TR High Sierra Trail 09/17/18 to 09/23/18

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Satchel Buddah
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TR High Sierra Trail 09/17/18 to 09/23/18

Post by Satchel Buddah »

The weather was sparkly for the whole run, sharp clear blue all the way across the Sierra. Days were in the 60-75’s and nights were hovering around freezing, sometimes under, sometimes over.

Day 1 - Crescent Meadow to Mehrten Creek

Picked a walk in permit and started the hike a day early. Met two rangers that day that were coming down the mountain, ending their season. I was still poorly acclimated and migrainy so I decided to stop at 3 pm at Mehrten Creek and just enjoy my afternoon goofing off and taking pictures. Lovely camp with a legal fire pit, a lovely creek with pools of frigid water, solitude, big stars.


Day 2 - Mehrten Creek to Hamilton Lake

Took off Before sunrise, grabbed coffee and a giant piece of brownie (so large it took me 3 days to finish it) at Bearpaw meadow. Can’t say that I was seduced by Bearpaw… Glad I did not camp there. Delighted by the unfolding trail, in awe of the wisdom of its designers. Beauty all around, always renewed, enjoying bouncing a song on the canyon walls while walking through the tunnel. Some heartbeats crossing the Kaweah, high on a wooden bridge, staring at the roaring waters far, far underneath it, slicing through perfectly vertical canyon walls - like a Will Coyote Cartoon. Long, beautiful slog of a climb towards Hamilton, getting ever closer to the Great Western Divide slowly filling up the horizons. Reaching beautiful Hamilton upper lake about 3pm again with another solo hiker, a slightly older gentleman. The place was empty and we had our choice of camp - I carefully oriented the tent for night photography from my sleeping bag. Dipping in the frigid water up to my neck. We share some beer and whiskey, and early evening another group walks in. One of them pulls two trouts off the lake in an instant, and sets to prepare some fish tacos. Glorious sunset coloring the western divide in pinks and oranges, and blazing full moon at night.

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Day 3 - Hamilton Lakes to Arroyo junction

Out of bed about 4:30 am. Doing some night photography, breakfast, folding camp. Start to hike out as the sky starts turning grey. Long climb towards the Kaweah Gap, at least I get through the hardest bit before the sun starts pounding. The altitude attacks me now - body, limp as a knot of overcooked noodles, devoid of power, restless breathing, pounding heart, migraine, just feet that keep going one step at a time, dragging the rest of me and my bag up the switchbacks. I reach precipice lake at last, it is quite cold but the sun is blazing, I dip my legs in the freezing water and grab a bite while savoring the beauty. Then up again, passing by lovely beautiful small tarns and through tiny meadows before I reach the Gap. Staring at the big Arroyo glacial valley from the top, gorgeous. Hiking down into a completely different ecosystem, carpets of very red small plants studded with very green small pines. Checking out the lovely campsite at the top of the arroyo - I will spend one or two nights here someday, the landscape is stunning. Encounter with an elderly gentleman mountaineer preparing to summit black Kaweah with his granddaughter on the next morning, and a gentle hike down the big arroyo. By the time I make it to Arroyo Junction, I am pooped and ready to admit I will not push further tonight.

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Day 4 - Arroyo Junction to Moraine lake

Once again heading out before sunrise. Worried about overall pace after my schedule slippage yesterday - Did I underestimate other legs of this trip and will this become a snowballing problem? Should I skip Moraine lake entirely and just race for Kern hot springs ? Taking a break on Chagoopa plateau, beautiful, mineral and arid, studded with ancient twisted firs and the occasional tarn and grass. Staring at the map, the minute difference in mileage and elevation convinces me to go through with the Moraine lake detour.
I reach Moraine lake at noon, and I fall in love. A lovely picturesque, I want to say princessy, too cute to be true, high altitude lake surrounded by a gentle grove of large firs, crystal clear water twinkling under the sun, close to the edge of a cliff, granite boulders strewn around it as a crown, small sandy beaches, some patches of reeds, a sandy bottom, a handful of visiting ducks swimming in the distance. I throw my schedule fears away and decide to camp here - how could it possibly get better than this? I go for a very refreshing dip, rinse my shirt and shorts and set them to bake on a rock in the sun.
Later in the evening, as the sun is about to set, I am shocked out of lovely solitude when a crew walks into camp. This group is an eclectic mix of hikers that met on the trail, and from here to Lone pine we will be meeting every evening at camp.

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Day 5 - Moraine lake to Junction Meadow

Not the best night of sleep, waking up at about 3:30. Slow wake up, photography, camp chores, walk out around 5 am, more photography on the way down. It’s cold this morning, and as I loose altitude it feels like I am slowly entering a coffer of frigid air. Walking past Sky Parlor meadow, the grasses covered in frost, a snack break, observing the Kern river canyon from the top of the access cliff. Two other flavors of beauty already today, I will meet many more before the sun is down. Steep drop in elevation, around 2500 feet to the bottom of the canyon. After a seemingly endless stack of switchbacks following Funston creek’s fall towards the Kern River, reaching the floor of the canyon, encounter with a smiling silver mustached gentleman about to hike up the way I cam from, looking at his map. “I see some amount of possibly strenuous effort in your near future”, I say. “The hiking sticks do all the work”, he protests with a chuckle. He looks trim and fit and his backpack looks very small and light.
I press on, the landscape is now a mostly flat and wide canyon bottom, alternating between arid rocky, and wet forest with ferns and grasses, with towering mountain cliffs on each side, and the brisk Kern river in the middle. About every half mile, a creek falls down the walls of the canyon with long, thin waterfalls running down the cliffs, finally merging with the Kern river at the bottom. A small Sequoia grove puzzles me - they are all young. Is this a new, artificial plantation grove? Where are all the large sequoias that should be here if this was an ancient grove?
I reach Kern hot springs around 10 am and soak for about one hour in lovely hot water with a little scent of sulfur and minerals, facing the mountain slope, gazing at the birds and the tree branches dancing in the breeze, surrounded by the song of the Kern river.
It is very hard to compel my lazy muscles and jello body to get back to work after the long hot bath. I hike the long slow climb towards junction meadow. A small herd of deer welcomes me to camp around 4 pm.

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Day 6 - Junction Meadow to Guitar lake

Up early but a little later than usual - Feeling a bit beat after the long day yesterday. Today the name of the game is climbing higher and higher - between 2500 and 3500 feet elevation gain depending on final destination. Until the last minute, I cannot make up my mind as to where I should camp tonight. Crabtree Meadow, add one night to the trip, rest up a bit, have an easy day up to Guitar lake tomorrow and a relaxed staging for Whitney Summit. Or push a little harder to Guitar tonight and feed on the Tramily’s energy to ease the Whitney summit, and stick to my original hike schedule - 8 days. Through the day, the landscape unrolls and transforms, always gorgeous. I am slow and struggling, a couple of my new hiker friends pass me. I finally get to Crabtree Meadow’s trail fork and decide to keep going straight up all the way to guitar lake, and I press forward without stopping. Little snack break and water refill at lovely Timberline lake, and arrival in the mineral otherworldly alpine landscape at Guitar lake with my trail friends that I had passed again when they stopped for a break at Crabtree. We decide to head up to the upper tarns above Guitar lake. I am spent after over 13 miles and the big elevation gain, worn out legs and pounded feet clamoring for rest. I pitch my tent sloppily with rocks on a Granite balcony overlooking Guitar lake, the balcony is a little too small for the tent - the flakiest pitch so far for this tent. I pray the wind will remain gentle through the night. Three JMT hikers join us and decide to cowboy camp next to me, to speed up their alpine start tomorrow. The plan for everyone is to hike out at 3:30 am, to reach Whitney summit at sunrise. We admire the magical sunset, perfectly in the axis of Guitar lake, the mountains turn black, the lake becomes a silver mirror, the sky turns dark blue with a streak of vibrant orange on the horizon. We sleep.
Around 2 am strong gusts of wind suddenly shake the tent violently. I swing out of my quilt and do my best to tighten the tent pitch and reduce drag. I slide back in and fall back half asleep with an eye on the clock. The wind dies as suddenly as it started.

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Last edited by Satchel Buddah on Sat Nov 03, 2018 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Satchel Buddah
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Re: TR High Sierra Trail 09/17/18 to 09/23/18

Post by Satchel Buddah »

Day 7 - Guitar Lake to Lone Pine Via Whitney Summit

After staring at the time and falling in and out of sleep, I shake out of my stupor at 3:50 am. I missed the start and I can see the headlamps of my friends climbing up the trail in the distance. Another of our group is also waking up late, I can see her headlamp further down the tarn wiggling as she is breaking camp. I pack up, drink some cold coffee prepared the night before, and get going. Despite the mediocre sleep my body feels strong today. I am finally fully acclimated, the thin air still robs me of some horsepower but I am hiking right through it without hardship. I am utterly loving the night hiking with the headlamp, the rocky trail along the cliff under the stars, a wide grin is permanently stuck on my face. I am rocking this.
From the position of the headlamps under me, I deem it safe to use my wag bag and pull to the side of the trail. The wag bag turns out to be a very well designed kit, foolproof and hygienic. I will not fear these in the future.
Just a little under trail crest junction, the sun starts to announce itself with its tendrils of morning light caressing the landscape. Looking west, I can see the smog faintly brightening over the central valley, behind the Sierra. I drop my bag and focus on photography for the next 30 minutes, savoring every bit of the extraordinary spectacle. The light slowly reveals the mountains, the valleys and canyons that I hiked around or through all the way to the Great Western Divide - It’s all here. What an amazing finish for this trip. The beauty of it all and the glorious sunrise over the sierra overwhelms me with emotion.
I reach trail crest junction and catch up with my friend “Danger Mum”. One of the JMT hikers that slept close to me last night, Ray, is sitting next to the clump of abandoned backpacks, looking exhausted and sad - He had to turn back from his Whitney summit bid due to altitude sickness. I make sure he has enough water and manage to bribe a smile out of him with a fruit strip and an energy bar. Danger Mum and I get going towards the summit. More beauty, more photography, I fall back a bit. The Tramily cheers and whoops as we finally reunite on the summit. We take a couple group pictures and gaze at the white mountains beyond the Owens valley. The air is very cold.
There is now consensus to skip trail camp and try to reach Lone Pine tonight, warm shower and greasy burgers on the menu. The hike down to Whitney Portal is brutal, hours of endless switchbacks. My heart goes out to the people who are climbing up towards Whitney. This part of the trail feels like a 9 mile staircase with irregular steps designed to mangle your toes at each step - Mountain boots would have been better than trail runners here. My knees start locking a bit with sharp pain signals, my feet and toes feel like mashed meat, my hips stiffen. I reach Portal last around 4:30 pm, and we share fries and beer and banter while we figure out transportation and lodging for the night.

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Lessons from this trail:

-Lots of bear boxes along the trail - as long as you stick to the established campgrounds, no need to pack a giant bear canister or worry about excess food/scented items, at least in that late season when you can rely on bear boxes (might be a different story in high season if bear boxes fill up - also do check with the ranger station that bear boxes are not busted at specific camps if you will rely on this). By the time you get to Guitar lake, a small canister can contain all your scented stuff with ease unless you have screwed up your food amount.

-Several of the established campsites have legal fire pits, can slim down on fuel and bring interesting/fresh ingredients and a frying pan for genuine cooking on embers. Do not camp next to the fire pit if you want solitude as these are communal spaces - might sound obvious to most but it was a bit of a discovery to me, hah.

-I went a little too fast. I had 10 days of food but only used 7 days - So many locations are so beautiful, go slower, take zero days with day hiking at the loveliest spots if you are not tied by time.
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Wandering Daisy
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Re: TR High Sierra Trail 09/17/18 to 09/23/18

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Sounds like a good trip. There are a lot of really scenic side-trips off the trail that could be added if you had 10 days. Wallace and Wales Lakes would be my first choice of a side trip. A little romp in Nine Lakes Basin is also well worth the time. And a side-trip up to Arctic Lake is fantastic; mornings are best for photos. To avoid Trail Camp I have spent my last night at Lone Pine Lake and another time, Consultation Lake. Both are not crowded at all. Consultation is a bit tricky to get to, but has good fishing for rainbow trout. I too avoid Bearpaw camp area, it is overused, shady and cold in the late season and has no view. Buck Creek and Mehrten are both so much better.
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Satchel Buddah
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Re: TR High Sierra Trail 09/17/18 to 09/23/18

Post by Satchel Buddah »

Thank you for the tips Daisy! 9 lakes basin will likely be the next hike. I want to get back to the top of the big Arroyo and have lots of free time there for photography and painting, it was so beautiful. Wallaçe and Arctic will have to wait for my next adventures closish to Whitney but they are now on the list! I have started to peek at the JMT permits but I am a bit on the fence there, it looks so crowded, is it a bit like a zoo ?... I probably should stick to less popular routes to get a little bit of solitude. From all the TRs posted here there seems to be plenty of candy to be had without crowds. :)
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Re: TR High Sierra Trail 09/17/18 to 09/23/18

Post by sekihiker »

Enjoyed your narrative as well as the photos that had your unique point of view (that's a good thing).
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