Mount Stewart / Eagle Scout Peak
A thru-hike of the High Sierra Trail, with ascents of Mount Stewart (From Nine Lakes Basin, class 2) and Eagle Scout Peak (From Big Arroyo, class 2), with Claire Wacziarg, September 4-10, 2022.
Timeline:
The logistics for this trip were quite involved. Claire and I had gone to Mammoth a couple of days before the entry date to acclimatize. I had arranged for Simon to drive up to Lone Pine so he could meet us there on September 3. We met at the Mount Whitney Motel, where Simon had spent the previous night. We parked my 4Runner at Whitney Portal, taking with us only our full backpacks. We then drove Simon’s Mini Cooper across Highway 178, to Visalia and Three Rivers. Wanting to pick up our permit on the same day, we drove up to the Giant Forest and made it just before the permit station closed. With the permit in hand, we drove back to Three Rivers and Simon dropped us off at the Sierra Lodge (a run-down motel managed by a grumpy man). He then drove back to LA.
September 4, 2022. I had booked a bus to the Giant Forest, leaving the Three Rivers museum at 9:00. We were about one mile up the road from there, and the motel breakfast did not seem appealing, so we left early and hiked down the road with our packs in search of a better option. But we found no breakfast place nearby, so had to walk farther and found a crowded café. Fearing arriving late for the bus, we hiked back up the road to the museum, and ate our breakfast on a picnic table there. But 9:00 came by and we saw two buses drive by without stopping. I was worried they had forgotten us. The museum’s keeper, a nice gentleman, contacted the bus company to inquire about the status of our ride (we had left our phones in the 4Runner). After much back and forth, it emerged that an extra shuttle, which was running late, would stop for us. This was a rickety old bus, full of tourists who were irate because the AC did not work. This, however, took us to the Giant Forest, and from there we boarded a shuttle to Crescent Meadow: we had finally reached the start of the High Sierra Trail.
This of course had taken time, and after a snack we departed on the trail at 11:48, first through a forest of sequoias, then along a flat trail that follows the south side of Panther Peak for miles. Claire had a massive nosebleed shortly after we started, and we were occasionally swarmed by some annoying gnats. The miles went by easily, and we soon found ourselves at the first possible campsite, at Buck Creek. We stopped to soak our feet in the stream and met a nice French couple, Marion and Valentin, who were postdocs at NASA and JPL. We still had a bit of energy left, so we continued on to Bearpaw Meadow, where we found a nice, isolated campsite near some boulders (18:33). That evening, we saw some deer, and a mother bear with two cubs hiked through our camp. It was a hot night, but we slept comfortably. (A 6:45 hour day, 5:04 hours moving, 11.8 miles, 2,232 feet of elevation gain).
September 5, 2022. This day was going to feature some of the most impressive scenery of the trip, and I knew it, having visited Valhalla in September 2013 with René. It did not disappoint. We left camp at 8:16 and hiked by the ranger station, were we had a nice chat with the ranger. We made our way toward Valhalla, enjoying great vistas toward Hamilton Dome. At Hamilton Lake (10:45), we took a long break, and met a hiker named Sean Cole. Sean had planned to hike the HST with a number of friends who one by one abandoned the endeavor, so he had decided to set out alone. We would hike together for most of the rest of the day, camp near each other in Nine Lakes Basin, and eat dinner together that evening. Sean later told me that our company on that day gave him renewed motivation to complete the HST alone.
The trail above Hamilton Lake affords some of the most beautiful views in the High Sierra. One stares down toward Hamilton Lake, Hamilton Dome, and Angel Wings – a veritable sea of granite. After the famous tunnel that trail builders had to blast through the rock in order to overcome a steep chasm, we stopped for lunch. Then we reached Precipice Lake (14:08), one of the most beautiful lakes in the Sierra and the subject of a famous Ansel Adams photo (“Frozen Lake and Cliffs”). I tried to replicate the shot. Above that, the area around Kaweah Gap and, beyond, Nine Lakes Basin, offers a spectacular alpine scenery – Mount Stewart, Eagle Scout Peak and Black Kaweah loom above. Every turn of the trail gives opportunities to marvel. Near Kaweah Gap, we again crossed paths with Marion and Valentin, who were returning from a dayhike from their basecamp at Hamilton Lake. We greeted them and went on our way, finding a nice campsite at Lake 10,440 (15:58). (A 7:42 hour day, 5:32 hours moving, 9.46 miles, 3,768 feet of elevation gain).
September 6, 2022. I had planned to climb two peaks on this day, so it would be a rest day for Claire. I left camp at 7:09, heading for the grassy Southeast slope of Mount Stewart, above Lake 10,440. This went quickly: I was on the summit at 8:58. Stewart has a fun, pointy class 3 summit block. I stayed for a while, headed down and reached camp at 10:11, for just about three hours on the outing. Claire was reading in the shade of a big boulder. I took a break, had a snack and set out to climb Eagle Scout Peak at 11:11. One traverses across the Big Arroyo to reach the Eastern slope of the peak. This leads to Eagle Scout Pass, at the base of a ridge that one then follows NW to the summit (12:46). That final portion is fun, and the summit itself is a diving board that juts out into thin air. The register, of course, was placed on the very tip of that diving board. The view from the top is absolutely astounding – especially when one stares down at Precipice Lake and Valhalla. I took lots of pictures, signed the register, and left at 13:06. I took a slightly different way down, descending a bit more into the Big Arroyo to catch the trail back to Nine Lakes Basin. I was back in camp at 14:32. We briefly toyed with the idea of packing up and hiking a few miles, but decided against it and spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and enjoying the scenery. (A 6:20 hour day, 5:49 hours moving, 6.57 miles, 3,561 feet of elevation gain).
September 7, 2022. Mileage-wise, this would be the biggest day of our trip. My ambition was to hike all the way to the Kern Hot Springs (about 18 miles), though we would fall slightly short of this goal due to rain. We left camp at 8:10, hiking slightly downhill toward the Big Arroyo Cabin. We took our first break there (9:23). We continued on toward the Chagoopa Plateau, skirting Mount Kaweah along its SW flank. We reached Moraine Lake around 13:15, and it started raining. We set up the tent, resupplied our water, and had lunch in the tent. We took a nap and played cards, waiting for the rain to abate. When it did, we set out again on the trail (16:05), hoping to hike a few more miles toward Kern Canyon. It started to get dark as we reached the canyon floor after a long descent, but we found no campsites in the dense forest at the junction. So we continued on along the HST until we found a clearing. This was a sort of horse camp, with burnt out trees around – not the most attractive place, but it would have to do. It was another hot night, but after a long day of hiking, we were happy to get some rest. (An 11:06 hour day, 7:20 hours moving, 17.52 miles, 1,359 feet of elevation gain).
September 8, 2022. We were but a short distance from the hot springs, our next goal. We left camp at 7:49 and reached the hot springs at 8:00. There were some people in camp, including a nice couple we would see frequently that day. We took a great bath in the tub, rinsing away the filth of the four previous days. We then continued up along the mostly burnt out Kern Canyon, toward Junction Meadow. The 2020 Rattlesnake Fire devastated this area, up to a sort of bottleneck in the canyon where the fire seems to have stopped. It is a depressing hike through the burn area, but things improve as one gets higher up the canyon. The trail soon turns East toward the Wallace Creek drainage. This is a beautiful area. We took a break at the junction of Wallace Creek and Wright Creek, where jumbled granite blocks were sculpted by both streams in spectacular fashion. We set up camp near the junction with the JMT and spent a nice evening in camp. (A 10:13 hour day, 6:37 hours moving, 13.74 miles, 3,801 feet of elevation gain).
September 9, 2022. This day was to be a short one, as I wanted to camp above Guitar Lake to climb Mount Hitchcock the next day. Alas, that was not to happen, on account of the weather. We left camp at 9:39, hiking up to Crabtree Meadow, then on to Timberline Lake, and finally to Guitar Lake (13:45). There, major clouds started to come in. We continued on higher to a nice tarn, where three parties were camped. We had a nice evening in camp, chatting with the others. But the weather took a turn for the worst that night, and there was intermittent rain. It was tough to sleep with all the commotion, and we were worried about being caught on the switchbacks to the Sierra Crest in a storm. At least we would not be alone, as there were several other parties intent on exiting the next day. (A 4:56 hour day, 3:59 hours moving, 8.14 miles, 2,225 feet of elevation gain).
September 10, 2022. This day was epic. I quickly abandoned any thought of climbing Mount Hitchcock, focusing instead on a strategy to get us out of the area by managing weather risk. It rained most of the early morning but there was a lull around 9:00 so we took advantage of that, packing up our wet gear and heading up the trail at 9:32. We were fine for most of the way to Trail Crest, but it started raining again shortly before we reached the crest. After that it became a veritable deluge of rain, sleet and hail, creating a river of icy water flowing down the 99 switchbacks. We were soaked to the bone, including our feet, and feeling miserable as there was no shelter from the downpour. I was quite worried about hypothermia but we soon reached Trail Camp and I relaxed, knowing that those camped there would assist us if we got in trouble. We met a couple of parties who thought they were going to climb Mount Whitney that day. I don’t know if any did, but even trying would have been foolish. We hiked pretty continuously until Outpost Camp, feeling safer with every mile (I have no photos from the segment between the west side of the Sierra Crest and Outpost Camp, because I stored away my camera to keep it dry). At Outpost Camp (13:55), we took our first break, eating a bar and rehydrating. It had been a continuous push from the start of the day, as we did not want to stop and risk getting cold. By then we were impatient, and the last few miles to Whitney Portal seemed interminable. We were glad to cross the portal, and to settle for burgers at the Whitney Portal Store, where we had a nice chat with other hikers. The nice couple we had met in Kern Canyon arrived at that point, surprised to see us ahead of them. After our well-deserved burger, we rushed back to Mammoth, happy to have survived this harrowing day. (A 6:15 hour day, 5:41 hours moving, 10.91 miles, 1,636 feet of elevation gain).
Trip totals: 53:17 total hours, 40:03 moving hours, 78.14 miles, 18,582 feet of elevation gain.