High Sierra Topix

OOOOOps...Should have posted this as a "Reply" in previous post. Ummmm...I can't delete it as has to be a moderator. Sorry.

Big Pine – Wednesday. Very pretty area. Backpacker TH parking already over a dozen cars. Full ‘lakes basin’ permits quota today! Decided to try Brainerd Lake trail for some odd reason. Snow on trail around 9,000 ft. getting post-holy. Scrambling up rock scree slopes bit hazardous as very loose and mobile. Stopped out at approx. 9,200 ft. Could have carried on up rocks, etc. as over top would be more open but tired from lack of sleep. Bum-crawling down scree in places.
4. Down early so on to Onion Valley/Kearsarge with brief roadside distraction at Taboose road. Nope on Taboose - way too exposed to sun, heat and 6,000 ft. elevation gain, plus ‘roller skating rocks’ trail report. Getting late in the afternoon. Kearsarge parking area mostly empty. Localized clouds buildup with thunder and lightning. Hiked up Kearsarge Pass trail but just to the first “puddle pond” as temperature dropping fast and wind picking up.

Rock Creek – Thursday. Long drive in. Gentle gradients on road plus valley floor, plus tons of campgrounds = potential circus in summer!? Road open to Hilton Lakes trailhead. Mosquito Flat gate still closed but certainly not due to snow. Some day hikers already around even though very early morning.



To conclude. The East Side is impressive and no doubt gets impressive amounts of people in summer. Finding secluded campsites maybe be challenging until well into the back-country. Sun exposure is a constant factor and will be interesting to see what it is like in August. It’s also a helluva long drive!

Best ~ Michaelzim

Thank you so much for the trip report and the pictures.
Very helpful to know the trail conditions. I am most surprised about Mosquito Flat being closed. I read on the county web site that it opened weeks ago. I wonder if they reclosed it.

Thanks for the post Michael. I reckon that's a view into my future-- just long, rambling day hikes up from East Side trailheads. I'll bet those were beautiful days! Did you see a lot of wildlife-- lizards, rabbits,... in the low country? I was happily surprised by how much activity there was down low. Beautiful birds too, like the Western Tanager, and Green Towhees! How about the flowers? We've heard that McGee Creek can be a flower paradise. Did you run into those wonderful smelling Bush Lupine? Thanks again for the post.

@Harlen Re wildlife...less than I would have thought, well apart from the Coyote at Upper Pine Lake. The odd rabbit down on the flat and some lizards and birds here and there. However, I did notice that both flowers and creatures increased as I went south - which is a bit strange as it's not that far. In particular the roadside when "snooping out dirt side-roads" had considerably more wildflowers of all sorts the closer I got to Onion Valley territory. Notice the difference in the vegetation bareness of flowers at my base camp north of Bishop, v. what you saw down at Taboose!

As for McGee Creek, here's a photo of what that looked like. Low stream flow and no flowering stuff yet.


P.S. Do you know what that bush is with all the pink flowers??? I know it's not a Flame Lily!

Best ~ Michaelzim

Desert Peach, most likely.

alanhaight is onto it: "Desert peach," Prunus andersonii-- Family- Rosaceae It great you saw a coyote too. As to the advanced flowering ti the south, it may be a simple matter of latitude. Spring begins south and moves northward. At the other end of the flowering season, we should find more flower density farther north and higher up. Why am I telling you this Michael-- you're are the fruit tree and garden guy extraordinaire!