at the top. These steep 2000 ft gains get a bit easier after a week on the trail. The trail was well graded and it was even shaded - I now have no doubt that the horror stories we had heard were exaggerated, much like the tales of the climb out of Red's Meadow.

As we descended off of Bear Ridge there wasn't as much shade, so the downhill was worse. Eventually the trail met Bear Creek and we had several miles of easy, gently climbing trail. The day was hot so I was keeping an eye out for a good place to soak my feet and dunk my head. A perfect swimming hole appeared mere feet from the trail, so I knew I must stop. We spent about an hour soaking and relaxing before continuing on.

The last few miles seemed to take forever. The scenery was beautiful, but it was still hot and a bit dusty. Our 3500 foot, 13 mile day caught up with us in the last mile or so and we were very grateful to reach camp at Rosemarie Meadow. Unfortunately the campsite was incredibly dusty, but we didn't feel like wandering around, looking for a better place.
This day's stats:

• Mileage: 12.25 mi
  
• Ascending: 3491 ft
  
• Descending: 1106 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 80.03 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 14,654 ft (Whitney!)
  
• Cumulative Descending: 13,238 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.

Today was a much needed Zero Day. Well, okay, it was really a 1/2 mile day. I awoke to the generator kicking on at 7 am. After some minutes of enjoying the cozy warmth of my beloved sleeping bag, I worked my way over to the cafe where I enjoyed an enormous and delicious breakfast. And fresh coffee, of course. Our group scheduled a meeting of the minds to figure out the plans for the next 24 hours. We had originally planned to take the next morning's ferry back and have a long day of hiking the 13-ish miles to Rosemarie Meadow. Since the previous day we had been hearing stories about the hot and laborious climb out of Quail Meadows and over Bear Ridge and we were not looking forward to having to do this in the hot late morning since the ferry wouldn't even leave VVR until after 9am. So, we made plans to spend the remainder of the day at VVR, but take the afternoon ferry back at 4 pm and camp at that end of Lake Edison. That way we could wake up early the next morning and get that climb out of the way before it got too hot out.

It was a smart but difficult decision to make - missing Chef Roy's amazing Saturday night BBQ was painful, especially since we got to spend the afternoon watching and smelling the food cook. We also knew Marty and Cameron would be arriving on that afternoon's ferry, and we would miss celebrating Cameron's birthday with them.

I spent the day at VVR taking care of some chores - laundry, showering, resupply organization, and emailing Dave to tell him to bring replacement socks and shoes to Bishop. It was a relaxing day though - chatting with other through-hikers, the VVR employees, and shoving my face full of more food and beer kept us very happy.

At 4 pm we reluctantly closed out tabs, thanked Jim, the owner of VVR, and headed back out to the ferry. We waved at Marty and Cameron as they boarded the ferry and then walked all of a half mile to a nice campsite that I had spotted on the way in. It was still early, so I spent an hour or so perched on a very comfortable rock formation with my book and a cold can of beer that I'd bought right before leaving VVR and wrapped in my fleece jacket to keep cold.
This day's stats:

• Mileage: 0.5 mi
  
• Ascending: 50 ft
  
• Descending: 0 ft
  
• Cumulative Mileage: 67.78 mi
  
• Cumulative Ascending: 11,163 ft
  
• Cumulative Descending: 12,132 ft
  

For the photos from this day, click on the image above.