TR: Great Western Divide + Extras Pt 1 8/31-9/10 2019
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 5:57 pm
As always, I am grateful for the trip reports everyone shares here. I acquired a case of Great Western Divide Fever after reading a series of TRs that came rolling off the presses in 2018, among them:
High Loop around Mt. Brewer by cgundersen
Circle of Solitude + Longley/South Guard by levi
Circle Great Western Divide by robertseeburger
Mount Brewer and Beyond by Flamingo
Sequoia solitude in Deadman, Cloud and Kern Kaweah by cgundersen
Soltiude in Deadman and Cloud, and Scouting the High Route by Harlen
Fever symptoms include an inability to concentrate on anything other than trip planning and haunting the recreation.gov site to check permit availability months before their official release date. I was on a leave of absence from my teaching job back home in Wisconsin, which enabled my first hikes in the Sierra during late summer and early fall. Sweet! My planned loop route was a monster: start at Horseshoe Meadow, over Cottonwood Pass, west to Coyote Pass, north along the GWD to Pants Pass, then some Glacier Ridge goodness, over Brewer Pass, south to Harrison Pass, further south to Crabtree Pass, and finally back to Horseshoe Meadow after 13 days. Ahem. Reading through my trail diary, it was pretty clear I hadn’t fully recovered from my early summer jaunt along the PCT in Washington, and there were a few other challenges along the way as described herewith…
Day 1 — August 31
Good sleep in the ol’ minivan overnight at Horseshoe Meadow and on the sandy, well-graded trail by 7:45 AM. Pack is very heavy with two weeks of food and the cold weather gear I need as a “cold sleeper”. There are no cottonwood trees at Cottonwood Pass near as I can tell, so why the name? I abandon the trail at the SEKI boundary and go off trail through the Siberian Outpost meadows. Great views of the west faces of the mountains on the east front of the Sierra. It’s great to be back! Smoke from the fire to the south in the Golden Trout Wilderness was impacting the views earlier in the day, but the wind shifted and cleared it away. Low flow in the tributary stream to Siberian Pass Creek I am following southwest but lots of miniature wildflowers in bloom in the sandy meadows — lupine, buckwheat, phlox, others. Easy travel up the drainage and the climb to the Boreal Plateau is straightforward. Nice views of Rocky Basin Lakes from the plateau with smoke in the background. Camped on the ridge west of Funston Lake. Discovered that my phone has no USGS topo maps of the Sierra because I swapped them out for the Cascades last spring and forgot to put them back. I have paper maps of my route, of course, but nothing of a zoomed-out nature in case something happens and I need to change my plans. Ahem. 14.5 miles.
Day 2 — September 1
Slept in and got a late start. Off trail route south to Little Whitney Meadow pretty straightforward with one difficult, rocky stretch about 1.5 miles south of Funston Lake. Otherwise, easy walking down forested slopes to the meadow with its luxurious expanses of grass and small streams running through it. Pick up the trail again and ford Golden Trout Creek. The trail leaves the creek when it begins its plunge to the North Fork Kern River. Nicely graded on the way down although pretty torn up by stock. Knees pretty achy after 4400’ descent to the river and feeling tired, so I set up camp on a shelf near the river north of the bridge. There’s a pair of socks hanging in a tree, so I’m not the first one through here… 13.2 miles.
Day 3 — September 2
Early morning thunderstorms roll through at about 5 AM, so I doze a bit before setting off at 7:15 AM. Walk past the ranger station, but do not see anyone. The Coyote Pass Trail starts off with a steep grade, so I am glad I did not continue on yesterday as originally planned. The tread is in good condition and lightly used with a covering of cones and needles. The trail is not always obvious, but leads where you would expect. The stream crossings are easy and correctly labeled on the map. Coyote Pass itself is very broad with rock outcroppings and many contorted foxtail pines. Had some trouble locating the trail which is high on the pass to the north. On the west side of the pass the trail is in good shape for the most part as it switchbacks down to Rifle Creek, which was dry. Beyond that, though, it was overgrown with white thorn and manzanita. That white thorn seemed to have fingers and kept untying my bootlaces. The trail contours in the 8800-9000’ range but was interrupted by enormous deadfalls and choked stretches. Pistol Creek and Shotgun Creek were flowing. I sat out an hour long bout of rain showers. The climb to Silver Lake was very difficult. The trail was impossible to follow until I had reached 10300’, so the first 1300’ of the climb was a bit of a bushwhack. It worked okay to follow the gravel beds between bushes, but it was steep, steep, steep. Silver Lake was worth it, though, in its pretty setting of foxtail pines and meltwater streams cascading down the granite walls. There’s a sock laying beneath a tree, so I’m not the first one through here… 14.6 miles.
Dennis
High Loop around Mt. Brewer by cgundersen
Circle of Solitude + Longley/South Guard by levi
Circle Great Western Divide by robertseeburger
Mount Brewer and Beyond by Flamingo
Sequoia solitude in Deadman, Cloud and Kern Kaweah by cgundersen
Soltiude in Deadman and Cloud, and Scouting the High Route by Harlen
Fever symptoms include an inability to concentrate on anything other than trip planning and haunting the recreation.gov site to check permit availability months before their official release date. I was on a leave of absence from my teaching job back home in Wisconsin, which enabled my first hikes in the Sierra during late summer and early fall. Sweet! My planned loop route was a monster: start at Horseshoe Meadow, over Cottonwood Pass, west to Coyote Pass, north along the GWD to Pants Pass, then some Glacier Ridge goodness, over Brewer Pass, south to Harrison Pass, further south to Crabtree Pass, and finally back to Horseshoe Meadow after 13 days. Ahem. Reading through my trail diary, it was pretty clear I hadn’t fully recovered from my early summer jaunt along the PCT in Washington, and there were a few other challenges along the way as described herewith…
Day 1 — August 31
Good sleep in the ol’ minivan overnight at Horseshoe Meadow and on the sandy, well-graded trail by 7:45 AM. Pack is very heavy with two weeks of food and the cold weather gear I need as a “cold sleeper”. There are no cottonwood trees at Cottonwood Pass near as I can tell, so why the name? I abandon the trail at the SEKI boundary and go off trail through the Siberian Outpost meadows. Great views of the west faces of the mountains on the east front of the Sierra. It’s great to be back! Smoke from the fire to the south in the Golden Trout Wilderness was impacting the views earlier in the day, but the wind shifted and cleared it away. Low flow in the tributary stream to Siberian Pass Creek I am following southwest but lots of miniature wildflowers in bloom in the sandy meadows — lupine, buckwheat, phlox, others. Easy travel up the drainage and the climb to the Boreal Plateau is straightforward. Nice views of Rocky Basin Lakes from the plateau with smoke in the background. Camped on the ridge west of Funston Lake. Discovered that my phone has no USGS topo maps of the Sierra because I swapped them out for the Cascades last spring and forgot to put them back. I have paper maps of my route, of course, but nothing of a zoomed-out nature in case something happens and I need to change my plans. Ahem. 14.5 miles.
Day 2 — September 1
Slept in and got a late start. Off trail route south to Little Whitney Meadow pretty straightforward with one difficult, rocky stretch about 1.5 miles south of Funston Lake. Otherwise, easy walking down forested slopes to the meadow with its luxurious expanses of grass and small streams running through it. Pick up the trail again and ford Golden Trout Creek. The trail leaves the creek when it begins its plunge to the North Fork Kern River. Nicely graded on the way down although pretty torn up by stock. Knees pretty achy after 4400’ descent to the river and feeling tired, so I set up camp on a shelf near the river north of the bridge. There’s a pair of socks hanging in a tree, so I’m not the first one through here… 13.2 miles.
Day 3 — September 2
Early morning thunderstorms roll through at about 5 AM, so I doze a bit before setting off at 7:15 AM. Walk past the ranger station, but do not see anyone. The Coyote Pass Trail starts off with a steep grade, so I am glad I did not continue on yesterday as originally planned. The tread is in good condition and lightly used with a covering of cones and needles. The trail is not always obvious, but leads where you would expect. The stream crossings are easy and correctly labeled on the map. Coyote Pass itself is very broad with rock outcroppings and many contorted foxtail pines. Had some trouble locating the trail which is high on the pass to the north. On the west side of the pass the trail is in good shape for the most part as it switchbacks down to Rifle Creek, which was dry. Beyond that, though, it was overgrown with white thorn and manzanita. That white thorn seemed to have fingers and kept untying my bootlaces. The trail contours in the 8800-9000’ range but was interrupted by enormous deadfalls and choked stretches. Pistol Creek and Shotgun Creek were flowing. I sat out an hour long bout of rain showers. The climb to Silver Lake was very difficult. The trail was impossible to follow until I had reached 10300’, so the first 1300’ of the climb was a bit of a bushwhack. It worked okay to follow the gravel beds between bushes, but it was steep, steep, steep. Silver Lake was worth it, though, in its pretty setting of foxtail pines and meltwater streams cascading down the granite walls. There’s a sock laying beneath a tree, so I’m not the first one through here… 14.6 miles.
Dennis