Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - June 6th
Day 51: Thursday 6th June Siberia trail Junction – Bighorn Plateau
I made an early start for the climb up to Guyot Flat and then the drop down to Rock
Creek, where I stopped for my second breakfast. I lit a fire to burn rubbish and also the
book I had finished last night. I was reluctant to burn books and always tried to give
them away before resorting to burning them. This was where my 2000 trip almost came
to a premature end. Then, I had a gas burner that screwed on to the top of the gas
cylinder and a pan of boiling water on top of that. The stove wasn’t very stable and it fell
over tipping boiling water over my arm. It took me about 5 seconds to get my arm into
the creek and I got away with second-degree burns. I managed to avoid infection and was
able to continue the trip. Now my gas stove had a separate burner, which was much safer
as I placed on the ground.
It was fantastic weather again, with just enough breeze to stop it becoming too hot. I
stopped for lunch at Crabtree Meadow. This was the point at which many thru-hikers
take an extra day to climb Mount Whitney. Mount Whitney at 14,494ft is the highest
mountain in the USA outside Alaska, with an easy, but steep, trail to the summit. I had
already climbed Mount Whitney twice before so I didn’t bother this time. A wilderness
permit costing $20 is needed to climb Mount Whitney to reduce the environmental
impact on the mountain with a maximum 150 permits/day for day hikers and 50 for
backpackers. Similar permits are required in other popular areas.I had a bathe in the
creek, which was surprisingly warm, despite being fed by snow melting in the high
valleys and washed most of my clothes.
Larry came through, having dropped down to Lone Pine from Cottonwood Pass for
supplies. He was the first person I had seen for 48 hours. He was thinking about climbing
Mount Whitney, but decided to leave it for another trip.
I caught up with Larry at Wallace Creek, the first of many wet stream crossings in
the High Sierra. On the easier crossings like this one, I wore the sandals I was carrying,
but on the deeper more dangerous crossings I wore my boots, as it was much safer. This
unfortunately meant I had to walk in damp boots. The only spare clothing that I was
carrying was 2 extra pairs of socks, to try and keep my feet as dry as possible. Walking
with wet feet is best avoided as it usually leads to blisters or other foot problems. The
stream crossings were made much easier by the use of the walking poles and in some of
the later crossings I don’t think I could have got across without them.
I walked the rest of the day with Larry and we camped by the tarn on the Bighorn
Plateau. Larry did casual work in the winter (Last winter as a bell-boy and shuttle bus
driver in a Colorado ski resort) so that he could hike in the summer.
I had camped here a couple of times before and wanted to camp here again as it is
possibly the best viewpoint in the Sierras, with a 360-degree panorama including Mount
Whitney, the Great Western Divide and the King’s Kern Divide. Last time the shallow
tarn had been warm enough to swim in, but now, in early June, it was fringed by melting
snow and was barely above freezing.
Two years ago I had walked from Guitar Lake below Mount Whitney to the Bighorn
Plateau with a Swiss girl, Sara. She had flown into Washington at the end of June with
the intention of thru-hiking the PCT from North to South. There was too much snow on
the trail, so she had flown down to San Diego and started from Campo. She hiked 30
miles/day (or night) through Southern California in the heat of July and was still doing
25 miles/day now she had hit the tougher mountains. Her pack weighed about 60lb,
because she was carrying quite a lot of surplus equipment, which she was gear-testing for
the equipment manufacturers, North Face. After I camped she went on to cross the
Forester Pass and completed the PCT in the 3 months she had available (She had only
got a 3-month visa)
We sat up until it was dark, watching the sun go down. At 11,460ft, the highest camp
so far and well above the tree line, a very cold night was anticipated and we weren’t
disappointed. Surprisingly at this altitude the night was disturbed by the croaking of
frogs. The noise was so loud that, initially, I wondered what a flock of Geese were doing
up here.
Day 51: 18.6 miles 8.19 hours Camp: Bighorn Plateau
I made an early start for the climb up to Guyot Flat and then the drop down to Rock
Creek, where I stopped for my second breakfast. I lit a fire to burn rubbish and also the
book I had finished last night. I was reluctant to burn books and always tried to give
them away before resorting to burning them. This was where my 2000 trip almost came
to a premature end. Then, I had a gas burner that screwed on to the top of the gas
cylinder and a pan of boiling water on top of that. The stove wasn’t very stable and it fell
over tipping boiling water over my arm. It took me about 5 seconds to get my arm into
the creek and I got away with second-degree burns. I managed to avoid infection and was
able to continue the trip. Now my gas stove had a separate burner, which was much safer
as I placed on the ground.
It was fantastic weather again, with just enough breeze to stop it becoming too hot. I
stopped for lunch at Crabtree Meadow. This was the point at which many thru-hikers
take an extra day to climb Mount Whitney. Mount Whitney at 14,494ft is the highest
mountain in the USA outside Alaska, with an easy, but steep, trail to the summit. I had
already climbed Mount Whitney twice before so I didn’t bother this time. A wilderness
permit costing $20 is needed to climb Mount Whitney to reduce the environmental
impact on the mountain with a maximum 150 permits/day for day hikers and 50 for
backpackers. Similar permits are required in other popular areas.I had a bathe in the
creek, which was surprisingly warm, despite being fed by snow melting in the high
valleys and washed most of my clothes.
Larry came through, having dropped down to Lone Pine from Cottonwood Pass for
supplies. He was the first person I had seen for 48 hours. He was thinking about climbing
Mount Whitney, but decided to leave it for another trip.
I caught up with Larry at Wallace Creek, the first of many wet stream crossings in
the High Sierra. On the easier crossings like this one, I wore the sandals I was carrying,
but on the deeper more dangerous crossings I wore my boots, as it was much safer. This
unfortunately meant I had to walk in damp boots. The only spare clothing that I was
carrying was 2 extra pairs of socks, to try and keep my feet as dry as possible. Walking
with wet feet is best avoided as it usually leads to blisters or other foot problems. The
stream crossings were made much easier by the use of the walking poles and in some of
the later crossings I don’t think I could have got across without them.
I walked the rest of the day with Larry and we camped by the tarn on the Bighorn
Plateau. Larry did casual work in the winter (Last winter as a bell-boy and shuttle bus
driver in a Colorado ski resort) so that he could hike in the summer.
I had camped here a couple of times before and wanted to camp here again as it is
possibly the best viewpoint in the Sierras, with a 360-degree panorama including Mount
Whitney, the Great Western Divide and the King’s Kern Divide. Last time the shallow
tarn had been warm enough to swim in, but now, in early June, it was fringed by melting
snow and was barely above freezing.
Two years ago I had walked from Guitar Lake below Mount Whitney to the Bighorn
Plateau with a Swiss girl, Sara. She had flown into Washington at the end of June with
the intention of thru-hiking the PCT from North to South. There was too much snow on
the trail, so she had flown down to San Diego and started from Campo. She hiked 30
miles/day (or night) through Southern California in the heat of July and was still doing
25 miles/day now she had hit the tougher mountains. Her pack weighed about 60lb,
because she was carrying quite a lot of surplus equipment, which she was gear-testing for
the equipment manufacturers, North Face. After I camped she went on to cross the
Forester Pass and completed the PCT in the 3 months she had available (She had only
got a 3-month visa)
We sat up until it was dark, watching the sun go down. At 11,460ft, the highest camp
so far and well above the tree line, a very cold night was anticipated and we weren’t
disappointed. Surprisingly at this altitude the night was disturbed by the croaking of
frogs. The noise was so loud that, initially, I wondered what a flock of Geese were doing
up here.
Day 51: 18.6 miles 8.19 hours Camp: Bighorn Plateau
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Mount Guyot across
Guyo Flat
Guyo Flat
Ancient Brit in
Crabtree Creek
Crabtree Creek
Ancient Brit in
Crabtree Creek
Crabtree Creek
Crabtree Creek
Tyndal-Barnard Ridge
Ancient Brit and
Mount Barnard from
Bighorn Plateau
Mount Barnard from
Bighorn Plateau
Tawny Point from
Bighorn Plateau Lake
Bighorn Plateau Lake
Mount Whitney
at Sunset
at Sunset