Riding The Crest 2009

SECTION G   WALKER PASS TO MOUNT WHITNEY

June 15 - June 28

I saddled Harmony at the borrowed two horse trailer when we got to Walker Pass. Oakie Girl climbed out of her tent and greeted us with the news there was a large tree across the trail somewhere north. What I immediately realized was I’d forgotten to bring my saw. Ralph and I prayed together that the tree would be passable for me. He said he was going to come back to the trailhead at noon incase I had to turn around. Just as I was leaving a police car pulled into the trailhead. The deputy told us they were looking for information on a hiker named Megan who had not checked in with her parents as planned. We had not seen her. After leaving Ralph at Hwy 178 I started a tough  climb up Owens Peak. It was a sand/rock combination so I stopped and put Harmony’s front boots on after a couple of miles. When we reached the top of that peak we traversed a couple of saddles unto another. I passed a couple of hikers still asleep in their sleeping bags (no tent).  On the second saddle I passed a hiker with a pack (Two Shoes) and a hiker in a sleeping bag, Leprechaun. Two Shoes began hiking with Harmony and I. The tree was at about 8 miles. It was a big tree, about 16” diameter. It was supported by many branches of about 4-5.” There was no good way around, we were already high and cliff side. Two Shoes immediately took off his pack and offered  help. After a good look we decided if we could knock off some of the branches Harmony might be able to sneak under the tree without saddle and gear. So Two Shoes found an appropriate rock and went at it while I unsaddled Harmony. Once we had clobbered as much off as we could, Two Shoes took the camera and I urged Harmony to squat. Harmony did it! I really have no idea how but I was thrilled. I put the saddle back on and on we rode. The rest of the day was not nearly as eventful. 

We took two more zero days to do a web update, general catch-up, and train the horses to pony and pack. Jur is to pack and does not like the job but puts up with it. Both horses do wonderful almost from the start. On June 18 we left the Red Rose Ranch at 7am. The trail starts a gradual climb, not bad. There is a tree down but it is easy to get around on good level ground. There is good graze and Jur starts chowing down right off, his trail name, Chow Hound, being demonstrated. The day is absolutely beautiful. After a few miles I see a hiker sitting and resting while reading a map. I say hello and he looks up and it is Jack. I recognize him before he recognizes me despite the horse (I was riding Harmony when I camped with him back at Holcomb’s Crossing.) But when Jack recognizes me he jumps up in excitement and I jump off Jur to exchange a hug with him. It was great to see him and we caught up a bit. I soon lost him and as I descended into Rockhouse Basin. I saw a snake on the trail and upon a closer look realized it was having lunch, a lizard. I got out the camera and the snake finally had enough, spit the lizard out and fled. I now had a dead looking lizard on the trail. So I gave it a nudge to see if it was still alive. It was so I helped it off the trail and then Jur and I rode on to Rockhouse Basis. I had hoped to meet up with Tom M. who Ralph and I met in Garner Valley near Anza. He was to be here packing in but I never saw a sign of him. We got to Kennedy Meadows at 6pm. At the general store CanaDoug saw me and came over and we exchanged a hug. He was surprised to see me. I told him that I was partly giving the horses a break and partly waiting for snow reports. 

The next morning Ralph left early to go do laundry while I stayed at the trailer and started packing things up. I also trimmed hoofs. John came and we talked about barefoot trim and boots. I showed John the Renegade Boots the horses are wearing and he asked to try them so we fitted two on Siroco. Joyce came to give me a loaf of homemade bread and I gave her a jar of blueberry jam. Ralph got back and we started to Olancha, our next stop with Bob and Barbie M. Barbie has been a ten time Tevis 100 mile Endurance Race finisher and is battling cancer. I continue to meet wonderful people in the battle for quality of life due to this disease. Please help us by joining in the support of the Susan G Komen For the Cure. The following day, Ralph, William, Ech and I drove 23 miles up to 10,000’ to the Cottonwood Campground where I will be riding to meet Ralph 3 days after I leave Kennedy Meadows. We visited the Cottonwood Pack Station and talked to Mr and Mrs D. Winchester, the owners. Winchester was very informative and urged me to wait as many days as I could. The snow was melting fast. So I would wait three more days and hopefully more snow would melt. 

On Tuesday, June 23, I set off from Kennedy Meadows. It was a beautiful day turning hot. William, Ralph and I packed Jur and saddled Harmony. Eighty pounds of horse feed went in first and Jur’s pack weighed 180# total while Harmony carried about 150. I mounted up and rode north. The meadow was big and long and took about 40 minutes to ride through. At one point Jur moved forward when Harmony stopped, brushing by Harmony and rubbed my leg with the packs. It burned for awhile. The worst thing about the morning was Harmony spooking. It was the worst he had been. He spooked at everything! He finally dislodged my maps and they went all over the trail. It was in a tight spot but I managed to dismount, gather the maps from under hoofs, and get back in the saddle with out any more problems. Jur seemed to adjust having the packs, going around trees. At first he rubbed a few and then he bumped into one and literally bounced off of it. He immediately stepped to the side and went around the tree. I heard next to no rubbing after that. And I very seldom had to look back. Buck J. (Tehachaipi) had said I’d be looking backwards 90% of the time but it more like 5 or 10%. A great thing about the day was that the trail was almost entirely meadow riding with a fabulous tread and width. So for our first full day of ponying I could not have asked for better. At one o'clock we stopped at a second meadow, Beck Meadow, and the horses ate while I ate. The meadows had great trail tread but climbing out around the hills were rocky and at Beck Meadow we even had some rock steps. At the NE corner of Monach Meadow (third meadow) there was another bridge (third bridge). This one, again, over the South Fork Kern River. The two horses hoof beats disturbed the colony of swallows nesting under the bridge and we were swarmed. Late in the day we rode a very rough area with multiple trails. I was unsure I was still on the PCT and took out the map book twice. I was going north so I kept going and after more than an hour saw my first sign I was still on the PCT. I rode on hoping to get to Gomez Meadows. But instead there was a mile of climbing and another mile and no meadow. But I did find a grassy spot off trail to the left and made that my camp at Buck Meadow. At 7:30 I had the horses grazing, a highline ready and my tent up. I fixed my dinner and hobbled Jur and left Harmony loose. The mosquitoes were getting bad so I sprayed the horses heads and put a fly sheet on Jur and Harmony’s Iron Horse Blanket on him (I had brushed them both). I left my hat on and was not bothered too much. After dinner I went and set up the inside of my tent before putting the horses on the high line and retreating inside the tent.

Finally got up at 7:15am after very sporadic sleep. I made my oatmeal and coffee and started packing up. I packed Jur, weighing everything, and was in the saddle at 9:29. Whew! It is a lot of work with two horses.  We got on the trail and both horses moved out well. There were several large trees down and some took much maneuvering, there were about 8 trees to go around. We were in the Sequoia National Forest and the first water we came to was a trickle. Harmony got down on his belly and drank. It’s quite funny because it is ridiculous. At noon we finally reached Gomez Meadows. I let the horses eat while I ate. I had a nice time talking to God. When I complemented him on a beautiful tree stump, He said it was just a little thing. I replied it did not look little to me! He said in the universe, it was very small indeed. At five o'clock I got to the 3rd corral trail. I went the ¼ of a mile to the corrals. They, unfortunately, are collapsed and of no use. What a shame! It would have been nice to put the horses in a secure pen. I took them to the stream for a drink. Back up by the corral I unpacked after selecting a tent site and a high line site. I took the horses out to the meadow to graze while I set up my tent and ate dinner. Once again I put most of the feed in the OpSaks and did not worry about bears. It looks like I have a 10 mile ride tomorrow so I should get there about when Ralph does, 1 o’clock. 

The next morning I let the horses graze while I disassembled my camp. It still took over two hours to get packed, the weighing takes a lot of time. The trail was much like the day before, nice width with a coarse sand or tiny rock base. There were lots of boulders and another tree to go around. I stayed on the PCT to Cottonwood Pass. Right before Cottonwood Pass is a big beautiful meadow, Big Whitney Meadow. This was the coolest day so far and with a wind it stayed cool. It was one o’clock so I decided to eat my lunch and feed the horses theirs and read the maps once again. Just about then, a young man hiked up that trail. His name was Mike and he was interning with the Forest Service with Cary taking surveys of campsites in the Golden Trout Wilderness. We all agreed they had the perfect summer job. They sat and ate their lunch with me. At two I started the 600,’ 3.8 mile descent. It was extremely rocky with many stone steps, a difficult trail. Every once in awhile Jur let out a grunt, as is his habit when it is rough. The trail eventually leveled out down to Horseshoe Meadows and turned to sand. At 3:30 I arrived at campsite #6 and there was Ralph in a lounge chair with Ech. Ralph had driven up the 23 miles long Cottonwood Road. Ralph has the horse corral all setup with hay and water and we unsaddled the horses and put them in. Ralph had food galore and made us a cup of hot tea  and then I started setting up the tent while Ralph made repairs. (We decided to use the tent rather than Ralph drive the big trailer up that long, steep road.) While setting up the tent I snapped one of the titanium poles. This is he weakest part of the tent system. Made to be as lightweight as possible, they are hollow and snap into one another end to end. Then they bend and give as you fit them into the tent corners. This time one of them split right where it joined a central hub. The manufacturer provides a simple repair kit of a tube slightly larger than the original pole so you slide it over the old split one and can still assemble your tent. Ralph also heated a big pot of water to wash my hair and self with. It was great to feel clean and be in clean clothes after three full days in the same ones. One of the things I like the least about the camping is how dirty my fingers and nails get. There is just no way to get them really clean. My nails are filed about as short as I can get them and they STILL break! My hands look like any wrangler’s hands – rough. For dinner Ralph made grilled chicken, rice, green beans and lettuce salad and fruit salad. I ate it all. We started a campfire around 5:30 and enjoyed it until dark. I showed Ralph the pictures I had taken in the three days. Then we crawled into the tent. It was quite comical getting the two of us into my  “two-man” tent. None of these can really fit two tall, and one of them big, people. But I had set up the tent with both of our sleeping bags and we just fit-snug. All gear had to stay outside. Good thing the 10% chance of rain did not amount to anything. It was nine o’clock. I fell asleep pretty fast.

Ralph was up at 5:30 and I slept on until 7. I was taking the day off to share with Ralph. If there were to be a “best spot” for taking a break this camp has to be it. The horses are in a secure pipe corral, we have a level tent site, Ech is keeping the truck secure, we have a picnic table, bear box for all keeping our food secure, and a fire pit for a cozy fire. Ralph brought a couple of bales of hay and we are feeding the horses morning, noon, and night to keep their weight up. The sun was well up and very bright shining directly on the tent. I made myself coffee and oatmeal for both of us. I added some wood to the fire and sat by it all morning writing my journal. After breakfast we cleaned out the corral. All manure must be bagged and removed. That means about two hundred pounds per day carried out in bags. This next leg will test us all to the limits. Our highest point will be Forrester Pass in two days at 13,180 feet. At Cottonwood Campground we are at 11,130. At noon I called William at Bob and Barbie's to say Hi . In the afternoon I cleaned boots and checked tack, then started weighing the gear. That took most the afternoon as I tried to get a handle on the weight Jur would carry in the packs. Without the tent, sleeping bag and pad it was already 162 pounds. Add the saddle (25#), the sleeping stuff (12#), and the panniers themselves (20#) and it tops at 219 pounds. That’s an awful lot of dead weight. I will double check what I am taking and see if I can reduce it. Fortunately each day the weight goes down as the horses eat their feed. We kept the fire going all day so were able to get it into flame easily that evening. I weighed some more things and then I put the blankets on the horses. Ralph and I went over the route of the next few days again. 

June 27 Saturday. What a day! One of those you semi-expect but hope does not happen. I was up at 6 and took the advise of one of the other equestrian campers at Cottonwood Campground and went up Trail Pass Trail rather than return the way I came down, on the Cottonwood Pass Trail. It WAS easier trail but it took me four hours to get to where I left off on Thursday. Ugh! I was shocked. It was 2:30 when I got to Cottonwood Pass so I stopped and fed the horses and myself. I did not stay but 15 minutes as I knew it would be a close call getting to Rock Creek before dark now. Jur was done eating and I noticed Harmony had quit and did not want to finish his. It was not until we were back on the trail that I realized he was choking. He had probably gulped his food as he did back in April at home. That time I called the vet out and he flushed Harmony’s esophagus. My choices now were much more limited. Fortunately the choke was not as severe as the one in April either. So I took the horses to Chicken Spring Lake to try to get Harmony to drink and help the food down. In mild cases it can work its way down properly. But Harmony did not drink and though he did not cough much he did gag and mucus came out his nose and mouth. He was miserable. I had two choices: Return immediately to Cottonwood Campground and get Harmony cared for from there or Lone Pine, or stay put and see if he recovered on his own. I choose to stay put as the lake was an ideal campsite and it was only 4 miles down to Cottonwood Campground if I needed to go in the morning. So I looked around the lake for the best spot for the horses and myself. Not a lot of trees for high lines and a lot of boulders. But I found a spot and started unpacking them both. It was 4:30. As I got the horses unsaddled, unpacked, and on the highline other hikers arrived.  One hiker told me a chipmunk had jumped into my panniers. Sure enough, it was digging into the horse feed already! After I chased off the very determined chipmunk I started putting up my tent. I immediately saw that a resident chipmunk was more of a menace than bears. He was in the feed in a flash. I moved the panniers closer to my tent. Harmony continued miserable and I blanketed him early. He had pinched nostrils and some shaking. I gave him a couple cc’s of Bute. Jur ate his dinner and I took him to the lake for a drink, made my dinner, filtered some water, and washed my dishes. Some others set up camp right beside me and we shared some time that evening. 

Thankfully, I woke up to a normal looking and sounding Harmony. I was up at daylight and fed the horses and then ate my oatmeal. Not far up the trail I met Mover and he said, “you must be Pepperoni.” I was surprised and said yes. He said some guy with a mustache told him all about me. Jack, maybe? I went past Mover but saw him throughout the day. That first climb was up a lot of rock and then down the same and so it continued throughout the day. It was a day full of stair steps. Since I had lost so much time and distance the day before I wanted to make it past Rock Creek and I did. We entered Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and some rough rock terrain. We passed Mover, Travis and two other day hikers on a ridge top taking a break. At lower Rock Creek Crossing we saw Steve and Travis and ate lunch together. We stopped at the Rock Creek  Ranger Station but no one was there. A note saying the ranger was on survey was on the door. So I left a note for Erica ,the ranger, telling her Max sent her a “fond Hello” as he had asked me to. (Max was a wrangler at the Cottonwood Pack Station and was a big help to me.) At Mt. Whitney I saw the Crabtree Pack Station was 1.2 miles up the Mt Whitney trail. I would have been able to leave the horses there and climb Mt Whitney if I had planned better. 

I rode on to camp at Wallace Creek. The horses had water, grass, and a tree to be high lined to. I even found a nice flat spot. I set up and took the horses’ feed to the bear box. Then I ate and took some of my other food items to the bear box though I left the bear canister by the horses. I got a good nights rest.

NEXT: An incredible attempt to climb over Forrester Pass in four feet of snow!

 So many trails - So little time!

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