starryriver: Hot Times on the High Sierra Trail

A really big guy with a really big back pack rounded a bend on the High Sierra trail with two interesting bits of info: "Bear up ahead." and " Yup, It's hot. This is the hottest day in the valley since 1898."

The big guy, his buddies, Dave and I were all sweating buckets. It must have been 95 degrees at 8,200 feet elevation and 7 miles into the 73 mile High Sierra Trail. Unheard of. VERY Uncomfortable. Crazy!

He was headed to Whitney, doing the whole 72 mile trail in a week. We had a different plan and destination: we would start the trail at Crescent Meadow (in Sequoia National Park) like most folks but stop halfway to explore the 9 Lakes Basin, just beyond Kaweah (ka-wee-ah) Gap at 10,500 feet.

Even though we've been backpacking for 10 years, until last year I had never heard the words "High Sierra Trail" ...didn't have a clue where it was or what kind of territory it traversed. But something drew me to the words...The Great Western Divide. The High Sierra Trail it seemed would give me a chance to cross the heretofore unknown Great Western Divide. Had to do it. Here's a look at our venture into the divide.

Day 1: Overnight at Wuksachi Lodge, just about 5 miles from the trailhead. Can't say enough for this Sequoia Park lodging, big-friendly-comfortable...the alternative was a crowded crummy campground with far too much noise and bustle. We needed space to recheck our backpacks, a quick breakfast (the rooms have fridge and coffee makers) and the chance to get in one last shower before hitting the trail.

Our suite at the Wuksachi Lodge

Day 2: From the Crescent Meadow Trailhead, it's about 6 miles to Mehrten Creek, our first day's destination. Just a few camp sites here with a rusted out bear box. Well I'm telling you it was HOT and the heat was exhausting. The weirdest thing was this...we put up the tent, went down to the water to cool off, came back to the tent and the ground was baking. The ground temperature was SO hot it turned the tent into a oven. Even throughout the night, the ground was SO hot--I'm guessing 80 degrees to the touch, that made sleeping nearly impossible especially with a down bag. Oh yeah, I even bought NEW puffy down pants for this trip because I was expecting it to be VERY COLD. Wanted to burn them pants at this point. Next day, Next Stop, Bear Paw Meadow. We have heard campsites are cramped with no views here so we plan to stay at Lone Pine Creek.

Old Bear Box at Mehrten...you have to climb up from the creek to find it!

The porch at Bear Paw Meadow...a great spot for a breather

This is the manager at the Bear Paw High Sierra Camp. He will sell you a brownie and a glass of lemonade and let you sit on the porch for a blessed rest.

Lone Pine Creek offers no campsites but a great place to cool down.

Day 3: Past Bear Paw Meadow, Past Lone Pine Creek, All the way to Lake Hamilton...about 8.5 miles. We had planned to camp at Lone Pine Creek but there are NO possible sites here no matter what you read anywhere to the contrary. Instead, we got in the water here, cooled down and packed it to Hamilton.

Past Bear Paw and Lone Pine...Lake Hamilton was packed when we arrived about 6 pm. The rangers were great and helped us locate a decent campsite up and away from the hustle bustle of the lake population.

The water is very warm here. We watched one woman swim in the lake for over an hour!

Lake Hamilton...we camped at the top of the lake and a bit to the right

We got an early start the next am...we were going to be climbing out of Hamilton at 8,235 feet up to the Nine Lakes Basin at 10,420..in the heat, exposed much of the way.

The first noteworthy destination past Hamilton--the tunnel. Everyone takes a picture of the renowned tunnel blasted through the rock...the rangers were working just beyond it preparing to blast out a big hunk of rock to make a bigger area for pack horses to navigate.

Dave talking to a Ranger about the "Big Blast"

Scenery past the tunnel...The Angel's Wings.

A great view back down towards Hamilton on the way up to Precipice lake

Next incredible site: Precipice Lake (10,200 feet)...you can camp near this lake but it is exposed and could be pretty windy. This lake is just gorgeous...but you can only get this view in the afternoon...don't expect much at all before noon if you are looking for a photo op. The background looks like snow or ice, but it is just shadows on the granite and different colors of granite. The lake only looks this color in the afternoon.

We had lunch here...it was so peaceful...but we needed to press on over the gap to the 9 Lakes Basin to set up camp for the next two nights.

Here we are at the Gap above tree line, looking down to the Heart Shaped lake where we plan to camp.

Nine lakes Basin...we camped up by the red looking trees on the right

Day 4 and 5...Day Hiking around the Nine Lakes Basin is peaceful and starkly beautiful. We saw maybe 2 other campers up here.

the heart shaped lake

Our Campsite at the Nine Lakes Basin...I loved it here!

We headed back down to Hamilton for the return trip...I could have stayed longer in the Nine Lakes Basin. Our trip was about 50 miles total and except for the heat, one of my favorites in that it turned out to be a very social trip. Lots of people and lots of conversations with great, friendly rangers. In the end, it was nothing like I expected and something I'll never forget.