We left the John Muir Trail at Piute Creek and headed uphill on the Piute Canyon Trail, to a campsite just before Hutchinson Meadow, where I fished for trout in a deep, swirling pool.
After waking up in the dark, we packed quietly by headlamp, then hiked out at first light. We crossed the bridge over Piute Creek, leaving Kings Canyon National Park and entering the John Muir Wilderness within the Sierra National Forest. We paused to watch the creek flowing under us, then turned east, up Piute Canyon. We had over fifteen hundred feet to climb in the next five miles. Vicki and I would consider that to be a Solid Hiking Day.
The first part of the trail stayed along the creek for about a half mile. It was wonderfully loud, and the granite walls of the canyon rose sharply on either side. When the creek entered a cliff-walled gorge, the trail diverged, heading upward to the left. We climbed and climbed, and the grade was close to twenty percent. The creek remained far below us. The trail was quite steep, and there were numerous, knee-busting steps. I helped Vicki surmount these obstacles by giving her butt a two-handed boost, saying “One, two, THREE!” It was kind of fun!
Thank goodness we left early. I remembered climbing up this trail last year in the late afternoon, and it was brutally hot. We made certain to do it in the shade this time. Unfortunately, once the first climb was over, the second climb began. We could see the sun shining up ahead, in an area with no trees whatsoever, just chaparral. Vicki soaked her head with her squirt nozzle, and didn’t neglect her shirt and shorts. These were preventative measures, to avoid heatstroke. Vicki has trouble with her thermostat and doesn’t sweat easily, like I do. Luckily, the air still had a trace of the morning coolness, although we felt occasional bursts of hot air rising as we hiked. The trail continued climbing the whole time, but not as steeply. This was the worst part of the day’s hike.
Vicki’s liter of squirt water was almost gone by the end of that section, so we snagged a refill from a convenient side creek. That tiny creek hadn’t been flowing last year when I was almost out of water, so it was good to see it. Vicki was getting tired by this time, and was almost needing to take a nap, when I asked her to hold off just a little bit longer, until the trail met up with the creek once more.
She was glad she waited! Even though we sat in the sun, the creek was wonderful. We took off our shoes and cooled off our hot feet, and generally took it easy for a while. I told Vicki that we had already climbed one thousand feet, and the tough part was over. In fact, I didn’t care if we camped right there. But it was far to early for that. After our break, Vicki felt renewed, even without a nap, and we kept on hiking. There was no longer any pressure, and that was a relief.
We continued along the creek, and there were plenty of waterfalls and cascades of spraying water. It was quite beautiful. I took far too many videos, of course. Just ahead of this stretch of rapids was the campsite I stayed in last year. It brought back fond memories, especially of the relief I felt at getting back to a creek full of water when mine was all gone.
There wasn’t a lot of shade in this part of the canyon, but at least the slope was easier. Just the same, we took short breaks in whatever shade we found. Meanwhile, the creek continued to entertain us as we hiked along. Cumulus clouds were forming up above, and the sky was a perfect contrast with the granite walls of the canyon.
Piute Canyon was comprised of three main sections. The lower section was mostly devoid of trees, and the trail was mainly involved with climbing alongside the creek. The middle section had a mellower grade, and was composed primarily of a grassy pine forest. The uppermost section was true High Sierra country, with tundra vegetation, and was called Humphreys Basin.
As we hiked along, we saw a line of forest just ahead of us. This was the middle zone, and I already knew that it was a region not only unparalleled in beauty, but also unequalled in the extreme nature of its mosquito population. This was true for me last year, when I had to hike as fast as I could for three hours without rest until I escaped! And the reports I had yesterday from folks coming down the trail reiterated this condition. There were voracious bugs even during high noon! Truly a five on a scale of zero to five.
Now, Vicki hates mosquitos with a passion. There is something about them buzzing in her face that leads her to the point of full-blown panic. But we were ready for them this time. Vicki had her special hat, with its integrated bug screen, and we had plenty of good old 100% DEET to repel them from everywhere else. Just the same, we decided to take a comfy lunch break in the open area before entering their domain. After eating, we applied the repellent, and away we went!
In less than a mile, I could tell that Vicki was feeling some distress. She was also overheating a bit. Being inside the bug net wasn’t improving the cooling air flow near her face, either. I checked out the map, and realized that we’d come about halfway to tomorrow’s destination at Lower Golden Trout Lake, so why not stop soon? The place I had picked (while sitting at home on my computer) was further ahead of us, near Hutchinson Meadow and the creek from French Canyon. This creek formed a regular delta of swampy waterways where it joined Piute Creek. Surely, the bugs would be insane in that region, so why camp there?
As we hiked, I noticed a large area of mostly flat granite just ahead, I called to her and asked if she wanted to camp right there. Maybe being farther away from the grasses and trees would keep some of the bugs away. It was a theory, anyway. We decided to test my hypothesis by taking a break on the slab. It didn’t take long before we realized that my idea was a good one. We got out the tent and set it up directly on the glacier-polished stone, using big boulders to hold down the corners. We were done for the day!
Rather than take a nap right away, like we usually do, Vicki remembered that it was time to do our laundry once again. We typically do this every three days, and only wash the truly stinky items, using camp suds. It didn’t take long, and soon enough we had everything hanging on our trusty clothesline. Then it was time for a nap!
After an hour or so, we noticed that the cumulus clouds had grown significantly, and we heard some thunder in the distance. Suddenly, we felt some drops! Quick! The laundry! We ran over and took everything down, even though several items were still damp. We retreated into the tent and waited out the rain, which didn’t last very long. Vicki hung the damp things inside the tent. She didn’t feel like hanging them up again after the storm drifted away.
After that, it was time for me to try my hand at fishing, mostly because I was bored, to tell the truth. How much reading and lounging around can you do? I needed some action. I was happy to note that there was a long, deep pool right next to our campsite, with a small waterfall up above and a swirling whirlpool in the middle. I could see the trout swimming in the crystal clear water, maintaining their positions in the mellow current. They didn’t hang out in the fast water, and only kept an eye out for food coming down from the waterfall. I carefully drifted my fly from upstream, watching as it headed past the trout. Most of the time nothing happened, because the trout didn’t notice the tiny fly, but every so often I’d get a strike. And that’s when I would bring the fish to shore, watching its scales flashing in the sunlight. Very pretty. These fish were all too small to eat, and I let them all go afterward.
After that, we ate some dinner and headed into the tent. Vicki was quite nervous about the mosquitos we were bound to encounter tomorrow. Especially in the swampy region just upstream. She insisted that we wake up at 2am this time, to get hiking long before dawn. We figured that they wouldn’t fly at night. It seemed like a good bet. So we went to bed even earlier than usual.
All in all, today’s climb went a lot better than I expected. Vicki stayed happy and we had a lot of fun with the creek and the waterfalls. Life was good, here on our little mosquito-free granite island in the forest.
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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