Harken back to Spring 2021 and recall the oh-my-god-if-I-cannot-hike-in-the-Sierra-this-year-I-might-as-well-be-dead feeling. My planned 2020 hikes were scuttled by the pandemic and fires, so I was plenty anxious for months leading up to my departure. With the barest grip on my impatience and desire to skedaddle, I got both my girls graduated (one from high school, the other from college), found an apartment for the eldest so she could start true adulting several states to the east, threw a graduation party for the youngest (with a bouncy house!), and then flung myself at warp speed across the country in my new little delivery/camping van so I could beat the fire season and experience some Sierra goodness again. The plan for the first hike was a short four-day shakedown and acclimatizing trip out of Horseshoe Meadows to Cottonwood Lakes, Rock Creek, Crabtree Pass, Crabtree Lakes and back. Note that this proposed itinerary does not match the title of this TR.
Day –2 (June 16): Drive from eastern Wisconsin to a nice little rest stop outside Rawlins WY. 18 hours and 1150 miles. I told you I was anxious…
Day –1 (June 17): Finish the drive to Lone Pine CA. 2058 miles all up. Rent a humble spot in the hot dust bowl that is Diaz Lake Campground and pretty much just pass out in the back of the van. A couple loud cracks of thunder ripped through the silence in the middle of the night. Mrmmph? Whuh? I roll over and go back to sleep.
Day 0 (June 18): I stroll into the Alabama Hills Cafe & Bakery shortly after 6 AM for my usual Humphrey Bogart’s Skillet and plenty of hot coffee to lay a solid foundation for the day’s adventure. After ordering, I overhear one of the wait staff mention to another patron that her brother-in-law is a firefighter and is out helping to assess the fire that was started in the middle of the night by some lightning strikes. Oh… crap… I finish breakfast and high-tail it up the Whitney Portal Road to its intersection with the Horseshoe Meadows Road where a roadblock is being set up. I talk to the guy and he says they are closing the Whitney Portal Road, but access to Horseshoe Meadows will remain open. Okay… breathe… try to set aside the negative self talk (“You personally caused the first fire of the 2021 season by tempting the Fates with your hubris and your selfish desire for solitude”)… everything is going to work out…
So I go park my butt on the bench just outside the door of the Inter-Agency Visitor Center at 7:30 AM in anticipation of picking up my permit at 8:00 AM and driving up to an elevation of ten thousand glorious feet above sea level at Horseshoe Meadows. At 7:40 AM a ranger opens the door to post a weather report and asks “How are you doing?” And just the way she said it let me know everything was going to go to hell. “I have a feeling I am about to be doing a lot worse in a few minutes,” I replied. “Well, yes, there is a fire right near the Whitney Portal Road and they are closing the Horseshoe Meadow Road, too, and starting to evacuate people.” I am probably the first hiker to know this is an official thing, and after a couple more questions that make it clear this could go on for days, I run back to the van, get my dang phone connected to the network, get my dang computer talking to my dang phone, and call up the dang recreation.gov site. I figure I have five minutes before every other person who wanted to hike in this area is going to be searching for alternate entry points. So I scroll through the Inyo National Forest Wilderness Permits looking for something well to the north and in familiar territory. In my somewhat panicked state I am not thinking very clearly, but I see a couple spots are available for Lamarck Lakes, and, channeling my inner Homer, I think “Mmmmm…. Darwin Canyon…. mmmmmm…..,” so clickety-click, enter the credit card number, more clickety-click. Done! It wasn’t until later in the morning, driving back north toward Bishop that I realized a) I was going to have to go over Lamarck Col first thing tomorrow, and b) there was also a permit available for Piute Pass that might have been a better choice for the first climb of the season.
After the white-knuckle drive on that literal cliff-hanger of an access road to North Lake, I did a little day hike up to the Lamarck Lakes. Upon returning to the van, I noted with dismay that, in my haste and distraction earlier in the day, I forgot to deflate my air mattress before venturing to higher elevations and then parking the van in the sun. Due to the ironclad relationships expressed in the Ideal Gas Law between pressure, volume, temperature, and amount of gas, the internal baffles had blown out and the thing looked like a giant orange pastry. Ruined. Oi.
Day 1 (June 19): Enough of the back story. Upward an onward to more slapstick mishaps! For example, I forgot to put my water purification materials back in my pack after using them below the Lamarck Lakes. On the way up I met a young couple who were getting back on the Sierra High Route after a resupply in Bishop, so I asked them about conditions further south since I planned to hike the southernmost portion of the SHR next. They assured me that Frozen Lake Pass was not, indeed, frozen, and then bounded away, sustained by their youthful vigor, plentiful cartilage, and acclimatized lungs. There was terrific wind at Lamarck Col, and I was terrifically winded getting there. Far below, the lakes of Darwin Canyon were laid out in sequence — a beautiful sight for Sierra starved eyes. I camped on Darwin Bench where the streams from Darwin Canyon and the lakes below Alpine Col converge.
Day 2 (June 20): I had thoughts of crossing Evolution Creek and going up McGee Canyon, but it was a nice clear day and I wanted to see Evolution Basin again because the last time I passed through it was overcast with thunderstorms. I was not disappointed. On the way up to Davis Lakes Pass, I encountered a coyote. I was grateful to be downwind of her because I already smelled like carrion and was in danger of being mistaken for her next meal. As I crossed over the pass, I met a couple of gentlemen a bit older than me who were recreating a trip of theirs from some thirty years ago that involved hiking up South Fork San Joaquin River and then North Goddard Creek. We chatted for a bit as we snacked, and I learned that I simply must hike through McGee Canyon someday.
I made my way along the south shore of Davis Lake until I had a clear view of Hudson Pass directly to the south. I made my way between the two lakes just beneath the pass and then west around a prominence behind which was a straightforward, if rocky, route to the top. Somewhere in there I lost the little basket off one of my hiking poles. If you find it, you can keep it — no need to send it to me. Secor says of Hudson Pass “It is best to cross the higher, eastern side of the pass.” I did not find this to be the case, but I suspect that it has to do with conditions following normal/high snow seasons. The south side of the pass is a disorienting mess of talus mounds and no real clear views with clues of where to go until you get a good distance away from the pass itself. I ended up going around the north side of the lake due west of the pass to get down. I will write a description for the cross country pass forum when I get a chance.
