TR: Day hike to Kearsarge Pass
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 7:26 pm
A beautiful forecast, an open weekend, and some new-ish snowshoes!
We had such a good time hanging out in BIg Pine Basin a few weekends ago, we couldn't wait to come back to the Sierra Eastside and do another winter hike. This time, we decided to spend the night at the Mt. Williamson Motel and snowshoe up to Kearsarge Pass the next day.
It was 8:00 AM and just over 30 degrees when we left the truck at Onion Valley. There's not much info on what to expect from the trail at this time of the year, except of course to say that you should always be prepared for the unexpected, even more than usual.
The trail definitely has a different color scheme in the winter, the greens are a little muted, with a much larger array of browns...and the sound of hiking the trail is altered, too. Instead of the crunch, crunch, crunch of the dirt beneath our feet was the swish, crack, crunch of snow and ice underfoot.
The thing I love about hiking this trail is how familiar I am with each lake and landmark - don't get me wrong, there are still a million more things to notice along this trail, but I already know so many. I guess that's one thing I love about nature. It has a never ending ability to educate us. I will always take more education.
The trail was packed down for a good portion of the way to Gilbert Lake, however, we stopped to put our snowshoes on during the switchbacks that lead to the boulder field just before Gilbert Lake. We kept them on most of the way until just before Big Pothole Lake on the approach to the Pass. Here we left them leaning on a rock while we went and had lunch at the Pass.
It was as beautiful as I remember seeing last April when we were here, although I was expecting (hoping) for more snow...Hopefully, the SIerra will get the snowfall they need soon. The picture below doesn't show much beyond us, but for some reason, I enjoyed the Pass with my eyes more than my camera this time
It took a bit longer than usual, and we enjoyed more breaks along the way - snowshoeing is hard work! I really enjoyed the hike, and once again, we found ourselves looking at the calendar to determine how quickly we could be back for another hike in our favorite mountains.
Happy Hiking,
Shannon
We had such a good time hanging out in BIg Pine Basin a few weekends ago, we couldn't wait to come back to the Sierra Eastside and do another winter hike. This time, we decided to spend the night at the Mt. Williamson Motel and snowshoe up to Kearsarge Pass the next day.
It was 8:00 AM and just over 30 degrees when we left the truck at Onion Valley. There's not much info on what to expect from the trail at this time of the year, except of course to say that you should always be prepared for the unexpected, even more than usual.
The trail definitely has a different color scheme in the winter, the greens are a little muted, with a much larger array of browns...and the sound of hiking the trail is altered, too. Instead of the crunch, crunch, crunch of the dirt beneath our feet was the swish, crack, crunch of snow and ice underfoot.
The thing I love about hiking this trail is how familiar I am with each lake and landmark - don't get me wrong, there are still a million more things to notice along this trail, but I already know so many. I guess that's one thing I love about nature. It has a never ending ability to educate us. I will always take more education.
The trail was packed down for a good portion of the way to Gilbert Lake, however, we stopped to put our snowshoes on during the switchbacks that lead to the boulder field just before Gilbert Lake. We kept them on most of the way until just before Big Pothole Lake on the approach to the Pass. Here we left them leaning on a rock while we went and had lunch at the Pass.
It was as beautiful as I remember seeing last April when we were here, although I was expecting (hoping) for more snow...Hopefully, the SIerra will get the snowfall they need soon. The picture below doesn't show much beyond us, but for some reason, I enjoyed the Pass with my eyes more than my camera this time
It took a bit longer than usual, and we enjoyed more breaks along the way - snowshoeing is hard work! I really enjoyed the hike, and once again, we found ourselves looking at the calendar to determine how quickly we could be back for another hike in our favorite mountains.
Happy Hiking,
Shannon