Category: North America

Mt Whitney (4421 m) day started shortly after midnight – we heard voices of quite a few hikers moving up the trail to catch sunrise on the summit. After breakfast we were on the move too, at 9 am. Some people already came down from the summit.  The trail is not particularly difficult or steep, just steady going up 900 m. In addition, last 3 km and 350 m ascent was without backpacks (left them at trail junction). To Piotr final approach looked somewhat reminiscent of Ben Nevis (hiking from north face),  grander scale of course – both summits are flat piles of stones with precipice on one side. We were hiking in full sun and in comfortable temperatures, but wind gusts were getting very strong. We watched big plum of smoke developing from very recent fire. Distant sky looked hazy (smoke), as most of the days – more so during second half of our hike (even more smoke in Onion and Owens and Valleys). All what looked before like big mountains were now below us. We spent an hour on the summit which was deserted (all but a few people hiked down already) and very windy. Finally, we had cell connection to check messages and e-mails, and call friend – we always tried to keep our friends and family informed about our whereabouts.

We walked down back to the trail junction to collect our backpacks, crossed over Trail Crest (4166 m) couple hundred meters away and started descending to Trail Camp Tarn on 99 switchbacks. When we arrived late in the afternoon many camp sites were already occupied and we spent quite a bit of time looking for something suitable for our tent and at least partially shielded from wind coming down from the crest. Joanna preferred less windy spots under rock walls, but Piotr did not like a threat of puddle or stream under the tent in case of rain nor driving stakes into granite. One strong wind gust caught us just as we were unfolding our tent, we managed to hold on to the sail, but next gust bent one of aluminum posts (remained usable). Once everything got nailed down we were OK. It was clear our larger tent was not suitable to camp on the summit – yes, crazy idea to dry-camp there crossed our minds. We were rewarded in the morning with nice views towards Mt Whitney, although its summit was not visible from this spot. Joanna cooked last backpacker’s breakfast and coffee, and we were on the way to the trailhead. Nice scenery with lakes and Lone Pine Creek, greener and greener. At a rest stop Joanna lost her favorite beanie hat which she had on all treks, on four continents. Many more people on this side of the mountain, often on day-hikes. We were greeted and cheered on arrival – finishing JMT is considered quite an accomplishment.

We ate big lunch at the store at Whitney Portal and started asking around to hitch a ride to Lone Pine. Not difficult, but took longer than in Onion Valley. We, and another hiker, got a ride all the way to Dow Villa Hotel where we stayed for the night. In the past, many actors stayed at the hotel when filming at nearby Alabama Hills. We ate, did laundry and shopped to get ready for return to Chicago.

View south to west from Mt Whitney summit

View south to west from Mt Whitney summit

View west to north from Mt Whitney summit

View west to north from Mt Whitney summit

Mt Whitney teeth (summit out of sight)

Mt Whitney teeth (summit out of sight)

 

We started the final 6-day 48-mile section well rested and relaxed. The plan was to do it in 7 days. With stable weather pattern and a spare day to wait out bad weather, lighter backpacks and good physical conditions we were ready for Mt Whitney. We were already acclimatized, so going quickly up above 3000 m from 1200 m (Independence) was not a problem. Mt Whitney was of course in our plans, but we never made it into ambition satisfying goal. Just as we never intended to go faster or cover longer daily distances – we could in case of emergency, but it was not necessary. Joanna was hoping we could start moving earlier in the morning, but it did not work on the trail.

We worried about return to high mountains from low elevation of Independence with heavier = resupplied backpacks. Owner of Independence Inn drove us (and another hiker) to the trailhead. We had plenty of time to get ready the day before, so we took off earlier. First half of the day we were hiking through familiar landscape. It was actually fun to see everything from opposite direction. On the way down we selected possible campsites and convenient points to refill water bottles. None of this was necessary: we forgot to get water, jumped over Kearsarge Pass and passed “just in case” campsites, and kept going with ease and further than planned. Our bodies were already well trained, our backpacks and food rations optimized, and we were after full day of rest. We started saving time again – it was important to have some time reserve to wait out bad weather for Mt Whitney day. We passed Bullfrog Trail junction where we camped 3 nights earlier. Then down to Bubbs Creek  and up the creek to Upper Vidette Meadow (which looked more like forrest). 9.9-mile day with 1000 m total ascent. We quickly found nice campsite at the creek and had sunny time to relax.

Bubbs Creek Spa, Pedicure & Nails

Bubbs Creek Spa, Pedicure & Nails

 

In the following 3 days we hiked to the base of Mt Whitney,  just above Guitar Lake. We continued along Bubbs Creek and then up to Forester Pass, the highest pass on the trail (4009 m)  gaining 1000 m. Some switchback sectors were steep, but somehow did not feel extremely difficult. We made it to Lake 12250 and reached the pass later than any other hikers that day. Weather was nice on the north side, but at the pass we saw dark clouds spreading to the south so we quickly descended to Tyndall Creek. Scenery around Forester Pass looked quite “high altitude” = bare rocks all around. Camping at the lake before pass (considered in case we got tired early) would be difficult, just piles of rocks everywhere, and once we started going downhill  we continued to second of two lakes on Tyndall Creek below Diamond Mesa. We found good spot, but exposed and wind started to pick-up. It was the highest campsite of the trip – 3730 m. The Sun was still high so we climbed down the rocks to waterfront, washed and refilled water bottles. Joanna was cooking and Piotr was attaching our tent to Mother Earth, well after dark. Wind gusts were strong and we had some rain at night; it all cleared overnight. Still it was one of our favorite campsites, near lakes and with nobody else for miles in any direction.

Next day was down Tyndall Creek, up to Bighorn Plateau and Lake (dry) where we had first view of Mt Whitney (not too scary from this angle), down to Wallace Creek, up to Young Ridge. We saw helicopter search and rescue near Shepherd Pass Trail junction, did not learn any details, but decided to refresh our knowledge of hand emergency signals when we get home – we did not send any to avoid confusion, just walked down steadily to show we were not seeking help.  We arrived at Wallace Creek quite early and decided to continue to dry-camp at Young Ridge. We brought extra 2 L juice bottle from Independence (for dry-camping) – we filled everything up at the creek. It was very good decision, we were ahead of schedule one full day again and camping at Young Ridge saddle was most relaxing of all: sunny, warm, beach-like sandy, interestingly lit forest, evening and morning. No neighbors of course. And we made next day just 6 miles long: down to Whitney Creek, up to Timberline Lake, Guitar Lake and a small tarn above it. Storm was brewing when we arrived at Guitar Lake but Joanna decided to push on. Weather patterns during our hike  were always confusing and we just kept going most of the time, but this time it looked really bad. High mountains held the storm just long enough for us to pitch our tent, the only time we did not really care where the spot was (we discovered much better spots later). It rained, lightings and thunders, and then it stopped just before dinner and sunset. Very lucky ! It was a beautiful place, with tarns and view of Guitar lake and high mountains. We were all certain of good weather for coming days and Mt Whitney summit.

View from Forester Pass

View from Forester Pass

Waiting out storm at tarn above Guitar Lake

Waiting out storm at tarn above Guitar Lake

 

Hiking in the second half of the 10-day section got more intense – we crossed four high passes in five days, and stayed quite a bit above 3000 m.  It was also becoming easier with half of the food already gone and Piotr taking some weight from Joanna. As we were getting closer to next resupply we started supplementing daily rations from reserves. Getting up before 7 am and waiting with most morning activities until Sun comes-up from behind mountains to keep us warm worked best. We were moving one full day ahead of our plan and we decided to use it for extra rest day in Independence, our next resupply stop – in retrospect, it was a very good idea !

Upper Palisade Lake is at 3320 m, so crossing 3688 m Mather Pass on 8.2-mile day looked easy, 400 m up and 600 m down. But somehow we both felt it was the most difficult pass on our route. Perhaps some fatigue was setting in.

We were gaining altitude hiking through rocky landscape above Palisade Lakes and tree-line, then on quite steep switchbacks before Mather Pass. Downhill switchbacks on the other side were also steep and landscape looked barren, even with some tarns in Upper Basin at the base of the pass where we stopped for longer break. South Fork Kings River flows from the lakes/tarns in this area and we continued down along its valley until it was time to stop for the night (without going up).

Next day we crossed Pinchot Pass, two-step 600 m ascent with relaxing flat middle part along Lake Marjorie. On descent along Woods Creek to Twin Lakes we talked to park ranger about possible campsites on the lower of the lakes, but in the end we parked at small tarn above them – to save time as we wanted to spend the rest of the sunny day relaxing. Water in the tarn was drinkable, but also warm to rinse ourselves and for minimalistic laundry (all no-soap). In the morning we continued hiking down Woods Creek, dropping 700 m, only to regain 500 m in the afternoon. We stayed at Dollar Lake, nice but with part of camping area closed for restoration and remaining options not too good. In retrospect, we should had continued to Arrowhead Lake, even if it stretched the day’s distance well above 9 miles. We now entered JMT section very popular with short-distance backpackers (coming via side trails).

We passed Arrowhead Lake next morning and walked rather slowly along beautiful Rae Lakes (definitely more hikers in this area), before hiking up to Glen Pass – Joanna’s favorite pass, with great views all along the way. The original plan was to leave JMT and push on to Kearsarge Lakes to make the following day shorter  – we wanted to have all afternoon and evening in motel in Independence to eat, shower and pack resupplies. Now with extra rest day in Independence we were not in big hurry. Coming down from Glen Pass we saw lake/tarn with water, but when we later started looking for campsite, there was no water available anywhere. We had no choice, but to walk pass Kearsarge trail junction to Bullfrog Lake trail junction and small stream. It was getting late, so we stayed there. Kearsarge (upper) trail  was our original direction, but we knew there was no water there until Kearsarge Lakes (too far that day).

Glen Pass looking north

Glen Pass looking north, down from where we came from

Glen Pass looking south

Glen Pass looking south, down where we are heading

 

Next day we walked past Bullfrog Lake and above Kearsarge Lakes to Kearsarge Pass, very nice scenery, and then down to Onion Valley trailhead and paved road. More lakes and more people day-hiking. Joanna in no time found friendly hikers who took us to Independence, 13-mile impressive winding road down to valley bottom.

We arrived one day earlier and there were no rooms available at Independence Inn where we had reservation and where we sent resupply – package was waiting. We stayed one night at Courthouse Motel and second night at Independence Inn, both very good small local businesses (recommended). We “raided” both (gas station) stores and were able to gather some food, ate very good tacos from food truck and 12-in subs (enough for two meals each). Both motels are backpacker friendly, have laundry service and offer shuttle back to the trailhead. It was very hot down in the valley (35°C vs comfortable twenty in the mountains the day before) and the sky was hazy because of smoke from wild fires somewhere else. Next day we were hiking back up the mountains via Kersarge Pass (next post).

Kearsarge Pass

Kearsarge Pass looking towards Kearsarge Lakes and Bullfrog Lake

 

Our next section was 10 days and 80 miles to next resupply and extra rest day in Independence.

We spent quite a bit of time preparing resupply for this section, to carry enough calories at minimum weight. And we were quite happy to carry it all in our backpacks – our resupply bucket mailed in advance disappeared for several days, we worried it was lost and even started preparing replacement, in a hurry, as we had only two days left before leaving for California. It turned out, it was moving along fine, just much slower, and was never scanned anywhere until it happily appeared at the destination post office. Nobody knew where it was while in transit. We received notification just as we were heading to the post office to mail the replacement. It made its way to Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) Resupply Center several days later.

Joanna was “trading” on backpackers supply exchanges at all resupply stops, always found something interesting to add to our limited diet. Made some adjustments because we were hiking faster saving some food, but we sticked to the plan developed at home most of the time. Our rations were sufficient, barely. We always had some food reserve we could dig-in, if needed. Piotr experienced obvious calorie deficiency twice when we started hiking before full breakfast.

Now we just had to lift the weight up 1000 m over the following two days to pull ourselves out of the valley. It (carrying the weight) was actually not as bad as we feared, two weeks of backpacking started to make a difference. This post covers the first half of the section.

First day was easy without big altitude drops/gains, simply walking upstream South Fork San Joaquin River to Evolution Creek. We found good campsite at their confluence, some 100 m from large well established site, just below first switchbacks which we decided to leave for next day. Our bear canister was filled to capacity. We ate dinner and were left with some non-food items we decided to hang on tree – Piotr found a decent tree with long branches, but doing it right is not as easy as it sounds. Nothing got stolen. We were now at lower elevation on trails with more hikers where bear encounters happen more frequently. Not as frequent as in, for example, Smoky Mountains NP, and are rare at higher elevation this time of year at least. We talked to other hikers and rangers, and heard only one report of bear sighting on JMT – the bear was following us on trail, but we did not see it (just photo taken by another hiker).

Hiking upstream of Evolution Creek was broken into two steep sections with easier terrain in the middle. Relaxing sight of water rolling slowly through green meadows – pleasant distraction from by now familiar scenery of high rocky mountains and lakes. Water level in the creek was low (~2 feet) – the only wet crossing on our route was not big deal. We arrived at Evolution Lake relatively early.  Looking down on the lake from the trail we saw attractive sites near the lake. We settled on flat peninsula, decent distance from trail and prescribed distance from water – the best camp of entire hike. Evolution Basin was our favorite part of the trail.  We were now back above 3000 m, yes more blue mountain lakes and austere white and grey rocky mountains around us, heading to Muir Pass. Pleasant hike on the way up, quite tiring on the way down. We rested at Muir Hut and started descending down Middle Fork Kings River. Geology suddenly changed – from mostly granite to more colorful volcanic rocks and rusted mountains, pleasant surprise. That day was the only time we had problem finding campsite at selected location (too many backpackers), we walked further and found good spot on the river.

Evolution Lake

Evolution Lake

Wanda Lake

Wanda Lake

 

Another day of walking down (Kings) river valley with short ascent up Palisade Creek to end the day. Followed by another day of hiking  up the creek, this time gaining more altitude (750 m). We passed Lower Palisade Lake. It was still early and we wanted to be closer to Mather Pass. At this point, we already knew how to look for campsites. There were some nice spots near the trail above Upper Palisade Lake, nice views, but the best one  on rock outcrop was too small for our tent. We walked up further above the trail along Palisade Creek which flows down from lakes higher up towards the lake below – we had private waterfall shower in our backyard.

Selecting campsite can be really hard, when two people try to decide between two spots. We like camping – finding good spots is important. Joanna’s priority was protection from wind and noise, Piotr wanted the flattest spot safe from potential rain water flow. We were learning how to pitch tent between rocks and trees, using stones, wood and hiking poles as alternative to stakes (this new experience came handy later on). We often cooked dinner after dark and never took off in the morning without coffee.  Most JMT hikers start at dawn and snore at dusk – some spatial separation was needed. We searched for nice views, and waited for sun in the morning to warm-up and dry out (condensation).

Mather Pass is next (next post).

This post covers our second, 57-mile 7-day section. We were gaining confidence and getting used to daily routine, moving systematically along JMT at our own slow pace. Looking around more, taking fewer photos.

After good rest and extra meals at Red’s Meadow we were back on JMT hiking up  on volcanic slopes above Middle Fork San Joaquin River. Signs of 1992 fire are evident. Quite dry stretch  of ash/cinder and without water until Crater Creek near Red Cones – cinder/lava cones from volcanic activity as recent as 5000 years ago. We continued upstream along Crater Creek for a while and then jumped over to Deer Creek. We experienced passing (single-cloud) rain which we waited out under large trees. It was first day when we saw many hikers camping almost on the trail or very near the creek. The plan was to camp somewhere near Dear Creek crossing, but after checking the site out we decided to backtrack couple hundred meters to look for something more suitable. We camped under big pines in area less frequented by hikers.

Next day, we continued rather flat hike on the slopes above Fish Creek, San Joaquin River tributary, to Purple Lake. Camp sites at the trail junction at the lake were not appealing and the main site on the lake was occupied by several volunteers repairing trails. Ranger who supervised them gave us directions to good  site away from the trail, but without lake view. We got good look at the lake next morning.

Now, the plan was to go as far as possible towards Goodale Pass, as we decided to stick to our plan and walk down to Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR) for rest day and skip short segment of JMT. Lake Edison ferry from JMT junction  is not running this year because water level is too low so we had to walk all the way. We stopped at Lake Virginia, walked down to Tully Hole and Fish Creek, and started gaining altitude again to Squaw Lake. Nice place, but too early to camp. We left JMT and arrived at Papoose Lake shortly. We spent a lot of time looking for camp site, not too close to the trail and not too close to beautiful lake.  Mountains around the lake were nicely lit by evening and morning sunlight. Goodale Pass is not far away.

Dark clouds started to gather just as we were on the way to Goodale Pass next morning and soon we were hit with small (melting) hail. Thunders and main storm/rain were quite distant, except a few lightnings hitting a bit closer. Storm was coming from the same direction as we did, so it was better to continue towards the pass. Under such circumstances we walk much faster, no lingering, nor photos on the pass. The dark clouds were also making their way across the pass, so we just kept going. It was still mostly sunny. When we saw llamas (with small group of travelers) making their way up towards the pass, we thought we were back in the Andes. We tried to outrun the rain, but no luck – it caught-up with us as we were walking down Cold Creek towards Lake Edison. We hid under trees and rocks for a while, but when the rain became less intense we continued hiking. It was in this part of the forest, which burned last year, that we lost the trail for couple hundred meters. Soil erosion was bad with many run-off streams/marks at times indistinguishable from true path. Checked GPS and corrected direction – not really the kind of terrain one could get lost for too long. Blackened forest looked sad.

Rooms were not available at VVR, so we pitched our tent at backpackers quarters (Mushroom City, almost empty that evening, packed next day), waited out another short rain and were ready to eat and rest, shower and laundry. We talked to hikers, some of whom we already met before, and explored good backpacker supply exchange (we had another 3 days to our next resupply). Into the evening and next day. Joanna was able to send messages using local computer; our phone had no cellular signal. With time to spare on the rest day, we walked 2-hour loop on the bottom of the lake exposed by drought.

Rested and with lighter load, we started making our way back to JMT going up Bear Creek trail. Got shuttle ride (couple of miles) to trailhead, crossed over hill to the creek and then continued along the creek for the rest of the day. We liked the scenery, different from other days: Bear Creek changes  every hundred meters from running cascades to pools of water standing between rocks. Clouds were following us all day and light rain caught-up with us at one point.  We camped between rocks above the creek less than a mile from JMT, beautiful spot again, all for ourselves.

Next stop Marie Lake – large lake with irregular shape and many peninsulas and islands. We arrived earlier, found very nice campsite with views of multiple lakes. We had time to walk along waterfront and heard coyotes in the evening. Selden Pass is only 100 m above Marie Lake, we crossed it quickly next morning. The rest of the day was just walking down to Hart Lake and Sallie Keyes Lakes, followed by steep descent to South Fork San Joaquin River where Muir Trail Ranch (MTR) is located – almost 1000 m drop from the pass.

MTR backpackers resupply station is located outside of the ranch, there are no services, but personnel was friendly and helpful. Our package was waiting in good shape. We charged batteries, send out messages (local computer connected via satellite) and packed food for the next 10 days – our backpacks hit max weight. We had comfortable campsite nearby (however, this was the only place where sanitation was an issue). Blayney hot springs are in a meadow on the other side of the river. We followed rope at river crossing and soaked in small pool of hot water springing from between rocks, very nice. Piotr dived into (cold)  river on the way back. Next morning, we finished packing, eating what we did not want to carry, charging batteries and it was time to gain back all the altitude we lost the previous day.

Marie Lake

Marie Lake

Clark’s Nutcracker at Marie Lake

Clark’s Nutcracker at Marie Lake