Brown on Brown
Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 8:31 pm
Saturday joined members of the KRV hiking group for a hike to Cook Peak overlooking Lake Isabella. It was advertised as a 10 mile RT hike. Really it is close to a drive-up peak but the group was starting down low to get some mileage conditioning in. stunning views from the summit and a whole new list of peaks to see and conquer. Aside from meeting new friends to hike with – one noted event was when a black/ white swallowtail butterfly landed on Bob H.’s apple just as I snapped the shutter for a picture – great timing. The hike up was getting warm but breezes on the top made it comfortable for summit viewing. On the way down the road was way too hot so a few of us just bombed down some ridgeline. We managed to scare a few deer up along the way. The beer tasted good back at the vehicle and it was a fun group to hike with.
Sunday was quite the different plan of a day. A group of friends(including Cinammon Girl, SnowNymph, SnoDude, & TrailTrekker) had hiked over a Olancha Pass the day before and I wanted to catch up with them and join them in a summit of Brown Mountain. Rough calculations had this as over a 20 mile adventure. Ridgeline(Dave) agreed to join me – although I am not sure if he knew how long the adventure was going to be.
We started out at 5am from the Sage Flats trailhead. We took the cattle trail up because it is more direct than the hiker trail. We were past Olancha Pass before 8am. I figured that the group would be camped around Summit Meadow near the corrals. When we did catch them there, I knew we had our work cut out for us. From here it was west and downhill to Monache Meadows. Not wanting to drop all the way down into Monache we opted to turn north and go x-country once we saw Brown and Temptleton in the Kern Plateau.
From a small hill we finally made radio contact with the group from the day before. They had slept near the cabins in Monache Meadow and were just getting started for the day(930am). We coordinated to meet- it did not quite work right due to communication issues. At the saddle all dropped their packs and pushed the last mile up to the summit. Everyone made the summit and a new summit for all 6 of us. After a brief stay on top we all went back to the saddle. Since it was Trailtrekker’s birthday the day before we had a mini celebration with gifts and party favors. (sorry I forgot to pass out the atomic fireballs for everyone)
Soon it was time to part ways. The backpacking group was continuing north to summit Templeton the next day while Ridgeline and I still had to hike back out. Our mileage indicated 11.5 miles already by the time we hit the summit of Brown. On the way back down to Monache we saw a black bear scampering up the hill side. He had just left a warm steaming pile of bears**t on the trail we had to cross. After taking water and a couple other social stops we finally made it back to vehicles by 9pm. Enjoyed nice cold beer before heading home.
Total miles: 25.1; elevation gain:7400+; total time: just under 16 hours
Granted we did not have any snow to deal with it was still a long day. I will try and get some pictures up by tomorrow.
Sunday was quite the different plan of a day. A group of friends(including Cinammon Girl, SnowNymph, SnoDude, & TrailTrekker) had hiked over a Olancha Pass the day before and I wanted to catch up with them and join them in a summit of Brown Mountain. Rough calculations had this as over a 20 mile adventure. Ridgeline(Dave) agreed to join me – although I am not sure if he knew how long the adventure was going to be.
We started out at 5am from the Sage Flats trailhead. We took the cattle trail up because it is more direct than the hiker trail. We were past Olancha Pass before 8am. I figured that the group would be camped around Summit Meadow near the corrals. When we did catch them there, I knew we had our work cut out for us. From here it was west and downhill to Monache Meadows. Not wanting to drop all the way down into Monache we opted to turn north and go x-country once we saw Brown and Temptleton in the Kern Plateau.
From a small hill we finally made radio contact with the group from the day before. They had slept near the cabins in Monache Meadow and were just getting started for the day(930am). We coordinated to meet- it did not quite work right due to communication issues. At the saddle all dropped their packs and pushed the last mile up to the summit. Everyone made the summit and a new summit for all 6 of us. After a brief stay on top we all went back to the saddle. Since it was Trailtrekker’s birthday the day before we had a mini celebration with gifts and party favors. (sorry I forgot to pass out the atomic fireballs for everyone)
Soon it was time to part ways. The backpacking group was continuing north to summit Templeton the next day while Ridgeline and I still had to hike back out. Our mileage indicated 11.5 miles already by the time we hit the summit of Brown. On the way back down to Monache we saw a black bear scampering up the hill side. He had just left a warm steaming pile of bears**t on the trail we had to cross. After taking water and a couple other social stops we finally made it back to vehicles by 9pm. Enjoyed nice cold beer before heading home.
Total miles: 25.1; elevation gain:7400+; total time: just under 16 hours
Granted we did not have any snow to deal with it was still a long day. I will try and get some pictures up by tomorrow.