Car Logistics
Vicki and I spent a day doing a car shuttle, leaving her car up at Horseshoe Meadows then driving south to spend the night at Walker Pass, where I would begin hiking 100 miles north on the Sierra Section of the Pacific Crest Trail. After I reached her car, the plan was that I would drive back home to San Diego and wait a few more weeks for the High Sierra snowpack to melt a bit more.
I wanted to start this part earlier in the year because it began down at 5000 feet elevation, and it would only be getting hotter as Summer neared. This was my big chance to begin my 2024 Adventure. Meanwhile, satellite photos showed that there was still plenty of snow at 11,000 feet, and I didn’t feel like hiking for weeks with frozen, soggy feet. Where’s the fun in that? Climbing over high icy passes with crampons seemed even more insane, the kind of Adventure I didn’t want to experience. Since I lived in San Diego, the Southern Sierra was only five hours away by car, and I could afford to wait out the melt. And that’s exactly what I did.
Vicki and I drove north in two cars, stopping every so often to stretch our legs. We also left early, in order to avoid rush hour traffic in LA. Once we passed the danger zone, we stopped for breakfast. The rest of the day’s driving would be easy, and soon enough, we would see the mighty peaks of the Eastern Sierra, my favorite hiking zone.
After filling both gas tanks in Lone Pine, we drove up the big hill to Horseshoe Meadows. There were very few cars there, as the Cottonwood Lakes and Chicken Spring Lake were both still frozen, and the nearby trails up at 11,000 feet were largely covered in melting snow. We left Vicki’s car in the parking lot and I put a few snacks for my ride home in the nearby bear box. Then we joined forces and headed back down the hill toward Lone Pine in my “camperized” Rav4.
Since there was still plenty of day before us, and since I didn’t want Vicki to drive all these hours with no fun whatsoever, we headed up the hill once again, but this time toward Whitney Portal. We love the portal, and always get a Portal Burger at the store/grill. It’s a Sierra Tradition! I also brought my Tenkara Fly Rod and hoped to catch one of the stocked trout in the tiny pond near the store. I was the only one fishing that morning, and, amazingly, I actually caught a Rainbow! After that, the remaining fish got wary, and I didn’t get another bite. But that was OK with Vicki. She wanted to eat a super-fresh trout.
It was getting cold up at the portal, and it even started to rain a bit, so we headed down the hill into Owens Valley. Diaz Lake was right along US 395, and they had a free picnic area. Vicki set up the stove and cooked the trout, then sat down at the picnic table to eat it, with a glorious view of the High Sierra in front of her. It doesn’t get much better than this.
After the trout was disposed of, it was time to head south, but not too fast! I had been eyeballing the map of Owens Valley, and there were a couple of things to check out, since it was a cool Spring day (it’s usually roasting down at 4,000 feet all Summer). The first one was the outflow of Cottonwood Creek, which originated up the trail beyond Vicki’s car. It was flowing down near the valley, just before being whisked away into LA’s DWP water pipe toward the ever-thirsty Angelenos. We drove on some dirt roads, and even found a footbridge across the creek, which was flowing very strong with all the snowmelt up above.
Further south was the Fossil Falls trail on BLM land. We’d driven past this road so many times and never stopped. But we always wanted to. It was usually too hot, or we were in a big rush. Today was the day. It was directly next to a volcanic Cinder Cone. After a short drive and a shorter hike, we came upon the eroded remains of a prior riverbed of the ever-meandering Owens River. This time, the river made really interesting swirls and curves in the underlying basalt rock, back when it was flowing here. Now it was bare stone, a perfect spot for canyoneers to descend the now-dry waterfall. Pretty neat spot.
Then it was another long drive south toward Ridgecrest and the winding highway leading west to Walker Pass. We drove into the campground and met some Trail Angels, as well as a ton of PCT Thru-Hikers. There was a regular party going on! Eventually, we secured a campsite for ourselves, and I set up the car for the night.
We also got to talk to a lot of the hikers, who were totally stoked to be leaving the Desert Section and entering the Sierra Section. Oh yeah! They knew that it was going to be good, but also that there was a lot of unmelted snow in their futures. But it was all part of the challenge, and they were very excited.
Once the Trail Angel excitement died down, we set up the stove and cooked a freeze-dried dinner, and ate it under the ramada. We walked around and checked out all the PCT hikers and their tents placed here and there throughout the campground. It was a fun spot, and I knew that I would be hiking along with most of these people tomorrow, so I made myself known to many of them. I was only a LASHer (Long-A$$ Section Hiker) but at least I tried a full thru-hike last year, so I was more easily accepted than a mere day-hiker. But PCT folks are very welcoming to everybody, so I wasn’t worried. Besides, sometimes day-hikers were good for hitching a ride with! It always pays to be kind, in other words. And it feels good, too.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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