R03/R01 TR: Cottonwood Pass to Perrin Creek/Mount Newcomb 05/12/2021 to 05/15/2021

[KathyW]

It is dry out there.

Four day backpacking trip from Horseshoe Meadows to Perrin Creek with a climb of Mount Newcomb from the lake at the head of Perrin Creek.

No mosquitoes and just a couple of patches of snow the whole trip.

One night it snowed for about 20 minutes but it just wet my tent a little and melted away. As I was coming out on 05/15/2021 a storm was coming in - I had planned to head out on the 15th because of the stormy weather forecast and it worked out well. The weather was nice but too brisk to clean up in the evenings - four days of dirt on me when I came out.

My first trip to 13,000' plus in a while - I crawled along as usual.

PCT hikers are out in full force headed north.

Water is already a bit of an issue; so, you don't want to delay going into that area of the Sierra much longer. Rock Creek will have water all season and so will Chicken Spring Lake but some of those other seasonal spots aren't even seasonal this year. I believe there is some water in Siberian Creek and there was water in the upper part of Perrin Creek, but those sources won't last long. Guyot Creek still has water from what I hear but I didn't check it out. Nasty brown/green water from the outlet of Chicken Spring Lake even after I filtered it - it would have been clearer if I got the water from the lake.

I'll let the maps and photos do the rest of the story: https://kathywing.smugmug.com/Californi ... -05-15-21/

[astrogerly]

Great report and photos. Agreed, it’s really dry out there. We were in the Cottonwood area last weekend and it was much drier than expected (even knowing how bad the winter in that area was). We’re heading to Miter this weekend, so the photos confirm what we expected.

[Shawn]

Sad it's so dry. Really enjoyed your great photos Kathy. Incidentally, your crawling along is my top speed.

[balzaccom]

Great report. Man, that lack of snow is impressive.

So are your ten mile days, one after the other...

[KathyW]

My mileage will depend on how I feel, the elevation, if I am on trail or cross-country, how heavy my pack is and how much elevation gain. I suppose from 6 to 18 miles per day is my range in the Sierra; so, 10 miles is about average for me considering I always spend time off the trail on almost all trips. This trip I actually did good - I averaged 11 miles per day.

[Harlen]

Nice trip and climb. I love the photo "Looking down on Crabtree Meadows. Congratulations.

[Wandering Daisy]

Years ago I climbed Newcomb from Sky Blue Lake, a loop from Crabtree Pass then continued on the ridge to Pickering. Never thought of climbing it the route you did. Views are great. Lots of snow when I did it late June in a high snow year. And how dry it is this year!

Great report and photos. Thanks

[sekihiker]

Interesting trip illustrating lack of snow. Thanks for posting.

[SSSdave]

Nice work Kathy. At those elevations despite snow melting off, most vegetation is still dormant brown due to cold freezing nights. By time it warms up enough in June, most top soil moisture will have evaporated leaving a lot of annual's seeds without life. Great photos, i-r7GHnLL-4K.jpg and i-Vr2z9f9-4K.jpg, looking down from east Hitchcock ridge to lakes and all the distant peaks both Great Western Divide and Kern Peaks Ridge. I seek out perspectives like that on topos and Google Earth to take largest stitch blended images that will look amazing on large 8k displays.