South-North loop

[JeffH]

Aug 28 - Sep 2, 2019
I bailed out. I had planned to go from South Lake to Duck Lake over the course of six days but cut the trip short and exited via Piute Pass instead.
I drove up to Lone Pine and easily got a walkup permit for Thursday via Bishop Pass. Sitting at the McDonalds later I talked to a young lady who had bailed from her NOBO attempt after reaching Crabtree, she said she couldn’t take the elevation. When I asked about mosquitos she just smiled and generously offered me her headnet. That turned out to be a great piece of gear! I paid back a little hiker karma by taking two hitchhikers to Horseshoe Meadow so they could complete their PCT effort.
The next day I parked behind the Police Department in Bishop and caught the shuttle to South Lake where I began on that familiar trail. While taking the obligatory photo at the Pass, I got jabbed by a sharp rock in my left instep. I didn’t think too much of it at the time since the rest of the day was downhill to Little Pete Meadow. It took a long time to travel the next six miles, I chalked up my slow pace to first-day fatigue along with the amazing views in Dusy Basin. I also stopped for water a couple of times and took a nice long lunch break.
Day two was an issue, as my foot was bothering me some and I just wasn’t making any time. Every little bit of uphill - which was pretty much the entire day - just wore me out and I had to stop frequently just to collect my breath and thoughts once again. I stopped for a long break at the lowest lake (tarn) before Muir Pass and left some of my breakfast behind. I don’t think that was altitude sickness, since I don’t usually notice it until well past 12k and I didn’t have any symptom of general nausea. Anyway, I struggled on to reach Helen Lake by about 4pm and felt like I just couldn’t go any further. While sitting on a rock feeling sorry for myself I decided to just stay there and see how I felt in the morning. When I was changing socks I noticed my foot was very red and starting to bruise. I did spend the night in one of the best campsites I have ever used, and that evening officially decided to bail from my original plan.
The following day was all downhill, so I managed to cover a little more than 16 miles while cruising through Evolution Valley and over the two bridges spanning the San Joaquin River. The afternoon creek ford was less than knee deep and I felt stable enough to stop in the middle and take a couple photos. That view coming down into the valley from Muir Pass is spectacular! Every time I passed by water, the bugs were out in force so I couldn't take any nice shady breaks. I did find a couple of spots in the sunshine where a light breeze kept them away.
Day four was a short downhill and then plenty of up, as I trudged past Hutchinson Meadow in the afternoon. Near the Pine Creek Pass junction is a group of stream crossings, at that time they were very confusing to follow with alternate locations above and below the regular trail. I got a bit lost and then attacked by bugs, I brushed off my legs and arms and ran back the way I came. When I sat down to zip on the pant legs and roll down my sleeves I counted 17 fatalities there. Adding the head net I felt better prepared and set forth again to make the five crossings. This time I paid closer attention to the ground immediately below and managed to get through the little wet area on the actual trail. I was attacked once again later while refilling water so I didn’t quite finish that job. Later in the afternoon I got concerned about how much water I had, since with no map on an unfamiliar trail I did not know how much I would need. I decided to dry camp at the first likely location, which turned out to be well above Little Golden Trout Lake at 10,800 feet. I had about 20 ounces of water so I just had licorice for dinner and a couple sips during the night. Even at this spot the bugs were out, I had to kill two more that snuck inside the tent with me. I guessed that I was about three miles from Piute Pass, and I knew there was a lake just this side of that spot.
In the morning they were still hanging around, and I hurriedly packed up and hit the trail by 6am, hoping to get a couple miles toward the Pass before it got hot. I reached a watering spot in about 25 minutes, so I polished off a full bottle and the rest of my Camelbak bladder before refilling. Just before reaching Summit Lake I had a Clif bar breakfast, which did wonders for my psyche. Reaching Piute Pass was almost anticlimactic, I was expecting to see a sign or something to mark the location. Walking down Piute Canyon was pleasant, as an overcast day kept the temperature down.
I met up with a couple from Colorado near the campground, and we hitched a ride in the back of a pickup out to the highway. From there four cars passed us before two nice folks in a Chevy Volt managed to get all three of us plus our packs loaded up and down to Bishop. That was my first hitchhiking as a passenger experience.

Pic set 1:
What I learned:
Know your level of fitness, I thought I was in better shape - especially the second and third days.
Make sure to eat, I wasn’t hungry and skipped out on replenishment. The Bear Vault didn’t get lighter either.
Be aware of alternates, I don’t know if this qualifies as a Plan B since I didn’t plan for it.
Even the downhill miles are long.
I really dislike mosquitos.
Don’t spit while wearing a headnet.
Bailing isn’t failing.

[JeffH]

Pics set 2:
It was really hard to narrow these down....

[JeffH]

Obviously I can't figure out what Tapatalk is doing with photos, when I preview the post it seems random whether or not they will be put inline and also random if the captions show up. Seems if they are missing and I add text in line then the caption shows up and it's doubled. So I go back and delete what I had just typed and now no caption - and I know everyone misses my witty comments.....

Last group:

[Uncle Rico]

If that's failing, my goal is to fail like you.

Super nice trip. I've been up to the Humphrey's Basin but not further. That snow patch just below the pass was there when I went as well. That whole North Fork Bishop Creek drainage is gorgeous.

[Sean]

Obviously I can't figure out what Tapatalk is doing with photos...

First, thanks for the beautiful report! Second, we need a pic of you wearing your net--so we can turn you into a bugnet serial killer. Third, I cleaned up your photo sets. When you use the caption feature, it works differently on the desktop view versus mobile view. The captions are embedded in the mobile view.

But in the desktop version you have to click on the photo to see the caption and other details in a gallery format that you can flip through like an album.

If you want your comments embedded in the main body of the report across all versions of the site, I don't recommend using the caption feature when you upload photos. Just place the photo inline, then write your comment above or below the photo (or image coding), depending on the flow of your text.

Also, a reminder to select a "featured" image from your first post in a report, which will be used in thumbnail view links across platforms. If you don't select one yourself, Tapatalk will do it automatically. I selected a more scenic one for you this time.

[JeffH]

Obviously I can't figure out what Tapatalk is doing with photos...

..... we need a pic of you wearing your net--so we can turn you into a bugnet serial killer. ....

I didn't get one of those pictures. Might need to dig it out of the gear closet and pose for a new one.

[JeffH]

And I didn't know about the featured image, that's pretty cool.
Generally when I compose this stuff it's on the desktop, also that way for most of my viewing. I'll use the iPad/iPhone app once in a while.
So for now I will not put captions into the attachments, hopefully the inline part will work.

This is a nice excuse to share one of my favorite performers, the greatest rock and roll band in the world:

[Sean]

That reminded me of this Weird Al parody.



I'd rather have first-world problems than third-world ones.

[Girl Hiker]

Wow! what an adventure. I bought these pills from Amazon called ALTITUDE RX they work miracles. All you need to do is take 2 the night before and 2 the morning of your hike. They worked great for me when I hiked to Kearsage Pass.

[David R]

I was up there about a month ago and hiked to Piute Pass as a day hike. The mosquitoes even at the pass were really bad. The next day we went up to The Hunchback out of South Lake. Green Lake was the worst mosquito swarm I've seen, they got in places that my wife has never looked at.

[tekewin]

So many great photos to take in. Thanks for a great report. I've read a lot of reports about people fighting with mosquitoes in some parts of the Sierra, sounds awful. Is that mostly a function of the place (near water) or time of year, or both?

[JeffH]

Mosquitos this year were bad because of so much water due to the heavy snow. Most years they are gone by late August. I've gone up there backpacking in September and not seen any mosquitos.