High Sierra Topix

My spouse (trail name “Compass”) and I had intended to do this trip in 2019, but life intervened. We were able to secure a 2022 permit for Cottonwood Lakes via Recreation.gov six months prior to this trip, so that was the first domino. We arranged for a shuttle and made travel arrangements. The low snow year gave us pause that fire would derail the trip, but we kept dehydrating food and prepping like the trip would go.

Then, a few weeks before the trip, flash floods closed roads to the Cottonwood Lakes trail head and Onion Valley. We had imagined that fire would be a problem, but flooding was not something that we had considered. Thankfully, the roads were quickly reopened.

Our next hurdle was flying to Reno, NV from North Carolina and avoiding catching COVID along the way. We arrived in Reno on August 13, and then spent August 14 and 15 driving towards Lone Pine, CA. We stopped along the way for day hiking near Mammoth and at the Ancient Bristlecone Forest.

Day 1 – August 16, 2022

On the morning of day one, we drove our bright, red Toyota Camry rental car to Onion Valley parking lot and met our shuttle driver. Packs were loaded, and the shuttle headed for the Cottonwood Lakes trail head. The shuttle was exciting with a bit of uncertainty and really deserves its very own trip report! The shuttle driver was using a new electric vehicle and was mostly sure that he had enough juice to get us to the trail head. For a bit, we thought we might have to walk a couple of miles to the trail head, but all worked out. We did arrive exactly at the trail head and started our hike at around 11 a.m. The nicely graded trail did not tax our unacclimated hearts too much. We hiked past big Foxtail pines, which (according to our shuttle driver) were close to 3,000 years old.

We turned left after crossing South Fork. The hike was gradually uphill and sandy, through the pines. We were near the South Fork for most of the day’s route. The trail began to climb more steeply, and we were feeling the weight of our packs with our 13-day supply of food. About this time, we met a couple of friendly hikers from Idaho who were just starting out on their JMT hike.

We crossed the outlet from South Fork Lake and found a sheltered, flat campsite with good views of Mt. Langley and South Fork Lake. There was one other tent at the lake. Rain showers were on and off, and there were dark clouds all around. We had an early dinner, and then took a walk up a hill to the southwest to get a glimpse of Cirque Lake. Rain and thunder chased us back to our tent. It had been a mellow day with many good views. August 16 is also our anniversary, so it had been a good day all around.

South Fork Use Trail


Easternmost South Fork Lake


Day 2 – August 17, 2022

We were not planning to break any speed records on this trip, so we slept in. We started out cross-country thru talus, skirting along the westernmost South Fork lakes. We intersected the trail to New Army Pass and took a left, towards the pass. The trail up to New Army Pass was in great shape and graded so that it was not very steep. We walked slowly up the long switchbacks and made our way to the pass. When we arrived at the top, at least five marmots were hanging out up there. It was looking cloudy and rainy to the west, and we were worried about being caught up high in storms, but no storms arrived. We descended to the junction with Siberian Pass.

We headed towards Soldier Lake just as steady rain started. The rain did not last long. We went down the Rock Creek trail until we came upon the use trail leading to Miter Basin. We followed the trail towards Miter Basin and crossed a meadow with three mule deer. The deer scattered as soon as they saw us. We crossed a creek and started up a narrow gorge. Steady rain caused us to put on rain gear and start looking for a campsite. We found a pine needled, soft tent site on a bench above the creek. After a while, the sun came out, and we hung clothes all around to dry out.
After dinner, we hiked farther up the trail to try and get a look at The Miter. We were in bed by 8 p.m., tired from lots of climbing. Rain showers continued intermittently during the night.


View From New Army Pass


Looking Towards the Miter Basin

Day 3 – August 18, 2022

We awoke to gastrointestinal challenges for Compass. We moved slowly up into the Miter Basin and saw lots of marmots. We stopped for long breaks whenever we wanted to. We climbed up alongside the outlet stream from Sky Blue Lake and arrived at Sky Blue Lake in early afternoon. We found shade and just gazed at Sky Blue Lake and the surrounding peaks. Eventually, we got around to setting up our tent. We watched clouds and the wind on the lake. We spent time looking at the next day’s route and read descriptions of the route up and over Crabtree Pass. Compass started to feel better. We saw a couple of other hikers in the distance.

During the night we heard rockfalls. The stars were very bright, and the night was breezy.


View Down the Valley


Glimpse of Sky Blue Lake



Day 4 – August 19, 2022

We left camp early, knowing that we had a long day ahead of us. Today, it was my day for gastrointestinal challenges, and I was low on energy. Compass felt much better. We climbed up and up, towards Crabtree Pass, looking for grassy ramps over each buttress that just seemed to keep coming as we climbed. The day was warm and there was not much shade, so we stopped and filtered water several times.

At about noon, we stopped for snacks and saw four amazing birds. They looked like quail, and they were climbing, as a group, up steep rock faces. We watched them ascend for a long time. An extremely fast hiker passed us. We made it to the top of the pass at about 1 p.m. We spent a bit of time scouting out the route down. We had heard/read that the far-left route was not good. We focused our attention on a route to the right, where there were a series of poorly defined slabby ramps interspersed with stable talus. While we focused on carefully descending, we heard a strange whistling noise. We were amazed to look up and see a fixed-wing (aircraft) glider overhead! That is not something that we had ever seen in the mountains!

We are slow, careful descenders, so it took us a while to reach Upper Crabtree Lake. We were extremely glad to be safely down from the pass. Mosquitos greeted us and chased us along the trail. The trail below Upper Crabtree Lake moves down long rock slabs. It is a fun section of trail, and I would have enjoyed it more if I had not been so tired and hungry. We eventually made it to the western end of Middle Crabtree Lake and found a scenic campsite on a knoll with amazing views of Middle Crabtree Lake, Lower Crabtree Lake, Kern canyon and the Kaweahs. Sunset did not disappoint. We were tired from our long day of hiking and route finding, so it was early to bed. During the night, large rockfalls made it all the way to Middle Crabtree Lake, generating noisy waves. The night was filled with stars and the milky way.

Looking Back Towards Miter Basin


Crabtree Pass


Looking Back at Crabtree Pass from Upper Crabtree Lake


Sunset Over Lower Crabtree Lake

Day 5 – August 20, 2022

We left our scenic campsite and picked up the use trail along Lower Crabtree Lake. We had been above tree line for a couple of days, and we welcomed the strong, sweet smell of pines as we descended into the trees. We both felt well and rested. We dropped down to the PCT and took the PCT toward the Wallace Creek crossing. Along the way we met a young hiker who asked us about our hiking trip. We described our route and then asked what she was doing. She just looked down cast and said, “only the HST.” She wanted to join us on our trip.

We eventually caught the use trail up the Wallace Creek drainage. Along the way, we passed a steep canyon, cut by Wallace Creek and shortly after came to a meadow area with magnificent views of Mt. Young and Mt. Hale. We found a campsite on the far woodland edge of the meadow, near a low knob. We hoped that we would see wildlife in the meadow, but none appeared while we were watching. Compass found an interesting piece of black volcanic glass near our site. It looked like it had been worked by human hands. We left it where it was. Mosquitos joined us for dinner. For an unknown reason, I found myself feeling melancholy late in the day. Stars filled the sky.

Morning View of Lower Crabtree Lake


Meadow in Wallace Basin


Day 6 – August 21, 2022

Since we were just going to day hike today, we slept in a bit. Our edge of meadow campsite was quite moist, about as humid as a normal night in North Carolina. Our tents and quilts were damp but dried quickly as the sun rose. We again joined the use trail that would take us up to Wallace Lake. It was great to have a use trail, and we made good time. A large raptor flew overhead and dropped a feather which spiraled down in the sunshine.

We reached Wallace Lake and passed a tent. We made our way uphill to Wales Lake. The sun beat down. Every so often we would stop in the shade of large rocks to cool off. The climb up to Wales Lake was good walking. We peeked over the rise to Wales Lake. Wow! The view was impressive. The lake is surrounded by jagged peaks, and we could see all the way to Milestone Basin (where we were headed next day) across the Kern in the distance. After taking lots of photos, we hiked back towards Wallace Lake and down towards our campsite. Along the way, we found the feather that the raptor had dropper earlier.

Back at camp we did a little cleaning. We washed our hair. We were hanging out, and about to have some tea, when we noticed a couple of hikers with heads down walking our way. Not wanting them to be surprised, we said “hello,” and they looked up. They were from Truckee and had been camped up at Wallace Lake. We really enjoyed talking with them, and after they continued hiking, we wished that we had exchanged contact information. A little while later, a large bird missing a wing feather flew over.


Wallace Lake



Wales Lake

Day 7 – August 22, 2022

We awoke to sunny skies, and a damp tent. We let the tent dry in the sunshine while we ate breakfast. We packed up the tent and headed down the use trail, towards the JMT. Once on the JMT, we crossed Wrights Creek and started up Bighorn Plateau. It was sunny and hot, and we roasted. We stopped in small patches of shade and tried to cool down. On Bighorn Plateau we saw marmots and grouse.

We were overjoyed to reach Tyndall Creek and its cool water. We also ran into the Truckee hikers again and exchanged contact information. They set off towards Shepherd’s Pass. We took the Kern Cut Off trail, heading for Milestone Basin. The trail went up and up, in the sunshine. We once again ducked into shade whenever we could, and thankfully the sky clouded up a bit. Then, we dropped down, down to the Kern River and easily crossed without getting our feet wet.

We picked up a well-maintained use trail into Milestone Basin, and eventually found a campsite on a dry bench. From our campsite, we watched the early evening sunlight shine on Mt. Whitney. We could also see Mt. Hale and Mt. Young in the Wallace drainage where we had started the day. Tenacious mosquitos joined us. A sliver of moon did not detract from the stars.


Kern Cut Off Trail Panorama


Mt. Whitney Evening Light



Day 8 – August 23, 2022

We slept until the sun hit our tent. Today we day hiked farther into Milestone Basin. Milestone Creek slid and dropped over long slides and small waterfalls. We took in the amazing sights. We passed small, shallow lakes and watched fish do fishy things. We walked slowly. Two other hikers passed by in the distance, looking to be heading to a higher lake. We made our way to the top of a rocky, high knoll in the center of the basin and had 360-degree views.

We slowly made our way back to camp, stopping whenever we felt like it to take in the scenery. A southbound helicopter flew by in the distance. When we got back to camp, we spent time reorganizing our bear canisters. We spent time strategizing about how to deal with the heat in the coming days, as we would be above tree line quite a bit and would have little access to shade. We decided to keep our hats and hiking gloves wet as much as we could. The night was very warm.


Milestone Creek


Milestone Basin Panorama


Flowers

Day 9 – August 24, 2022

We woke to the sun. The night had been too warm for good sleeping. We ate breakfast while we watched a chipmunk collect seeds. I was not feeling great. We were both concerned about how hot we might be going over Forester Pass. We hiked down the Milestone Creek use trail to the Kern River and easily stepped over the stream. We picked up the Lake South America trail and reached a lake where the trail goes faint on a rock buttress that extends into the lake. Two maps had two different routes leaving the lake. We chose one but chose wrong. Immediately after leaving the lake, we lost track of the trail. We walked cross country and kept running into rock outcrops that blocked our way. We would skirt around one outcrop, only to run into another. This went on for quite a while. I reached my physical and emotional low point of the trip. We took a long break for snacks and water. I had a good long cry.

Then, we started to hike again. I started to feel better. We finally picked up the real Lake South America trail and a glimpse of Casper Lake. We decided that we would try to get to Casper Lake. But, after much wandering about, even dropping back down to the lake where we had lost the Lake South America trail, we could not find a good route to the lake. A steep, small canyon blocked us at every turn. We decided that a visit to Casper Lake was not going to happen on this trip. We got back onto the Lake South America trail. As the day went on, I kept feeling better and better. We reached an area with several small lakes. The clouds filled in and it started to rain. We walked for a bit in our rain gear. The rain intensified and sleet or small hail started to fall. We found a sloped but soft campsite and set up the tent. We jumped inside to get out of the sleet and wind.

Later, the sun came out. We had lovely views of the Upper Kern in every direction. We started calling the area gray jay Valley due to the large numbers of raucous jays flying about and eating pine nuts. The night was cool.



Lake in the Upper Kern



Rain Clouds in the Upper Kern



Day 10 – August 25, 2022

The next morning, we climbed up and up, following the Lake South America Trail. Behind us, the view into the Kern Basin were amazing. We stopped over and over to look back and appreciate the views. The day was warm and sunny, so we stopped at every small stream and seep to soak our gloves and hats. We reached the junction for Lake South America and started up a hill for a view of the lake. It was a short hike, and we looked down at stark Lake South America. It was still early, but dark clouds were starting to build. We quickly walked back to the Lake South America trail. Two hikers passed by. They had camped at Casper Lake the night before. We wondered how they got there.

We made our way to the top of a pass on a well-maintained section of trail. The trail down the other side was also in good condition. At about 11,600 feet, we left the Lake South America Trail and went cross-country on a short cut to reach the JMT. The walking was straightforward and easy, and the route saved us a lot of elevation loss. We reached the JMT and turned left, towards Forester Pass. The sky turned dark, and it started to thunder. Every direction looked ominous. We wanted to get closer to Forester Pass, but we did not want to get too high.

An intense storm seemed imminent. We found a slightly sheltered location and set up our tent. To the south, the rain and clouds completely blocked any view of the Kern. Storms surrounded us, and we were about to get pounded. One hour went by, then another. Gradually, the clouds dissipated, and the rain showers drifted away. We watched hikers go by on the JMT, in the distance. We decided to stay where we were, have an early dinner, and get an early start to Forester Pass in the morning. The night was cool and breezy, with temperatures in the upper 30s.

View From the Kern Loop Trail


Lake South America


Storms Are Coming

Day 11 – August 26, 2022

We woke at 5:30 a.m. to get an early start to Forester Pass. We had about two miles to go to reach the pass. We went up and up on well-graded, well-maintained trail. We were impressed by the trail, blasted out of solid rock up the headwall. We heard that pack horses use the trail, but it was still unnerving to us to look over the edge of the trail. It took us two hours to reach the top of the pass. After snapping photos, we continued north and down. We stopped for water along the way down and had a fun conversation with a couple of JMT hikers from Seattle. They gave us good recommendations for trips in the North Cascades.

We continued to go down, and finally we were close to Bubb’s Creek. We heard a coyote barking. As we moved down the trail, the coyote moved down too. We located the very eroded and easy to follow use trail to Center Basin. We passed a sign attached to a tree that said gill nets were being used in the Center Basin lakes to remove non-native fish and restore amphibian populations in the basin. We reached pale green Golden Bear Lake. Three small tents were set up at the inlet end of the lake, so we found a campsite near the outlet. When we went down to the lake to filter water, we could see the gill nets strung across the lake. We also saw frogs.

A blustery wind blew, and it was cool in the shade. After dinner, we walked towards the southeast end of the lake to get a view towards Junction Pass. The night was calm, and stars and the Milky Way filled the sky.


Looking North After Crossing Forester Pass


A Lake in Center Basin



Day 12 – August 27, 2022

We woke to frost on the tent. After breakfast, we went back down the use trail and picked up the northbound JMT. Bubb’s Creek was colored pale green by the water from Center Basin. We stopped for breaks along the creek to admire the color. We passed large campsites with bear boxes and were glad that we had camped in Center Basin last night.

We climbed up the JMT to the Bullfrog Lakes trail junction. We were in the hot sunshine and were very warm. The trail climbed about 1,000 feet in one mile, and we suffered in the heat. We were so glad to reach blue, green Bullfrog Lake, and better shade opportunities.

We had heard that Kearsarge Lakes are extremely popular. A use trail appeared to our right, and we took it. The trail led to well-used, but flat campsite near a small lake just downhill from the bigger lakes. We set up our tent and had the lake all to ourselves. We had passed signs earlier in the day about bear activity in the area, so we were careful to keep all our food and smellable items always locked in our bear cans. We also kept our packs close by. We could see and hear a small waterfall from our campsite. Gray jays carried on all around the lake. There was hardly a cloud in the sky. The evening was breezy.


Bubbs Creek


Small Lake On the Way to Bullfrog Lake

Day 13 – August 28, 2022

Ready for fresh food and hot showers, we woke early and packed up, heading for Kearsarge Pass and our rental car. We hiked in sun and small patches of shade. The day was already warming up, so we were glad to get an early start. The trail gained about 1,000 feet in about a mile but was in good condition. We saw many hikers coming and going along the trail. Views back to Kearsarge Lakes were impressive, and we could see the small lake where we had camped last night.

We reached the pass and started down the 3,000 feet to the Onion Valley parking area. The trail work was impressive and made the trip down enjoyable. We met a hiker on the trail, also going down, and carried on a lively conversation all the way down. We were surprised to hear that the hiker had gone to graduate school at the university where Compass and I both work.

As we dropped down in elevation, the vegetation changed, and the air became warmer. We reached the trail head and said goodbye to our new hiker friend. We put on cleaner clothes and drove down the winding road to Independence, with high hopes that the taco truck would be open when we got there.


We Weren't Too Sure About Chasing Bears


Our Last Pass of the Trip


Kearsarge Panorama


Post-Trip Thoughts

We had an unusually difficult time eating on this trip, and our meals tasted a little off and bland. After some post trip Googling, we are pretty sure that this issue was related to altitude. We have not had this issue on earlier trips to the Sierra and Wind River Range, but this summer’s trip was generally at higher elevations than our previous trips. Once we descended to lower elevations, our taste buds returned to normal after a few days.

We are extremely grateful that we were able to complete this trip during such a dry year. We did not see or smell any wildfire smoke during the trip, which is astonishing.

Nice trip! Was your shuttle provider an official service, and one you can reccomend?

Thanks. Our shuttle was provided by East Side Sierra Shuttle. They were on time and got us to the trail head with just a tiny bit of excitement about the range of the electric vehicle. I will say that I just took a glance at their Yelp reviews, and the reviews aren't very good.

There seems to me to have been a drought in trip reports lately so yours is a very welcome wander. Plus through some terrain I was in not too long ago. It is nice to see someone else's photos of the same area, yet hardly recognize it. Makes me realize just how big and individual each of these places can be.

You must have much better luck or eyesight than me when it comes to finding little used trails - or are you using GPS perhaps? I found a vague trail at Milestone and completely missed any trail to Center Basin (which I could sure have used as was really pooped!).
Re Milestone, I approached it the same way as you via the Kern Cutoff trail then when I was close to Milestone Creek took a shortcut (south-west) across that gap where the Kern trail moves away (south-east) from the river. I was somewhat shocked to find the bones of a use trail as I got close to Milestone Creek itself, but it was definitely not well maintained and often petered out. By half way in to the basin proper it was gone.
Was the 'well-maintained' trail you found on the south side of Milestone Creek? If on the north side, did it sometimes just vaporize with no clear sign as to where it picked up on the 'opposite' side of the disappearance? I'd be intrigued to know as maybe my awareness was so focused on the approaching Monsoon flood I was not paying attention.

That coyote!? I had one barking at me too in that location too. Broad daylight. No obvious reason. And it went on for a while, though never could see it. Wonder if it was the same one...Neat.

I too got a kick out of that Charlotte Lake ranger's sign about running at bears to make them into dinner. Yeah, I'm not sure I would try that with a big one.

Thanks much for posting. Nice pics too! ~ Michaelzim