TR: Sonora Pass loop 8/25-29

[Wandering Daisy]

After such good luck this summer on my trips, it was bound to happen, a trip with lots of challenges- periods of smoke, mosquitoes,bogs, unexpected snow blocking my route, fishing rod broke, planned fishing lake gill-netted, dust, horrible heat, dried up creeks where I expected to get water and camping among cow pies and actual cows. I bailed out a day and half early. Not that there were not wonderful moments: periods of clear skies, amazing wildflowers, still catching fish with a broken rod, lush green meadows, luckily a good breeze in many places which made the mosquitoes tolerable.

My planned route was PCT to Kennedy Canyon-Creek gap, mining road to Big Sam and down to upper Emigrant area where I would spend 2 days fishing, back over Bond Pass, Dorothy Pass and PCT and then drop down to Levitt Lake with a aide trip to Latopie and Koenig lakes. My high hopes were a bit dashed by conditions.

Day 1- 8/25. 11.7 miles, 7.0 hours (plus 3.5 hour drive), 2700 feet gain, 3,500 feet descent.

Problems started immediately. I got stuck behind logging trucks on Hwy 49 so the normal two and half hour drive took three and half hours. The ranger station where I planned to get my permit was closed, so I went without. A small forest fire was spewing smoke as I neared Kennedy Meadows junction, where II picked up two PCT hikers. It was 10:30 before I got started and it was minimally 10 miles and 2700 feet gain before I got off the high ridge to camp. It was hazy from smoke but not as bad as down lower and there was a brisk wind.

This entire section of the PCT is a foot-basher walking on 2-3 inch sharp pebbles all the way. It was quite amazing looking down on the huge lush valleys below, still in typical early season greenery, wonderful wildflowers and numerous waterfalls. As I stopped at the gap just north of Latopie Lake, an old curmudgeon day-hiker said I would never get over the next ridge due to the snow and that he doubted any PCT would finish this year. I hate it when that barrage of negativity is laid on me. I continued south, crossed the snowfields, which were not bad except that a fall would end in disaster, and met many PCT hikers going both ways. Latopie Lake was still half frozen. I never got a complete view of the switchbacks up from Levitt Lake, but as I dropped to the saddle between Kennedy Creek (to the north) and Kennedy Canyon (the PCT to the south), huge steep snowfields on the mining road coming down from Big Sam made me immediately change my plans. There was no way I could walk those snowfields the next morning. Now I would have to loop the other way and deal with getting back later.

Honestly I was too tired to contemplate all this at the time. In my foggy brain, I decided to go farther down Kennedy Canyon, passing up good campsites at the upper end and ending up ready to stop where there were no good sites! The problem is water as the creek is deeply incised and hard to reach. Finally I found a marginal site with a running side stream but no view. I was beat and my feet hurt! Smoke settled in during the night making me cough.

Sorry, but photos out of order again.

[Wandering Daisy]

Day 2- 8/26. 8.5 miles, 8.7 hours (including 2 hours fishing), 1750 feet gain.

Honestly the PCT down Kennedy Canyon and on to the “lady lakes” is pretty boring and not much in way of views. By morning the smoke was gone and it was clear but clouds building. I quickly reached Cascade Creek where I went off-trail up to Bonnie Lake. I stopped to fish, put my rod together and set it on a rock and the tip section broke in half. This rod is over 50 years old so was bound to break. I decided to fish anyway without the upper section, and although I could not cast as far, I caught 10-inch and 8-inch Rainbows. So far there were few mosquitoes and a nice breeze.

I hiked off-trail up to the PCT at Stella Lake, hauling my fish on the stringer, dipping them in cold water along the way. The hillside was one intertwined creek and it was challenging to find a route without wading all the little creeks. Just before Dorothy Lake Pass, I left the trail and headed to Ruth Lake where I found a campsite, put the fish in the lake, set down my pack, took a bath and washed clothes. Frogs jumped from rocks to the lake, not a good sign for fishing. After a much needed hours rest I briefly thought I would go to Helen Lake, but got stuck in swamp, mosquitoes and brush so turned around and dropped back to Stella, where I spotted an nice campsite but also gill nets. Gray dismal skies added to my discouragement.

I went back to Dorothy Pass and dropped to camp at a great campsite on the southeast shore, away from the trail. The wind was strong and the rough water and broken fishing rod did not help. I caught no fish and did not even see any sign of fish. Instead I hiked to the small lake to the south which sits in a tight beautiful cirque. This little lake was pastel turquoise and fortunately the sun peeked out again for nice late afternoon photos. Back at camp I cleaned and cooked the fish from Bonnie Lake (the meat a bit mushy from the long haul). At 7PM it started to lightly rain, so I went into the tent. As the rain stopped I peeked out the tent door to see tons of fish rising just where I had fished earlier. At least there were still fish in Dorothy Lake, but I had no intention of getting out of the sleeping bag to fish! Again, middle of the night smoke settled in.

[Wandering Daisy]

Day 3- 8/27. 8.2 miles, 8.5 hours (including 1.5 hours of fishing), 1220 feet gain.

Now that I could not return via Big Sam, I thought I would go back to Kennedy Canyon via Emigrant Pass after a day in the upper Emigrant Lakes. This longer route would mean I would only have one day instead of two, so I had to decide to either go to Middle Emigrant Lake or Lost Lake. I decided to wait and see what weather and mosquitoes would be like. Conforming to the typical pattern, the smoke had gone and skies were blue. I left Dorothy Lake and was up at Bond Pass in an hour. The mosquitoes began at Bond Pass. The flowers in Summit Meadow were thick, in prime and amazing. A nice breeze kept mosquitoes down for a while. But when I stopped at the top of the next hill I got swarmed. The trail became soggy, mosquitoes thicker and the wind died down as I neared Grizzly Meadow. There were still some amazing snow stringers up to 6 feet deep! I walked on the snow hoping to avoid mosquitoes, but no luck with this. I had my own little swarm that surrounded me as I walked.

Given the mosquitoes I decided to go high, skip Middle Emigrant Lake and head higher to Lost Lake. Luckily a nice breeze blew off Emigrant Meadow Lake eliminating mosquitoes. The meadow was very soggy and I had to run through a few bogs to keep my feet from getting soaked. I left the trail and cut over to the shallow valley (also an exercise in avoiding bogs) that leads to Lost Lake. I arrived at noon to a gusty wind. Previously I had checked out the west shore where there were a few wind-sheltered campsites. The east shore was nothing but windy, rocky campsites. Unfortunately huge snowbanks dropping to the lake blocked a route both to the north and south. I probably could cross in the afternoon, but they would not be safe in the morning when the snow was hard. A slip into the lake was not an appealing idea.

So I fished an hour and caught six 8-9 inch brookies, took half an hour to clean them, and packed them in snow. I dropped half-way back down the valley to a nice campsite on a small bluff above the valley, under some large trees. I took a “bucket bath” in a small snow-melt trickle. As usual, after setting up, I walked one ridge over and found a better campsite and full blown stream with good water. I refilled my water bottles with good water but decided it was too much work to pack up the tent and move. The wind died down at dinnertime, making cooking the fish a chore. I noticed sap from the tree dripping on my tent, so lifted it up and moved it, out from under the tree. Again, smoke drifted in overnight. As I was studying the maps I realized that if the north side of Big Sam had huge snowbanks, the switchbacks down to Levitt Lake would also likely have them. If I chose to return that way, I could get stuck. It became apparent that I would have to bail out via Brown Bear Pass down to Kennedy Meadow. I did not have a map or details on mileage, but had been on that route before. A fellow I met on Bond Pass said that Brown Bear Pass was dry and once over the pass there were NO mosquitoes!

[Wandering Daisy]

Day 4- 8/28. 12.3 miles, 7.6 hours, 1870 feet gain, 3,700 feet descent.

Miraculously, the smoke cleared by morning. Quickly I was over Brown Bear Pass and like the fellow said, the mosquitoes were gone. I ran into a Sierra Club packer-supported group. I still had my headnet on my hat, at the lead fellow asked if I really needed it. I replied that it was just a fashion statement. Evidently he did not bring one. The group of mostly older people, in shorts, all headed up into the mosquito-fest, blissfully oblivious of what was to come. Down the trail a bit, I ran into the horse packers. I am quite used to backpacking where horse use is prevalent. The packers, as usual, were very friendly and quite picturesque. Always amazes me how clean and neat the packers are. Look like something right out of an old western movie. If you are adverse to horse use, do not hike anywhere out of Kennedy Meadows!

The upper meadows were lush, filled with wildflowers, but dry enough to have a few grasshoppers and no mosquitoes. Summit Creek was flowing well and beautiful. Another large packer group was camped at Sheep Camp. As I dropped to the confluence of Lewis Creek, I toyed with the idea of heading up to the lower Lewis Lake. The creek above the confluence was crossable. But common sense prevailed as I had no map and was off my intended route. It was a hot day and as I dropped down, it became downright miserably hot. I always forget how much elevation gain and loss you do just getting around Relief Reservoir. Just after Grouse Creek, I noticed a cairn marking a route to the shore (I either never noticed this before or it was newly built). I dropped to the campsite and contemplated staying. But I was not sure it was actually legal, since the reservoir was private and without a permit, I thought it not wise to stay. Additionally the water was about 10 feet low and fishing off mud flats was not appealing. So I chugged back up the hill and continued, intending to camp on the next creek. Well, the next creek was bone dry. Although there was plenty of daylight to go all the way out to Kennedy Meadows, my knees had had it with downhill hiking.

OK, I will go up to the bridge across Kennedy Creek (half a mile). Well, once there, the creek is deep below cliffs and water inaccessible. Continuing up the raging creek, in spite of being exhausted, hot and out of water, I was being a perfectionist. Plenty of campsites near the trail, but a chore to get to water, as the entire length of the creek was deeply incised and banks steep, unstable, or brush-choked. At the end of the day, I slogged two miles to the first meadow and found a nice campsite near the creek, albeit, a cow camp fully loaded with old and new cow pies. The creek was now swift but accessible and mellower so I could take a bath and wash clothes which dried within an hour in the heat. I filled the water bottles and double treated with chlorine. After dinner I walked up the banks only to bump into two cows. I quickly turned around hoping they did not see me. Cows are very curious and I have spent nights fending off cows before, and did not want to do this now. Luckily the cows stayed put and I had a restful night. What I thought was smoke descending from the upper valley turned out to be a light rain which was pleasant as it cooled things off.


Day 5- 8/29. 6 miles, 2.5 hours, 1,635 descent.

I awoke to a light rain. As I cooked breakfast, the clouds and showers would come and go. I packed the wet tent and headed back. As you near Kennedy Meadows there is a large flat area with roads and evidently private campsites and three large outhouses. A helicopter flew by and circled, and came right towards me landing! I hid under a tree. They landed about 200 feet away hidden by brush. Once I was sure I was not going to be hit by a helicopter, I walked down the road to the meadow and talked to two fishermen. The helicopter (which had a litter) took off. The only reason I could think that they landed was that someone had to use the outhouses! A bit down the road, a search-and-rescue truck drove by. There as another sheriff’s truck at the resort. I did not stop, but continued to walk the road a mile to the highway. It only took half an hour to get a ride. The couple who picked me up had camped at Relief Reservoir a few nights earlier and said the fishing was really hot- fish took anything they threw at them. Now I regretted not camping there!

My intention was to park my car and the Levitt Lake 4wd road and do an overnight to Koenig Lake, but decided that a later in the year trip, with my husband and his 4wd, would actually be a better plan and give use several days instead of a quick in-and-out walking two miles up a dusty hot road at this time. So I head home. I was disappointed in shortening the trip but my heart was really not in staying.

[rlown]

A very nice report, WD. How did your fishing rod break?

[BigMan]

Thanks for the timely and informative report. I know you had challenges but your pictures are beautiful.

Geoff

[maverick]

Fun TR to a pretty area WD, see you found that special little lake, in that area, with that ridge line leading to Forsyth Peak, with the right sunrise, it can produce a magical color, and a mirror reflection in the morning lake.

[Wandering Daisy]

The fishing rod broke of old age! Good news is that my husband said he would buy me a new rod. In the meantime, we have a Tenkara that I will use and see how I like it.

Mav- I tried to see what was up with that search-and-rescue helicopter and sherrif's cars but could not find anything. Do you have any information?
And yes, that lake was a nice surprise. I wished I had camped there instead of Dorothy Lake.

[maverick]

Mav- I tried to see what was up with that search-and-rescue helicopter and sherrif's cars but could not find anything. Do you have any information?

They may have something reported, officially, later on.

[Wandering Daisy]

I actually just read one of the PCT hiker blogs, and the Sheriff stopped them at Sonora Pass and ask if they had seen a hiker called "Tree" who evidently is missing and last seen on that stretch south of Sonora Pass.