Day 16 was by far the hardest day on paper, with 15 miles and 4200 ft of climbing, but it didn't seem like the hardest at the time. The trail took be over Bear Ridge, down to Mono Creek and then back up 3000 feet to Silver Pass. I camped on the north side of Silver Pass at the first convenient spot.
The trail up to Bear Ridge saw many changes in vegetation. It started in the pine forest, then turned to Manzanita and Aspen as it approached the ridge. This was also the first place that I saw the Incense Cedar. It is a beautiful tree, tall and elegant with segmented leaves and thick, soft, redding bark.
Incense Cedar
There were a lot of wildflowers on the way up to Bear Ridge. This is the Woolly Mule Ear, perhaps the best flower name I have heard yet.
Once on top of the ridge, Lodgepole Pines took over again. These are the most dominant trees on the trail. The traverse across the ridge goes on for a mile and a half, but seems longer because of the unchanging scenery. I was glad to get to the far side.
Lodgepole Pines on Bear Ridge
The pine cones dropped by Lodgepole Pines are numerous and sharp. You have to clear a spot to sit or lie down and walking is painful.
Lodgepole Pine cones littering the ground
The trail down the north side of Bear Ridge is a seemingly endless two and a half miles of switchbacks that drop 2000 ft to Mono Creek. I was glad to be going down and didn't see any smiling faces walking up.
Steep descent on the north side of Bear Ridge
The views on the way down from Bear Ridge were infrequent due to the tree coverage. It did open up enough to catch a glimpse of where I was headed. By the end of the day I would be down to bottom and then back up to the left, behind the ridge coming down diagonally. The peak to the right of the green tree is Mount Isaak Walton. The dark peak on the right is Red and White Mountain. The ridge is Vermilion Cliffs, at the east end of Lake Thomas A Edison, another hydro-electric power reservoir.
The way to Silver Pass from Bear Ridge
All of the water this year meant that there were many log jams where dead trees had been washed downstream. This was one of the bigger ones I saw and give a fair indication of how much water was flowing earlier in the spring.
Mono Creek Log Jam
Near Mono Creek I came across two mounds in a small grassy area with reddish mud and cool water bubbling out of them. I found out later at Tuolumne Meadows that they are called soda springs. High pressure underground dissolves carbon dioxide in the water. When it gets to the surface the carbon dioxide comes out and causes the water to bubble.
Mono Creek Soda Springs
Without this bridge across Mono Creek you would have to walk upstream quite a ways to find a crossing.
Mono Creek Bridge
In 2013 I had hiked past this point from Duck Lake, over Silver Pass, down to this trail junction and then on to Mono Pass. This time I came from Selden Pass and went on to Silver Pass.
Mono Pass trail junction
Silver Pass Creek and the North Fork of Mono Creek come together in Pocket Meadow at about 8900 ft elevation. It is a beautiful spot and I stopped and enjoyed it for a while.
Pocket Meadow
Above Pocket Meadow the trail crosses first the North Fork of Mono Creek and then Silver Pass Creek.
North Fork of Mono Creek crossing
The Silver Pass Creek crossing is right below this cascade. Earlier in the season there were reports of so much water coming over these rocks that people would take an alternate route over Goodale Pass to avoid the creek crossing below these falls.
Cascades above the Silver Pass Creek crossing
Silver Pass Creek crossing below the falls
Silver Pass Creek flows out of a meadow behind this ridge, then down this granite face to the falls shown above. Pictures don't do this part of the trail justice.
Silver Pass Creek
This meadow is at 9600 ft elevation along Silver Pass Creek. When I came over the pass in 2013 I stayed at the far end of this meadow. It was a dry year and the creek seen here was almost completely dry.
Meadow along Silver Pass Creek, 9600 ft elevation.
I passed these two guys, each herding two llamas up the mountain, at about 3:30. They said they were going to camp at Silver Pass Lake which is just below the south side of the Pass. When I got to the lake about an hour later I met a woman who seemed very impatient and asked me if I had seen two guys with four llamas. I said that I had and told her that they expected to camp at Silver Pass Lake. "Well, this is Silver Pass Lake, isn't it?" she said. I said it was. She stormed off and I heard her say something about them having her tent. Good luck fellas.
Two guys using llamas as pack animals
When you get to the top of Silver Pass from the south, you will notice that the trail continues to go up. In fact it goes up another 200 ft of elevation to one side of the pass before you get to the crest of the trail. The view from Silver Pass looking north is spectacular. The entire Ritter Range is laid out before you with Mount Ritter and Banner Peak being the two dominant peaks on the right.
This was also my first indication that there was a fire. Before I left, the Detwiler fire made me change my exit plans, but it had since burned out and these were new fires. The wavy "clouds" low over the mountains are not clouds, but smoke from the fire.
The view north from the ridge above Silver Pass
Camping spots were limited on the north side of Silver Pass so I had to keep walking for longer than I had hoped. It was probably 6:30 before I made it into camp.
Day 9 turned out to be all about Woods Creek. It had a lot more water than anything I had yet seen and it was nothing but whitewater for over three and a half miles from the suspension bridge crossing to Mount Cedric Wright. I stopped numerous times just to listen. I took video of the cascades and waterfalls just to have the sound recorded. If I had to pick out one thing that made the trip special I would become a quivering ball of indecision, but the creeks and streams would be on the short list. I did not leave much time for the second part of the day and If I made it to Bench Lake I would be on schedule for the first time since I left Miter Basin, so I pushed the pace a little bit across Pinchot Pass and down the other side.
By the end of the day I had gone 12 miles and climbed 3700 ft.
Golden-mantled Ground-Squirrel (Spermophilus lateralis) near Woods Hole.
The bridge across Woods Creek is a wooden suspension bridge with a span of about 130 ft. The sign on the right says "One Person at a Time on Bridge" After crossing it I can say that the sign is unnecessary, no one in their right mind would cross the bridge with a second person. Watch the deck move as I walk in this shaky cam video.
The suspension bridge across Woods Creek at Woods Hole.
The water here is probably about chest deep and is moving swiftly. Without the bridge crossing here would be a very sketchy proposition.
Woods Creek just below the bridge.
As you first climb out of Woods Hole you come across this wrinkled slab of granite with the creek running across it. Be sure to watch the video.
Woods Creek as it begins the final descent to Woods Hole.
The terrain along Woods Creek kept changing. It started out as pine forest, then rocky slopes without tree cover, then into this mix of ferns, willows and quaking aspens.
The trail up Woods Creek kept changing. First it was pine forest, then barren rocky terrain, then a grove of aspens and ferns.
This narrow passageway was a pleasant suprise. I heard it and decided to take a look. I found it at the top by the narrow part. It can't be more than 8 ft across at the top. I stopped and sat a while.
Woods Creek plunges over a cascade and is forced through this narrow opening.
It was almost narrow enough to be tempting to jump across.
I thought Woods Creek was fantastic, but spent much of the rest of the trip thinking that it would be dethroned. After all, it was not the biggest creek or the most spectacular rapids. But by the end of the trip I still looked back at it as the best waterway because it was big and spectacular and it was not hidden by dense forest. You could see and hear it for most of the trail. You got vistas like this one almost all the way from bottom to top. It was incredible.
This waterfall is marked on the USGS map as "Falls" at about 9450 ft elevation on Woods Creek.
Cedric Wright was a photographer and mentor to Ansel Adams. The mountain that bears his name stands as a monument at the top of Woods Creek.
Mount Cedric Wright marks the transition from Woods Creek to Pinchot Pass.
Forrester Pass you could see coming a long way off. Glen Pass you couldn't see until the end but it was a short approach. The approach to Pinchot Pass really started at the Woods Creek bridge, 7 miles and 3500 ft before. The pass does not reveal itself until you are within the last mile and a half. Once you are here it is a relatively easy climb to the crest.
Looking north at Pinchot Pass
There is a lot of red in the mountains near Pinchot Pass. The combination with the blues from the water and greens from the grass was incredible. This was the most colorful pass of them all.
Looking south from Pinchot Pass. Mount Cedric Wright in the middle.
Looking north from Pinchot Pass. Lake Marjorie is the dark blue lake in the middle.
Looking back south toward Pinchot Pass.
As soon as you round the corner coming off of Pinchot Pass, Mather Pass comes into view with Middle Palisade and Norman Clyde Peak framed nicely behind it.
Middle Palisade (14012) and Norman Clyde Peak (13662) are framed by Mather Pass. The lake in the foreground is the first lake below Lake Marjorie.
I was targeting Bench Lake to stay the night. I had heard a lot about how pretty it was and figured I would get a good view of the South Fork of the Kings River. It was getting late and I stumbled on this campsite with a spectacular view of Mather Pass and Middle Palisade to occupy me. I never did make it to Bench Lake.
Camp 9. Near Bench Lake. Mather Pass on the left side of the picture.
A cloud settles on Mt Pinchot (13494)
After using all my vacation days and taking out time for the logistics of getting there and back I had 25 days left to spend on the trail. Here is what 25 days of food looks like. 13 days worth went into my bear vault, 1 day I carried with me for the first day and the other 11 days were packed up in a 5 gallon plastic bucket and mailed to Muir Trail Ranch at the halfway point.
From Crabtree Meadow I had two choices. I could follow the JMT along Whitney Creek, past Guitar Lake, ascend Whitney and return the same way, or I could cross Crabtree Meadow and follow Crabtree Creek to Upper Crabtree Lake. The first way would have to be done in one day as there are no good campsites past Guitar Lake. The second way would put me back on my original path at Upper Crabtree Lake with only Crabtree Pass cut out. I would be able to ascend the talus slope to Discovery Pinnacle that I had been looking forward to.
The change of plan in Miter Basin had put me behind schedule. I was supposed to summit Whitney on day 3 and now it was going to be either day 4 or day 5 when I got to the official start of the JMT. As I lay in my tent that night, planning the next day, I realized two things. I had been able to pack an extra day of food, so I had started with 14 days of food instead of the planned 13, and I had a scheduled rest day at Bench Lake. I could get back one day by skipping the rest day and could borrow the second day from the second half of the trip thanks to the extra food. I knew that I would be able to cover more ground in the northern half, so just like that I was back on schedule and was going up Crabtree Basin.
It was going to be another short, easy day to set up for the difficult day tomorrow. I wandered down to Crabtree Meadow, then followed the trail up to the Crabtree Ranger Station looking for the trail to Crabtree Lakes. Not seeing it, I returned to Crabtree Meadow and went off trail across Crabtree Meadow and up to Crabtree Lakes.
Crossing a meadow is not as easy as it sounds. Meadows are not like fields of grass. They are wet, boggy fields with streams running through them. Crossing the meadow in this case meant walking around it, being pushed further and further out to find firm ground to walk on.
Crabtree Meadow. Mount Whitney is the rounded mountain in the middle.
Mount Russell is the sharp peak to the left of Whitney.
Mount Hitchcock is the mountain in the foreground to the right of Whitney.
I never did find the trail below Lower Crabtree Lake. I made my way up the canyon using a map and compass to help with directions.
Just before Lower Crabtree Lake I was taking a break, lying on the ground, when a couple and their teenage son came by. We talked for a while before I realized that I was lying in the middle of the trail.
Lower Crabtree Lake
Probably the most scenic part of the Crabtree Lakes was the view of the Great Western Divide across the Kern River. On the west side of the Kern the granite peaks were much darker, almost black, compared to the relatively light grey granite on the eastern side. With the snow capped peaks and the clouds providing contrast it made for a stunning sight.
Looking back at Lower Crabtree Lake with the Great Western Divide in the background beyond the Kern River.
Middle Crabtree Lake is the gem of the three lakes. I wandered around its shore until they became steep, then went up high looking for a campsite.
A sandy beach on the northern shore of Upper Crabtree Lake
Just before the shore got too steep for me to continue I came upon the leg bone of a large animal, maybe a deer. There are predators in the mountains, but they hardly ever are seen or heard.
The bones from an animals leg on the shore of Upper Crabtree Lake.
I found a great area to camp. To the east I had a view of where I was going the next day. Mount McAdie dominated the valley that lead up to Upper Crabtree Lake. Turn right at Mt McAdie and you go over Crabtree Pass to where I had been the day before. Turn left at Mt McAdie and you climb a talus slope to Discovery Pinnacle.
Camp 4. Looking east at Mount McAdie.
To the west I had a great view of the Great Western Divide. The sun was going to set right in the middle of this picture and I was going to be able to sit in camp and just enjoy the view. Then the rain clouds moved in.
Rain clouds moved in from the west soon after I made camp.
I cooked quickly and cleaned up. With everything in order I crawled in my tent just as the rain started.
Watching the rain from my tent. Looking west across the Kern River at
Triple Divide Peak (directly under the d-rings on my tent) and the Great Western Divide.
I enjoyed watching and listening to the rain until after dark. As I lay there falling asleep, I started hearing running water, turned on a light and discovered I was camped in what had become a stream.
I packed up my sleeping bag and other things into waterproof bags and put on my rain gear. I crawled outside, dropped my tent, dragged it out of the stream and set it back up. I crawled back inside and dried off the best I could. When I was satisfied that I would stay dry I brought my sleeping bag back out and went to sleep.
Posts
