High Sierra Topix

High Sierra Trail (more or less)
Sept 3-13, 2008

I do not think I have ever posted this trip. But even if I did, I have re-processed the photos since the initial processing was done before I had Photoshop. My winter's project is to get all my old trip files and photos in better order.

After finally getting a Whitney permit to climb Mt. Muir, my companions bailed. Now I had to make lemonade out of a lemon. I had always wanted to do the High Sierra Trail but the entire trial would be a transportation nightmare. Having already been from Crescent Meadow to Precipice Lake, the plan was to do a loop, reaching Precipice Lake by way of the Kern-Keweah and Pants Pass and return on the HST. I drove to Lone Pine, easily obtained a revised permit, and camped at the walk-in campsite adjacent to the Whitney Portal parking lot.

Day1. 9/03/08: Whitney Portal to Trail Camp (6.5 miles, 7 hours, 3800 feet gain)

Thankfully at the end of the season I was well acclimated. All the commotion of the Whitney day-hikers getting a pre-dawn start woke me. Unable to get back to sleep I started early and reached Trail Camp at about 1PM. Although tempted to continue, I needed to just relax and acclimate. There were tons of others at this crowded base camp for climbing Mt. Whitney. I wandered around taking photos and talking to the climbers.



Day2. 9/04/08: Trail Camp to Lower Crabtree Lake (8.2 miles, about 9 hours, 2190 feet gain/3550 loss)

After enjoying the fine sunrise I headed up the numerous switchbacks along with too many Mt. Whitney hikers to count! Even with my pack loaded with 10 days food I passed many out-of-breath hikers. At Trail Crest (13,700 feet) the view of Hitchcock Lakes was stunning. I descended and left the crowd, wandered off-trail for a side-trip to Hitchcock Lakes. I was back on the trail to the meadow below Timberline Lake early enough to add Crabtree Lake to my agenda. I crossed the creek and took off cross country to traverse. Like many “short-cuts” not much time was saved, but it was surely interesting! It was a puzzle of cliffs to avoid, talus and confusing navigation through some steep terrain. In essence, I traversed too low. After the 8-mile day once to the outlet I set up and took a refreshing dunk in the lake, with the entire drainage to myself! If only I had taken a few more photos. This definitely was a place to come back to in the future.

Day3. 9/05/08: Lower Crabtree Lake to Kern Keweah (12.8 miles, 10 hours, 3015 feet gain/3865 loss)

I was blessed with a wonderful sunrise reflection on the mirror-smooth lake. I followed the trail to Crabtree Meadow and went up to the ranger station to check on the latest weather report. Then I was off to Wallace Creek on the PCT and dropped to Kern Canyon arriving at Junction Meadow at 1:30 PM. Too early to stop, I stashed three days of food in the bear box, waded across the Kern River and started up the 1,500-foot climb into the Kern-Keweah. Soon I was roasting under the afternoon sun. Having forgotten the lack of campsites in the lower drainage I was forced to go farther than intended; but that would make the next day easier.



Day4. 9/06/08: L. Kern-Keweah to lake below Pants Pass (5.7 miles, 6.5 hours, 2020 feet gain/260 loss)

I continued up the drainage, passing beautiful Gallats Lake where at the far end I left the trail and crossed the wide shallow river. Then I ascended due south to a fairly large lake at 10,900 feet, then southwest to a smaller lake and finally up steeply and around a hill to the lake below Pants Pass. Although stark, my campsite was definitely remote, peaceful and awesome. It was me and the marmots and lots of time to read.

Day5. 9/07/08: Below Pants Pass to Big Arroyo +day-hike (5.6 miles, 7* hours, 1190 feet gain/2580 loss)
*hours include waiting 2 hours at Precipice Lake

I was a bit apprehensive about Pants Pass. Fortunately I got it right. Although you can go directly up to the pass, it is better first ascend to a dead-end notch about a quarter mile southeast and scramble over the ridge northwest down to the actual pass. The last 20-foot drop is a bit cliffy. The south side is a miserable loose sand and scree gully to Nine Lakes Basin. It was much easier than I expected (so much easier than Pyra-Queen Col!) with one hour up and one hour down. I would not want to do it the opposite direction!

I emptied the sand out of my shoes and soaked my dirty feet in the upper lake before heading to meet the High Sierra Trail at Keweah Gap. I then took a side-trip to Precipice Lake and spent two hours waiting for the sun to move across the sky for better lighting. At about 2PM I returned to Keweah Gap and walked down the Big Arroyo to a nice camp at timberline at 9800 feet elevation.

Day6. 9/08/08: Big Arroyo to Kern Hot Springs (15.3 miles, 9 hours, 1500 feet gain/ 4560 loss)

The plan was to camp at Moraine Lake, but I got a bit too energetic and decided to continue on a few miles, only to discover that the next five miles of burned forest was ugly as hell with horrible camping. With a storm building, I literally ran down the switchbacks to the Kern River where a sign said it was only 1.8 miles to the Kern Hot Springs. Dead tired, I dragged my feet up the trail, all the time thinking of soaking in the springs. When I arrived at 5PM, I had to jump in the cold river because the one-person hot-tub was always full of hikers! I only got my turn in the tub next morning at 6AM! I learned that it is best not to camp at the springs, but hit it mid-day when everyone is gone. To make matters worse, my campsite (ugly one at that) was swarmed by bees!

Day7. 9/09/08: Hot Springs to Wallace Creek at 10,100 feet (10.4 miles, 8 hours, 3000 feet gain/ 300 loss)

Up early and after a soak in the tub and washing my hair in warm water I was ready to move. Kern Canyon is pretty but hard to get a good photo because it is so narrow and shadowy. Crossing Whitney Creek, I fell in, so ended up washing my hiking pants and continued up the trail with my laundry hanging off my pack. I arrived at Junction Meadow, picked up my stashed supplies and continued up to a nice little campsite perched on the edge of the rocks near where Wrights Creek drops into Wallace Creek.



Day8. 9/10/08: Wallace Creek to Wallace Lake + day hike (7.1 miles, 6 hours, 2240 feet gain/ 520 loss)

Being a day ahead of schedule, I decided to go up to Wallace and Wales Lakes. Big black clouds were boiling up over the divide. For a moment I considered retreating, but then, what the heck, you never know if you do not try. Fortunately I bumped into a good use-trail after leaving Wallace Creek at the PCT. I arrived at timberline a quarter mile below Wallace Lake at noon in a “gropple” storm and quickly set up my tent and jumped in.

At 2PM it cleared, so I threw on my parka and headed up Wales Lake. It was cold! I was hiking full speed to stay warm, dressed in two layers of fleece and my rain jacket and not breaking a sweat. I first walked to the outlet where I had one time camped. Unfortunately, the lighting was poor for photos. The storm first appeared to be letting up, but by the time I was back on the ridge between the lakes, it started to get black again. The storm lighting was fantastic so I ran back to camp snapping photos on the way, reaching the tent with sun in my face and snow at my back! Big flaky snow fell from 4PM to7PM. I became a bit worried and was relieved when I saw the moon shine at 8PM. Three inches of snow had been deposited and the wind howled all night. It was an exciting day!

Continuing photos for Day 8


Day9. 9/11/08: Wallace Lake to Arctic Lake (10.6 miles, 8.7 hours, 2790 feet gain/ 1825 loss)

I awoke at dawn and quickly packed to get down the trail to the JMT before the snow started melting and getting drippy wet. I stopped at Wallace Creek to cook breakfast, where there were numerous other groups of JMT hikers, many of whom got hit by the same storm on Forester Pass. I walked the JMT/PCT to the Whitney trail where there where a helicopter landed in Crabtree Meadow (Never found out what that was about). The peaks were covered with a dusting of snow that never melted. The temperature remained cool as I left the trail and hiked up the 700-feet to Arctic Lake and camped at the inlet, away from the crowds camped at Guitar Lake. It was worth the extra miles as I was blessed with a stunning campsite under the cliffs of Mt. Russell, all to myself. The nearly full moon fantastically lit the granite walls. It froze hard that night. By now I had used every bit of clothing I had brought!

Day10. 9/12/08: Arctic Lake to Lone Pine Lake (9.7 miles, 7.7 hours, 2380 feet gain/ 5120 loss)

I dropped back to Guitar Lake and joined the crowds ascending to Trail Crest. I have climbed Mt. Whitney several times so had no need to go to the top this time. My goal was simply to get the 10-miles to Lone Pine Lake. There was still snow on the trail and the section with the cables was very icy. At Lone Pine Lake I found a nice campsite with a view, took a bath, and finished my book. As late as 9PM, I could see little dots of light as Whitney day-hikers were still descending by headlamp!



Day11. 9/13/08: Lone Pine Lake to Whitney Portal (2.3 miles, 1.3 hours, 190 feet gain/ 1795 loss)

The next morning I got up early and descended the last two miles to Whitney Portal. Thankful as always that my car started, I spend the next 7 hours driving home. The loop with a few side-trips was about 94 miles. Now that I have completed the High Sierra Trail, I am not sold on the route. There certainly are great sections, but Chagoopa Plateau and the Kern River involve miles of trail that, for me, were not the highlights; Wallace Lake and Arctic Lake were by far more rewarding. I think that once you are bit by the off-trail bug, it is hard to be satisfied on trails alone. However, it was easy to get away from the crowds to camp in solitude.

Oh WD, your engaging reports and stunning images just keep entertaining us during the doldrums of non-backpacking season. I so appreciate each and every report you do.

I also ran into a maze when trying to cross-x from below Timberline over to Crabtree, and gave up. I've been perturbed at myself for years for not getting through, but I was very tired after having gotten up a 2am to do Whitney, and decided that the "long way" felt like the "right way."

That was quite a trip! I appreciate the way you detail your route, so we can follow along. Those are some real Sierra highlights. No mention of fishing Nancy; you must have returned to the Kern many times since then to enjoy the fish-- I recall you mentioned fishing in Casper Lake. What is the deal with using your poles as a guy line, or is that the way the tent system works?

You took some really fine images on this trip, and I notice that unlike mine, your photos can stand up to enlarging. What camera did you use in 2008? The photo from Trail Crest down on the lakes is great! I also admire your shot titled: Along Wallace Creek below the PCT, and then the shots around Arctic Lake-- great images! I like the way you arranged those big rocks in the photos: Ridge between Wales and Wallace Lake, and View towards Tulainyo Lake basin. That must've been hard work rolling them into place... or did you lift them?!

Your picture after the snow storm-- Sunrise on the Kaweahs reminds of how beautiful it will soon be with snow. I love that area, and look forward to a winter trip there to complete a small section I still need for my JMT in the snow goal. Perhaps soon, as I scored a deer today for trail jerky. [I know you approve of my errant form of roadside hunting.]

Thanks for putting this great trip report together, Lizzie has been up and reading it, and she too is very impressed. Cheers, Ian and Lizzie.

I did not start fishing much until about 2012. Dave, my husband, has always fished and I was fine with letting him catch dinner when we went out together. I did not get up into the really good fishing of the Upper Kern on this trip. Wallace Lake and Crabtree Lake do have good fishing.

As for trekking poles used in setting up my tent, I cannot exactly remember why I used them. The tent was the old "Micro-Zoid" and by this time I had bent the poles so I probably was just trying to get the roofline up a bit- it was a really little tent that even I could not sit up in, sort of one step up from a bivy. The tent was a total flop and got one-star reviews because it was too small/short for most people. It was perfect for me and really cheap as a close-out because nobody else wanted it. This was before the regular sized light weight tents.

I take a lot of photos, so for every good one you see there are 4-5 times as many duds. The camera I was using in 2008 was the Canon Power Shot SD 800 IS. It was my third camera, having killed two previous cameras in seven years. Part of my winter project is re-processing the older originals. It is a bit of work, but Photoshop does so much better than what I previously used. But the best photos are almost always the ones that need the least processing. When lighting is right, not much is needed. The photos I put in this trip report are reduced to about 500KB size from their original size of about 2MB.

I can see where Wallace Lake would be a wonderful winter ski trip. The open terrain and relatively safe routes in (except any objective dangers going over Trail Crest) make it pretty safe. How is skiing over Trail Crest rated for difficulty and danger?