- Plan: enter over Kearsarge, head up Vidette Lakes, and scope out Deerhorn Saddle. If it seemed doable, I'd return by way of East Lake and Kearsarge again. If it didn't, I would backtrack and check out Center Basin, then exit Kearsarge.
- Guest list: just me! As per usual. I like rocks, I am working on liking snow. Comfy up to Class III. I usually sleep in Alabama Hills before Kearsarge trips, but did not acclimate this time.
- Other Details: I was easily able to snag a permit for a Sunday to take advantage of shifting work stuff. However, I had a flight at the end of the day 5/31 out of LAX, so I couldn't get stuck, and I had to move fast.
Sleep-deprived by life/work events, I didn't arrive at Onion Valley until around noon. This did not help the plan to move fast. The pass and the descent to Bubbs Creek went smoothly, though it was very windy, overcast, and rather cold. Gloves and a rain jacket were essential. Pants were not! Big Pothole Lake was icy, but melting fast.
The switchbacks down to Bubbs Creek provided excellent beta on the ascent to come. The relevant bit of Deerhorn looked snow-free, and the 3 primary chutes from the middle lakes to the upper were visible as well. This firmed up my intent to tackle the west-most chute (right-most, here).
The creek was flowing a little more swiftly & deeply than I wanted to ford alone, so I found this lovely log. Very easy to balance across, much easier than the log on the JMT a quarter mile away, crossing a tributary.
East Vidette is an absolutely beautiful mountain. To get the views, though, I had veered rather east-ward of the various use trails up to the lakes. It was perfectly passable, in some ways more open terrain, but it was slightly steeper. I switched my way up without difficulty and without trails.
Without knowing the status of any East Creek crossings on the far side of Deerhorn, and having that flight out of LAX, I elected to make it to the upper Vidette Lake, but no further. I made my dinner and got some rest. Vidette Lakes was peaceful, beautiful, cold camping.
The decision against Deerhorn was further enforced by a very late start the next day, as it was below freezing over night and quite cold until my tent got decent sun, which didn't occur until around 9 am. My water bottle, sans filter, had chunks of ice until closer to 11.
The west-most chute was trivial and I was able to stick to the rocks to the right of the snow chute the whole way up before I was faced with crossing the last bit of snow.
This was very silly, but this was my first strictly necessary snow travel, outside of some practice sessions. Baby's first kicked steps! Went off without a hitch.
The last climb to the tarns at the foot of Deerhorn didn't look that bad, but I wanted to scope out Center Basin more, so I turned around.
The descent via use trail from Vidette Lakes was nice but not necessarily easier than contouring independently. I floated around the trails, as there are a few. I kept to the HST-time-honored-tradition of blowing by the Center Basin junction. I ran across the trail shortly thereafter and it was hard to lose from there. I do have pictures of the junction and details for anyone interested, but maybe better to keep the fun going.
I only made it as far as Golden Bear Lake before having to head back for time, but not before cementing Center Basin as a spot to revisit. Bighorn Plateau and Nine Lakes Basin have always been two of my favorite locations in the Sierra, and Center Basin shares that expansive, serene nature.
A wonderful departure to the trip, I saw the day's events all summed up in one view! Not a standard occurrence, since I tend to focus on covering a lot of ground or traversing high, view-blocking passes. This was a special treat.
I camped at the last legal spot just before Bullfrog, exited in the morning, and made my flight! All in all, an unfortunately abbreviated trip, but maybe better to take it easy on the first trip of the season.
I keep detailed track of timing and travel, because I'm neurotic I like tracking changes throughout the season, so, stats, for the curious:
Day 1, 6 hr, 10.5 mi, +3.7k', -2.4k'
Day 2, 7 hr, 12.5 mi, +3.1k', -3.1k'
Day 3, 4 hr, 7.3 mi, +1.4k', -2.7k'
Last, maybe most importantly, thanks to @bobby49 and @Wandering Daisy for their help talking through the route options!
