Start point
Tentsite at mile 737.5
End point
Horseshoe Meadows Vista
Miles hiked
20.4, including an 8.8 mile road walk.
Wilderness area
Into National Forest
Golden Trout Wilderness
People I met
Clammy
The day on trail
It’s so hard to get moving in these mornings. Not only is it cold, but I’m not yet fully acclimated to the altitude. We’re usually above 10,000’ and it’s just so much to move uphill at this altitude. In addition, I’m wearing crampons which add about a pound to each foot.
Imagine lifting a pound weight in each hand 40,000 times. That’s basically what I’m doing with crampons. 1lb on each foot for over 40,000 steps. And you have to lift each foot higher to clear the spikes over snow or ground. It’s a lot for the quads and ankles. It’s something I think people could train for and I wish I’d had the knowledge to.
I really can’t believe how much it takes out of me. That and the altitude make climbs agonizing and I love it. It’s the first time I’ve hiked and thought can I actually continue this? Andsomehow I still do.
Aside from the early, 5am start, today was gorgeous. We started a little later because we only had 9 miles to get to the Trail Pass junction, which is our ticket off the mountain and down to Lone Pine. We didn’t have much darkness to hike in, so lamps weren’t needed for long. That said, we did start in snow so until the road walk at the end, we were fully in crampons.
The peek of sunrise titillated me. I love when sun touches the tops of mountains. I remember perceiving it for the first time when I was in high school. I was waiting for the bus and looking at the Catalinas over the Northern part of Tucson. I’d been reading Eaters of the Dead by Michael Chrighton and there was a scene where some army rode horses down a mountain carrying torches. It was described as looking like a dragon descending the mountain.
As the sun touched the tops and ridges of the mountains and lit up peaks and descending lines, I couldn’t help but have my pulse speed up thinking of this vivid scene. Every time mountain tops are lit, especially when the rest of the land is dark, I remember this.
We didn’t have much climbing. But the climbing we did have was tough because of the altitude and crampons. We eventually made it to the peak of the day, thankfully, and then it was some small ups and downs to the Trail Pass junction.
I loved the views to get there. It took us through some snowy forests that felt like a fairy tale to me.
We connected with a guy I met at Kennedy Meadows named Juice, who I really liked. We talked for a while until we needed to take a short break and he continued on.
There was a meadow with a frozen puddle which is something I don’t get to see much of.
And normally you can’t walk through meadows; it kills the fragile landscape. But when there’s snow in this amount, it doesn’t hurt anything!
Look at those suncups!
I stepped on some pinecones and they hitched a ride for a couple steps.
We passed some signs letting us know we were on the right route, which was reassuring because all we had was some inconsistent boot track and our FarOut apps.
And there was just so much snow.
It wasn’t long until we got to the Trail Pass junction and had a long lunch break and short siesta. Then it was a quick descent down snow, across another trail, and we came to a meadow with a stream.
The last photo shows a snow bridge on its last leg.
Propeller and I explored upstream the river a bit and we found a snow bridge that was cracking on the edges but sturdy enough. He went over first, then me, then Raspberry, then Crispy. And we were safely across!
After that it was a short walk to the trailhead where we found some informational posters and signs.
We continued down the snowed over road for maybe a mile at most, to the gate, and found it was all plowed up to that gate! It was finally time to take the crampons off.
There’s about a 15 mile road walk to where the road opens up for traffic and rides. We were hoping to be able to catch a hitch from some of the crew working on the road, because we saw some cars near the top, but no luck. It was okay, though, because the walk was beautiful.
There eventually were touches of cell service, my first in about 10 days, and views of Lone Pine.
We set up camp when Crispy’s knee was starting to ache. We abandoned our farfetched hope of reaching Lone Pine that day for safety. I was disappointed, mostly because I just wanted to keep hiking. But I found a gorgeous campsite and settled down for the night.
Crispy and Propeller came by and had dinner with me. It was a really nice evening.
Unfortunately my stomach was upset and I had some problems. And I also had too much energy from not hiking enough (20 miles with like 2/3ds downhill? I need more!) so I didn’t sleep well. But it was still lovely to sleep among the fragrant lupine.
