The trail follows Indian Wells Spring which was completely dry. Deadfall blocked parts of the trail, but use trails had been worn around them. With one mile to go, I thought I had overestimated the difficulty, but the last mile packed about 1800' of gain. Many cairns dotted the trail as it got steeper. I made a mistake at 7400' and missed where the trail stayed left. This led me up a white boulder talus field instead of the dark boulder talus field on the main trail. I did find footprints and occasional cairns off trail so it was a fairly common mistake. I found a way to make it go, at the price of some exposed class 3 and slab work. At 8000', I rejoined the trail. It remained steep and slippery the rest of the way.
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Owens on the drive in
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Following the dry spring
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Off route, but finding a way
At the summit, I unpacked a drone, a DJI Mavic Mini 3 Pro. I am still learning how to fly it, but it has some pre-programmed flight sequences that are impressive. After taking the aerials, I hung around another 20 minutes, soaking in the wonderful sights in all directions. The longest ridge on Owens is a jagged granite spine that makes it look even more imposing. I could see Olancha further north and could barely make out Langley and Whitney through some haze. On the way down, I was able to stay on the trail and descended the dark boulders and class 2 slabs below that. I discovered where I lost the trail and built a cairn of my own to help future adventurers. Gnats became a problem below 6000' and I had to resort to my bug net until I got away from the spring. Owens was a big ball of granite fun and one I wouldn't mind climbing again some day.
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxi0y9rDE5rgjZEAeRxQD_mA2pT1N3_Ul9ZvVJ9XcPgGdPp3MzRmgiyb9naAkx-3m7dlIPqm-x6zFyLl1j-MM2siZZyaoYVvlLrw9S0QJ3L80sW_NYxhf7b4bBS-qbRrT8jb57NEjgrYkI7ZG3LOLtfiHPy4nKuWhqHrW_l8gvm8gWnB0ZaZXr30/s4032/20221007_103235.jpg)
Looking north over Spanish Needle, Olancha in the distance
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On route, descending slabs
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMtCGBMG_IxxCqbfL3A53JUOZUjb88_EqAHBpBobxZqiIaGRQN6hs_DEwLRCdu-9ESgOQrMFou0fbwGCky9tYBmkDISk4Mok2-8LNB-5zoJYA4ouJfhHmiqsQCmcejyVeUpRqbNwSGHmO58lrYSn3OLqDnPhCmAjprUfiz-QmRglWidhVvFGshyo/s4032/20221007_114825.jpg)
On route, descending black talus field
![Image](https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7e1AQiJ_s5-GCxlCPtX--ZPDsNaxyssMbFT81RlNbyJz00o3vsSb9PXj7zI0WRxsud1PATlVPxqdUQDBX1D1yQtysBackbSsWjZgGZQZcngKfWFhzdsijGyN2C0NNvpqUMyF5I2OjpUNR_mK4YbV21ixOWiaKr3tVU32Y0HpUS6D_NxCgyjlYCEM/s4032/20220617_104735.jpg)
Owens from highway 395, taken in June 2022
Drone videos:
https://youtu.be/jmoJNrpbwik
https://youtu.be/Q39YXp6fMA4