Thousand Island Lake Backpacking

Over Memorial Day weekend we went on a backpacking trip in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Eastern Sierras. It was a solid 5 hour drive which is a bit of a push, but Matt got off work early Friday afternoon so we made it to a campground in Mammoth Lakes Friday evening. Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast, picked up our permits and bear canister (booo, heavy) and hit the trail. The Ranger Station had no clue as to trail conditions (clear? 3ft of snow?). Our beloved Black Diamond backpacking tent was still getting repaired from it’s (mis)adventures on Mt. Whitney, so we had the McMansion car camping tent with us.

Saturday we hiked about 9.5 miles, mostly along the PCT/High Trail up to Thousand Island Lake.  We started at 8300ft and ended at about 9900 ft, so not a ton of elevation gain but definitely some very thin air. The hike was beautiful – views the entire way.

We got to Thousand Island Lake a bit ahead of most people so landed a choice campsite just above the lake and set up camp around 3:30. We spent the afternoon lounging, and eventually made dinner, watched the sunset, and had our Backpackers Pantry (aka, freeze dried) Crème Brulee. It was bit cloudy but nothing to complaint about.

We had been planning on doing a day hike from our camp on Sunday and hiking our Monday, but because it was early season there was still quite a bit of snow around so a lot of the trails were not accessible without some serious winter gear that we didn’t have with us. Sunday dawned clear and blue-skied and we enjoyed a 3 hour leisurely coffee, breakfast and camp packing before heading out. We had decided to take a longer route out via the John Muir trail (11 miles). We pretty quickly hit a lot of snow and then ran into some folks who had turned back to go the other way out because they were post-holing a lot. Matt was ready to throw in the towel, but I badgered him into a going a little ways at least. It ended up being our best decision of the weekend. The route out via Garnet Lake and Shadow Lake ended up being incredibly gorgeous, with very few people on the trail.

We made it back to the car at a respectable 3:30 and found ourselves some delicious burgers and beer. It was awesome to see that SoCal (mid-Cal really?) has some pretty epic high-mountain backpacking, it soothes our Seattle souls.

Since we ended up coming out early and we were relatively in the area, we made the 30 minute drive north to Mono Lake after getting some food in ourselves. We weren't really sure what to expect, and it certainly wasn’t a long stop but it was definitely worth the drive. Some pretty fun unique scenery.

Climbing Mt Whitney, CA

When we moved to SoCal, we knew we wanted to climb Mt. Whitney, 14,505, the highest peak in the continental US. It’s not a technical mountain, and in the summer time it’s truly a walk-up that anyone who is relatively fit can do. All the same, it’s big, and in our new ‘hood. There’s a permit lottery once a year, and we applied way back in February before we moved, but unfortunately weren't winners for any of the 10 dates we submitted for. On our way back from Death Valley, we noted how little snow there was compared to all the pictures of normal year and it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe the road to Whitney would actually be open before permit season this year. It turned out the very next weekend was the last one before permit season started, and the road was indeed open. So, despite a cold, mediocre weather forecast, and traveling for work the week before, etc we drove north early on Saturday morning.

The trail starts at Whitney portal at 8,360 feet, and the first day you hike 6 miles to high camp at 12,000ft. The second day gains 2,500 but involves another 5 miles to the summit, making it a 16 mile day, which is pretty brutal. Friday night had been extremely windy and we heard horror stories from all the climbers coming down on Saturday (who hadn't even attempted the summit). We had beautiful weather climbing up to high camp though, sunny and without wind. Having never been in the Sierras before, we were stunned by all the rocky, craggy, remote beauty.Could such a thing exist in southern California?

We were late to camp, so didn't get a very protected spot, but set up, had dinner, and tucked in around 8pm hoping for the best. And then…..the wind started. And picked up. And was hitting the wide side of our tent. And hitting me with the side of the tent. We ‘slept’ until 2am at which point a huge gust of wind came and blew the side of the tent so hard it was basically laying down on both me an Matt. Matt opened the door to re-stake the fly when suddenly I heard a ‘rrrriiiiiip’. The wind had snapped one of the tent poles, which stabbed through the fly and ripped it open. Then the snow started coming in tent through the hole. We knew it was all downhill from there. 2am, pitch black, we got up and started packing all our gear. We decided that even if it were possible to summit that day, it would be miserable and we weren't interested. The wind had blown fresh snow from the night before over all of the trail and it took us 90 minutes of wandering before we found a solid lead on where the trail down from camp went. Cold, a bit nerve wracking, it was blowing hard but finally starting to get light.

After dropping down a bit, the wind quickly died down, the sun came up, and we had a gorgeous hike down. You win some, and you lose some I guess. We had a much-needed warm breakfast in Lone Pine and made our way home. Fingers crossed for permits next year.