High Sierra Topix

After a less than relaxing trip back in July, I was back in the Sierra for a second go, and boy, the Sierra delivered.

Day 1
I spent most of the day making the now longer, due to the Dixie Fire, drive to the trailhead with a short detour to the Bishop Ranger Station to pick up my permit. I also made a stop at Mahogany Meats for a sandwich. Surprise, surprise, I got off to a late start from Pine Creek Trailhead. After an initial misstart where I started up the trail without the permit I had just picked up, I finally got going for real at 5:09 PM. As I slowly climbed, the sun dropped, and I ended up camping just below the Lower Pine Creek Lake at 7:40. Dinner is a gingerbread Lara bar followed by a cherry pie Lara bar for dessert. It’s late, and I’m tired, even though I only hiked 4 miles with 2,400 feet of elevation gain. It’s time for sleep. I’m getting old it seems.

Day 2
What a wonderful night! I saw something last night that I hadn’t seen in 4 weeks…stars! Later I woke up and was startled. Was the sun coming up? Had I slept through the night? I fumbled for my watch to see what time it was, 12:45 AM. I looked around and saw that a nearly full moon had risen, shining a bright spotlight on my campsite and the world around me! I was really liking this trip already!

I did some tossing and turning as my inflatable pad had a new hole in it. I planned to take care of it at my afternoon break. Despite waking up at 5:45, I didn’t get up until 6:00, preferring the warmth of my down quilt to the chilly morning air for just a moment or two longer. But, get up I did, and finally hit the trail at 7:00. I reached Pine Creek Pass about 9:00 and made an audible. I decided to take the short cross-country trip to visit French Lake for the first time. I doubt that I chose the best route, but it was an easy walk anyway. What a nice lake. I stayed until 11:30 rinsing off my clothes and myself before laying around relaxing on the beach. I spoke with a man returning to the trailhead. He had spent last night at Steelhead Lake, and he raved about it. I toyed with the idea of additional exploration, but I ended up descending to the head of Piute Creek and picking up the trail there. I headed down French Canyon and stopped for a 2-hour break at Hutchison Meadow where I got in the creek, rinsed out my socks, switched to the socks I had rinsed earlier that morning, had a relaxing meal, and finally found the hole in my sleeping pad and patched it. I am now cowboy camped along Piute Creek just upstream from the JMT junction. It was a good day, and I’m looking forward to an even better day at Sandpiper Lake tomorrow.

Day 3
I got started early-ish, hitting the trail at 6:40 AM. When I arrived at the PCT/JMT trail junction, much to my surprise, I only saw two tents set up. I guess I could’ve continued on yesterday. Oh well, I had the creek to myself where I stopped last night.

I put an ear bud in one ear and started a 3.5 hour Jocko Podcast for the hike up to Selden Pass. Well, I made it to Heart Lake by the end of the podcast. I briefly met several people on the JMT and took a 30 minute break at the Senger Creek crossing. Boy, was the water level low in the creek. On the way down from the pass to Marie Lake, I did a double take as I passed a hiker going up. He also stared at me. “Mike?”
“Yes.”
I had run into Dave who had the cubicle next to mine over 20 years ago in Santa Rosa, CA. Dave was on the penultimate day of his hike and had just been blown away by the fishing at Marie Lake. After we said our goodbyes, I finished the descent and headed to the east side of Marie Lake where I stopped for a long lunch break and a dip in the lake.

Two hours later, I was packed up again and started angling slightly to the east, up and away from the lake and towards the basin holding Sandpiper Lake et al. I had chosen to head off trail and avoid losing as much elevation as I would on trail but more so for the “adventure” of it, to explore. As I hit a saddle point, I saw a cairn to my right. I thought “maybe there is a way across that rock face without having to drop down below it.” It was followed by two more cairns, but there wasn’t a route, at least not one I was interested in taking. I decided that I could probably make it across the next rock formation but the one after that definitely was beyond my capabilities. So, I backtracked to the saddle point and began descending down a drainage. As I descended, a creek appeared, one that wasn’t on the map. That was a surprise under these drought conditions. I began angling to my right below the rock face I had contemplated less than an hour before. After my third stream crossing, I began angling to the north and back up, hitting the trail shortly after at about 10,500 feet. From there, I just kept going, around Sandpiper, off to the east of Medley and Flat Note Lakes, finally arriving at Three Island Lake where I made camp. As I write this, I’m snacking on beef jerky and ginger chews and trying to decide how much I really want to go to Seven Gables and Vee Lakes tomorrow. I think I’m just going to take it easy and spend the morning hiking around the basin before hiking back down to the PCT and heading part of the way to VVR.

CONTINUED
Day 4
What a day. The highs and the lows. The day started well. I wasn’t packed up until 8:15. Three Island Lake was still big and gorgeous as I circled around at the bottom of the lake and headed up the west side with Sharp Note Lake in my sights. I was feeling good and enjoying the slow climb and amazing view of the deep blue depths of Three Island Lake. Then I arrived at a wall of boulders. I figured that the lake was on the other side of these boulders, and all I needed to do was to climb up and around them. At first, I started at the north side of the boulder wall, but that petered out quickly. I decided it would be easier to backtrack a little and head to some granite slabs and grassy ramps on the south side of the big rock blocks. It was much easier reaching the top of the rock wall there, but there was no lake in sight, just a field of boulders, not the grassy meadow I had hoped for. I poked around a bit, looking for a reasonably easy way through the boulders, but eventually decided it wasn’t worth it. I had plenty of other sights to see. I headed back down to Three Island Lake, passing by Flat Note Lake and multiple ponds before beginning my wandering around Medley Lake. Eventually, I reached the upper end of Sandpiper Lake. By noon I had reached the outlet of Sandpiper Lake and stopped for a short break to filter water and sit for a bit before descending back down to the PCT. I was having another good day.

While stopped at the Hilgard Creek crossing for another water break and a sock and foot rinsing, I met an older lady and found that she and her husband were planning on ascending the trail to Lake Italy and over Italy Pass eventually arriving at Pine Creek Trailhead. I asked her if she had done much off-trail trail hiking. She said that she had done a little, but she had been told online that the trail was easy to follow all the way to the trailhead. I let her know that wasn’t my experience the two previous times I had gone that way. I let her know that I lost the trail several times but was always able to pick it back up by just heading up with the creek to my right. It wasn’t difficult, but I wouldn’t describe it as an easy trail. I met her husband about ten minutes later further down the trail to Bear Creek and had a brief conversation with him about how far to the trail junction and the trail to Lake Italy, etc.

Next, I came across a young lady looking really beat down (her sister posted on the JMT Facebook page about a week later, concerned that she hadn’t heard from her in over a week). She wanted to know how far to Marie Lake, since she had planned on camping there that night. It was already 4:00 PM, and I tried to convince her to stop sooner. Telling her my story about treating this like a vacation and not worrying about plans made under fluorescent lights. She even said that she was planning to take a zero at Marie Lake. To me that made it more obvious there was no reason to continue pushing today – she looked really tired and miserable already – and I tried to convince her to stop in the next couple of miles and just take a nice easy 2-mile hike to Marie Lake the following morning. I mean that’s practically a zero, right? I hope she started pacing herself better and enjoying her time on the JMT, something I didn’t learn until leaving MTR when I hiked the JMT.

I exited the JMT onto Bear Creek Trail. Bear Creek Trail, sounds like it follows Bear Creek, right? Well, if I had looked at my maps, I would have known there is a big climb up and away from the creek. I began the climb with about ½ liter of water. I reached the top with about two swallows left and a very dry mouth. I was not enjoying my chill, relaxing day now. Fortunately, I found a small stream running with cold water shortly after and was able to chug down about a liter of water and leave with 2 more liters in my pack (I saw the trail followed the creek, but I guess I was a little impacted by my dry stretch). I arrived back at Bear Creek shortly after, but still happy to have water in my pack. I kept going down stream, looking for a decent site that didn’t already have someone at it. I eventually settled on a flat spot well above the creek with a big rock to hide me from the trail. I did not enjoy the last couple of hours of my day along the oh so wonderful Bear Creek Trail. I had not hiked the easy day that I had originally planned, and I was feeling it. I am writing this at VVR, as my pen also ran out of ink, like I had run out of energy and patience.

Day 5
I woke up this morning feeling much better, only a light soreness in my knees, but still filthy. No matter, a hot shower awaited me at VVR. I was back on the trail before 7:00 and made the Bear Creek trail cut-off by 8:00. Along the way, I ran into five guys headed up to Lake Italy. Seems like Lake Italy is becoming a rather popular destination. The top of the cut-off trail offered some views of a very low Lake Edison and the gray granite beyond. I met some nice hikers at VVR, including Sara (name changed), who was still getting over the death of her boyfriend almost 18 months ago. He died rock climbing, but they don’t know how it happened, no reason, no closure. She started crying as a wave of sorrow hit her. Soon after a smaller wave of sorrow, the first in quite a while, hit me as I remembered the death of my grandfather in August 1985, 36 years ago. As the years go on and we are further from the death of a loved one, the waves becoming smaller and less frequent, but they don’t go away. They never go away. But, that’s all right, it’s how those loved ones continue to live on, in our memories and our hearts. She was embarrassed to be crying, but she had no reason to be. Day 6
I had lunch and dinner at VVR yesterday, and the cook this year was not on par with past chefs they have had. How unfortunate. But, the new owner seems to be a good one. I hope he keeps VVR hiker friendly. It seems he will as he first came to know about VVR when he was injured while hiking the JMT and got off trail at VVR. His mom told us how he fell in love with the place then, and now, a few years later, he owns it. I also discovered that I brought a tent with no tent stakes (always forgetting something), so I just cowboy camped at VVR like I have been doing the whole trip. I hope the rain stays away.

I met someone else from my hometown today at VVR. He grew up in the same city as me, and even knew about the little private school that I went to, as he went to our rival school. What are the chances? I had one last meal at VVR, a half-pound bacon cheeseburger with a Coke, before heading back into the wilderness. I decided to give Bear Creek Trail a second chance. Nope, I still don’t like it. It’s still longer and has much less shade than the Bear Ridge Trail. I am camped just below the big climb up and away from the creek at a nice site in the trees on the opposite side of the creek from the trail. I’ve eaten my dinner, rinsed my clothes that are now drying on a line, and the sun is setting. I saw several piles of bear scat the day before and heard reports of a bear from other hikers. No bears please. Day 7
Another good day in the mountains. I guess I just needed to stay away from any civilization. I started hiking at 6:40 and reached the Lake Italy Trail around 9:00. A little after 10:00, I stopped at an ice-cold stream of water coming down from Hilgard Lake. I rinsed off before filling my dirty water bag. It was then that I discovered a small hole in the bag where the filter screws on. It was a small whole, but it will force me to only gravity filter my water, which means a 35-minute break now, in the shade, alongside a small ice-cold stream. Darn it.

Heading up the obvious trail that wasn’t so obvious in the past, I saw cairns leading across the Hilgard Branch. It seemed early, to be crossing the stream, but I followed them anyway. They led me up hill, and about 10 minutes later, I finally realized they were leading me to Brown Bear and Teddy Bear Lakes. That settled it. I had thought about detouring to the lakes on my way to Lake Italy, and now I definitely was. I arrived at Teddy Bear Lake a little before 1:00 and continued on to Brown Bear Lake. Wow, I am glad I made this detour, so beautiful. I set up for a nice long break a little after 1:00 PM, and seeing only a couple of guys fishing in the distance, decided to take a dip in the lake and rinse out my clothes, as I like to do every afternoon. I figured they wouldn’t mind a guy skinny dipping. The water was cold, but not too cold. After drying off, I made a lunch of beef Ramen with beef jerky (the real stuff without any sugar) and dehydrated mushrooms with a Snickers bar for dessert. Ah, it was so nice here. A couple of hours later after a short nap, I packed up and started back for Lake Italy. As I walked by Teddy Bear, I saw a lady was camped there. Oops, I guess it wasn’t just me and the two guys there when I took that dip. She seemed very nice, and I only thought later that I should have asked if she was someone from the HST forums, Maiathebee maybe? Something about her said HST, maybe the quick wit. I continued on to Lake Italy and found a flat spot about 1/3 of the way up the lake where I unpacked before going for a little exploring at 4:00. It was early, but I didn’t feel like pushing all the way over Italy Pass and making camp at the upper ends of Granite Park around 7:00. This is a vacation after all. After a hot Knorr rice side for dinner, I lay here writing in the gusty wind with the sun going down wrapped in my down quilt with my hands numb from the cold. The views are beautiful; the atmosphere is serene. What a great day.

FINAL EPISODE

Day 8
I was finally packed and hiking towards Italy Pass at 7:40. I stayed lower this time as I headed up to Jumble Lake and actually hit the trail around the lake and up to the pass without picking my way through the jumble of boulders around the lake. No Ptarmigan this time, but I did see a few Pika scurrying around, gathering grasses. I arrived at the pass well before noon and began the descent into Granite Park. My last time here had not been a good one as I hung onto my tent poles with a death grip the entire night as the wind howled around me threatening to take my tent from me. Today was much better. As I left Lake 11834, I made another audible, once again deviating from the hike plan that I had filed with the USFS and my wife. Instead of Royce Lakes, I decided to descend down to Chalfant Lakes. Arriving at the west end of the basin that held the lakes, it looked like a steep descent. And, it was, but there were plenty of slabs and fractures that allowed an easy walk down to the lakes. Now I began wandering down through the basin, planning to stop and take a lunch before leaving. But, I kept wandering until I ran out of lakes, and the ones at the bottom of the chain were shallow and filled with algae during this drought year. So, I kept going. I descended on the left side of the outlet “stream” and crossed over in the flat area below. I figured that I was supposed to then climb a little to a saddle point and side hill over to the trail, but I decided to try something different. I continued to head down and around, slowly making my way away from the outlet stream. I just picked the easiest route and eventually hit a flat spot and soon after the trail where it crosses a creek. Break time. I made some pasta for lunch and enjoyed some zip fizz while filtering more water for the trail ahead. After a couple of hours, I packed back up and headed for that night’s camp site in the vicinity of Lower Pine Creek Lake. A little after 4:00 I set up camp near the outlet of Lower Pine Creek lake and decided to have the last of my ramen with jerky and mushrooms. Then the ants started a recon mission on my camp site. 30 minutes later, I decided there was no way that I was camping here, and I would just hike out and sleep in my car. I arrived back at my car about 7:00 PM and rinsed off my legs in the stream before driving down to Bishop for a soda and possibly a snack. I ended up just getting an expensive but ice-cold soda and then driving north to the rest area just north of the Mammoth turn-off with plans to back track to Mammoth in the morning for a marzipan croissant from Schatt’s to take home to my wife and a chorizo burrito from Latin Market for myself.

The Return Drive
Schatt’s didn’t have almond croissants today, so I passed and just got the chorizo burrito at Latin Market. So good and so filling. The rest of the trip home consisted of smokey skies and a huge, delicious sandwich from the Full Belly Deli. Overall, a great week in the wilderness. I just wish it could have been longer.

I may have missed it, but when (dates) was this trip?

Why did you choose to go all the way out to the resort at Edison? If it took a day out, a day in, for an 8-day total, it seems skipping the resupply would not have required much more food carried. Not being critical, just wondering because I try to avoid resupply walk-outs. Was completing a cross-Sierra hike a goal?

I also found the Melody Lake area very challenging micro-route finding. I always seemed to end up stopped by some lake arm and had to backtrack. I have camped in two beautiful locations at Three Island Lake as well as completely circled the Melody Lakes. When I was there I never saw anyone. Did you run into other backpackers?

I am glad you had a successful trip. I think Pine Creek is a great entry point for all sorts of loops. The initial elevation gain is not that bad because the trail is well graded. And there are a few water sources on the way up, which helps.

Wandering Daisy: I went out to VVR for two reasons. First to see what the new owner was like, and second to see what the Bear Creek Trail was like. I don't plan on going back next year, but we will see what future trips might bring. He seemed like a good guy, and the vibe was the same. He just struck out on the cook this year.

I marked a couple of camp sites on my CalTopo map in the event that I go back to Three Island Lake. I didn't see any other backpackers, but I did find a water-logged sweatshirt at Melody Lake. I could see how the travel in that basin could be much more difficult in a normal year with more ponds, but I think that the main advantage that I had on the hike out and exploration day was that I was in no hurry. So, the winding path I took around Melody Lake didn't bother me.

And, the dates for the hike (amended my title, thanks) were August 25 through September 1.

Looks like a nice hike. Agree on VVR, still the good vibe, the cook not so much.