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- May 16, 2016
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Continuing from part 1 here - https://backcountrypost.com/threads/seki-2025-part-1.12520/
Preview photo -
Day 5 - Casper Lake to Milestone Basin (2.5 miles & 658' up & 510' down + wandering)
I had originally thought about climbing up to one of Lucy's or Millies's Foot Passes, but I was still feeling off and was very tired. I was very glad that my pack was getting lighter even if I wasn't eating as much as I normally would. Let's make it a short day and head to Milestone Basin.
I took the direct route down the Kern and then the user trail up into the basin. I had forgot how big Milestone Basin is.
Remains of the old trail, I wonder when this was abandoned?
Wasn't expecting to see this when I looked down, seems like it would be hard to get a horse up here, but I don't know anything about horses.
I spent some time wandering around higher up in the basin after I set up camp, lots of water and convoluted terrain, very fun to wander through without a pack.
Crescent moon in the west.
I did not have a very good angle for Milky Way photos, so I just set my camera on a rock near my tent for a couple of shots and then went to bed.
Fifth Campsite (Milestone Basin)
In retrospect, I should have stayed another night and did some more wandering and relaxing, but the bugs were annoying at dusk. So, let's slowly make our way back to the trailhead.
Day 6 - Milestone Basin to Wright Creek Meadow (7.75 miles & 1648' up & 1783' down)
It felt like a lot of work to get back to the JMT. At one point I stopped and zoned out watching tadpoles in a tarn along the cutoff trail. It was obvious that I had not been eating enough and was basically on fumes. Thankfully, there were no hard decisions to make today.
Marmot near the JMT
Up towards the Bighorn Plateau
There was a group of marmots on the plateau which surprised me because I've only seen them near rocks. Here they seemed to have burrowed into the dirt.
I thought about camping on the plateau, but it was really early to be stopping, so I continued on.
First people I've seen in a couple of days.
Wright Creek near the JMT
I setup camp in a stand of trees where the bugs weren't bad and there were great views to the south.
I wandered around for a bit after dinner watching the light change.
Sixth Campsite (Wright Creek)
Day 7 - Wright Creek Meadow to Crabtree Lakes (7.8 miles & 1693' up & 1389' down)
Today was a very short day (I wrote that before I had measured the miles. It is funny how some days just feel shorter than others even with more mileage), I knew I would not make it over Crabtree pass and didn't want to camp in the rocks below the pass so I planned on stopping at first lake
Crabtree Meadow
I setup camp and had lots of reading time in the shade. I even managed to catch a fish in my water bag
A little bit of wandering after dinner.
I saw this hawk try to take a rodent of some sort, but he missed and flew into a tree and then posed for me.
A guy (Chris from Oakland) came through and said he was going to camp nearby and was going over the pass tomorrow. I figured I'd never see him again, but he was out with a camera at sunset like me and we ended up chatting for a bit. Neither one of us were planning on an early start so maybe we will see each other in the morning.
By this point, I was mostly feeling better belly wise, but I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was suffocating. I actually got out of the tent for 5 or 10 minutes so I could breath and get my heart to stop racing. Kind of weird, never had something like this happen and I've been above 10000 feet for the last week. Eventually, everything calmed down and I crawled back into be and went back to sleep.
Seventh Campsite (Crabtree Lakes)
Day 8 - Crabtree Lakes to Miter Basin (6.35 miles & 1858' up & 1739' down)
As I was putting my pack on in the morning, I looked up and Chris was just walking by. We ended up hiking together for the rest of the day.
At the middle lake, we ran into a guy who had hiked over Cottonwood Pass and then all the way to Crabtree Meadows on a long first day. And then hiked up to the lake early in the morning to fish. He said he had passed through the basin earlier in the summer and there were really big fish and he was going to get a couple. That's him on the peninsula as we hiked away from the lake.
Heading into the rocks below the upper lake
Upper Crabtree Lake
Looking up at Crabtree Pass, hard to believe, but it is a very easy pass, just need to go 500 feet up
Sky Pilots just below the pass
Looking down from the pass at the highest Crabtree Lake. The middle lake is in the distance.
Sky Blue Lake
And from a different angle. I said goodbye to Chris since I wanted to be a little lower in Miter Basin so I could potentially hike out tomorrow. He was a great hiking partner for the day.
Campsite in the trees
The moon is getting bigger
Eighth Campsite (Miter Basin)
Day 9 - Miter Basin to Upper Soldier Lake to New Army Pass to Trailhead (14 miles & 2489' up & 3717' down)
Woke up to a beautiful day, perfect for hiking.
It took a while for the sun to rise above the ridge
Here it comes
Looking down at the notch that heads towards the Soldier Lakes
Upper Soldier Lake, I ran into a young couple (from LA?) who were set up for a couple days and planning on some dayhikes and just hanging out. Eventually, I said goodbye and headed up the user trail towards Mt Langley.
Upper Soldier Lake
As I was heading up the trail, I paused to catch my breath and I looked down and saw a couple sheep. They must have come out of the rocks as I climbed up. They knew I was there, but slowly worked their way into the grass. This is 200mm and heavily cropped.
Looking down on Upper Soldier Lake
Looking east into the Cottonwood Lakes basin near New Army Pass
Down in the basin looking west. I would have found a place to camp, but Long Lake was crawling with people and I did not feel like wandering around to find a secluded site. I decided that I would just make it a long day and head to the trailhead and then find a hotel in Lone Pine and get pizza and beer.
Meadow along the South Fork, very buggy
I got to the car, found a hotel and beer and ordered pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, ended up being a terrible pizza. I should have just ate backpacking food instead. But, the beer was good and the shower felt great. In retrospect, I should have camped one more night in Cottonwood Lakes instead of a long last day. That would have been the correct decision but, the whole trip was basically me making sub-optimal decisions so not surprising that my last one was less than ideal.
I got lucky with weather on this trip, but unlucky with some stomach issues. Chris mentioned that he ended up with COVID on a backpacking trip a couple years ago and that got me wondering if I got something on the plane that took a couple of days show effects. No idea, but this trip would have been a lot better if I had been feeling better. Oh well, still a good trip even with the dumb decisions I made along the way.
Preview photo -
Day 5 - Casper Lake to Milestone Basin (2.5 miles & 658' up & 510' down + wandering)
I had originally thought about climbing up to one of Lucy's or Millies's Foot Passes, but I was still feeling off and was very tired. I was very glad that my pack was getting lighter even if I wasn't eating as much as I normally would. Let's make it a short day and head to Milestone Basin.
I took the direct route down the Kern and then the user trail up into the basin. I had forgot how big Milestone Basin is.
Remains of the old trail, I wonder when this was abandoned?
Wasn't expecting to see this when I looked down, seems like it would be hard to get a horse up here, but I don't know anything about horses.
I spent some time wandering around higher up in the basin after I set up camp, lots of water and convoluted terrain, very fun to wander through without a pack.
Crescent moon in the west.
I did not have a very good angle for Milky Way photos, so I just set my camera on a rock near my tent for a couple of shots and then went to bed.
Fifth Campsite (Milestone Basin)
In retrospect, I should have stayed another night and did some more wandering and relaxing, but the bugs were annoying at dusk. So, let's slowly make our way back to the trailhead.
Day 6 - Milestone Basin to Wright Creek Meadow (7.75 miles & 1648' up & 1783' down)
It felt like a lot of work to get back to the JMT. At one point I stopped and zoned out watching tadpoles in a tarn along the cutoff trail. It was obvious that I had not been eating enough and was basically on fumes. Thankfully, there were no hard decisions to make today.
Marmot near the JMT
Up towards the Bighorn Plateau
There was a group of marmots on the plateau which surprised me because I've only seen them near rocks. Here they seemed to have burrowed into the dirt.
I thought about camping on the plateau, but it was really early to be stopping, so I continued on.
First people I've seen in a couple of days.
Wright Creek near the JMT
I setup camp in a stand of trees where the bugs weren't bad and there were great views to the south.
I wandered around for a bit after dinner watching the light change.
Sixth Campsite (Wright Creek)
Day 7 - Wright Creek Meadow to Crabtree Lakes (7.8 miles & 1693' up & 1389' down)
Today was a very short day (I wrote that before I had measured the miles. It is funny how some days just feel shorter than others even with more mileage), I knew I would not make it over Crabtree pass and didn't want to camp in the rocks below the pass so I planned on stopping at first lake
Crabtree Meadow
I setup camp and had lots of reading time in the shade. I even managed to catch a fish in my water bag
A little bit of wandering after dinner.
I saw this hawk try to take a rodent of some sort, but he missed and flew into a tree and then posed for me.
A guy (Chris from Oakland) came through and said he was going to camp nearby and was going over the pass tomorrow. I figured I'd never see him again, but he was out with a camera at sunset like me and we ended up chatting for a bit. Neither one of us were planning on an early start so maybe we will see each other in the morning.
By this point, I was mostly feeling better belly wise, but I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was suffocating. I actually got out of the tent for 5 or 10 minutes so I could breath and get my heart to stop racing. Kind of weird, never had something like this happen and I've been above 10000 feet for the last week. Eventually, everything calmed down and I crawled back into be and went back to sleep.
Seventh Campsite (Crabtree Lakes)
Day 8 - Crabtree Lakes to Miter Basin (6.35 miles & 1858' up & 1739' down)
As I was putting my pack on in the morning, I looked up and Chris was just walking by. We ended up hiking together for the rest of the day.
At the middle lake, we ran into a guy who had hiked over Cottonwood Pass and then all the way to Crabtree Meadows on a long first day. And then hiked up to the lake early in the morning to fish. He said he had passed through the basin earlier in the summer and there were really big fish and he was going to get a couple. That's him on the peninsula as we hiked away from the lake.
Heading into the rocks below the upper lake
Upper Crabtree Lake
Looking up at Crabtree Pass, hard to believe, but it is a very easy pass, just need to go 500 feet up
Sky Pilots just below the pass
Looking down from the pass at the highest Crabtree Lake. The middle lake is in the distance.
Sky Blue Lake
And from a different angle. I said goodbye to Chris since I wanted to be a little lower in Miter Basin so I could potentially hike out tomorrow. He was a great hiking partner for the day.
Campsite in the trees
The moon is getting bigger
Eighth Campsite (Miter Basin)
Day 9 - Miter Basin to Upper Soldier Lake to New Army Pass to Trailhead (14 miles & 2489' up & 3717' down)
Woke up to a beautiful day, perfect for hiking.
It took a while for the sun to rise above the ridge
Here it comes
Looking down at the notch that heads towards the Soldier Lakes
Upper Soldier Lake, I ran into a young couple (from LA?) who were set up for a couple days and planning on some dayhikes and just hanging out. Eventually, I said goodbye and headed up the user trail towards Mt Langley.
Upper Soldier Lake
As I was heading up the trail, I paused to catch my breath and I looked down and saw a couple sheep. They must have come out of the rocks as I climbed up. They knew I was there, but slowly worked their way into the grass. This is 200mm and heavily cropped.
Looking down on Upper Soldier Lake
Looking east into the Cottonwood Lakes basin near New Army Pass
Down in the basin looking west. I would have found a place to camp, but Long Lake was crawling with people and I did not feel like wandering around to find a secluded site. I decided that I would just make it a long day and head to the trailhead and then find a hotel in Lone Pine and get pizza and beer.
Meadow along the South Fork, very buggy
I got to the car, found a hotel and beer and ordered pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, ended up being a terrible pizza. I should have just ate backpacking food instead. But, the beer was good and the shower felt great. In retrospect, I should have camped one more night in Cottonwood Lakes instead of a long last day. That would have been the correct decision but, the whole trip was basically me making sub-optimal decisions so not surprising that my last one was less than ideal.
I got lucky with weather on this trip, but unlucky with some stomach issues. Chris mentioned that he ended up with COVID on a backpacking trip a couple years ago and that got me wondering if I got something on the plane that took a couple of days show effects. No idea, but this trip would have been a lot better if I had been feeling better. Oh well, still a good trip even with the dumb decisions I made along the way.
