Author: Anthony Ottati

After the fall semester ended I got my wisdom teeth removed and after a day or two of not doing much I was itching to head to Death Valley. Ira and I headed south in search of solitude and adventure. We spent the ride down discussing potential routes as we each had spent a lot of time researching where to go. The trip started as many other trips to Death Valley did, at Emigrant Campground.

We decided to go to the ranger’s station at Furnace Creek to seek advice, but they told us that their guess was as good as ours. They were quite impressed with the trips we had done in Death Valley and were quite friendly but unfortunately did not give many suggestions. Thus we decided on Ira’s proposal: 50 miles in the owlshead mountains, which involved crossing an enormous barren valley to get there. Soon, we set out into the desert.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1_UzWfzBI2tCzoU8mwl6aevjPpBg23dEz

It was late by the time we set out so we camped near the beautiful Ibex dunes. This was the last time we’d see another person on the whole trip.

The next morning we set out across the Amargosa Valley, we topped off our water at Saratoga Springs but the water tasted very salty and we avoided drinking it as long as possible into the trip. There may be a better place to fill up water here but we did not find one.

 

It took the better part of the second day but we finally made it to the Owlsheads and to the mouth of Passage Canyon.

We spent the night in Passage Canyon to hide from the wind and crested over the Owlsheads the next day. We were treated to a panoramic view and our first glimpse of Owl Lake.

It was very windy at Owl lake and as always is the case in the desert, water was limited so we could not linger in the Owlsheads. Soon we headed down contact canyon.

The next day our trip came to an end, we returned to the Amargosa Valley were we walked North to the road and planned to hitch out. Eventually I would like to find a route in the Black mountains to link with this one and create a Death Valley traverse route, but for now we wanted to head back to the Bay Area to celebrate the holidays with our families.

Hitching out on the road was tougher then expected, because of the uncertainty of hitching out we carried plenty of extra food and water. Well we originally intended to go south to our car, it quickly became apparent that cars were quite sparse along the road and we could not afford to be picky, thus, we were forced to hitch North to Badwater where we knew there would be a much more favorable number of cars for hitching. 3.5 long hours later we got a ride. Never lose trust in the road.

We got an impromptu tour of Death Valley after getting a ride North out of Badwater from two UC Berkeley students, who happened to be in the same hiking club as me. We saw Artist’s Drive and Zabriskie point. They then dropped us off at the junction to Dante’s view.

Eventually we got two rides east which got us to Death Valley Junction. Almost every car going by was following the same formulaic tour: Badwater, to Zabriskie Point to Dante’s View for sunset and then east towards Las Vegas. They certainly had a very different experience in the valley then the one we just had and seemed noticeably less stoked about it. We were offered at least five rides to Las Vegas but turned them all down. Just as we thought our luck had run out, as it so often goes with hitching we found a ride all the way back to our car. We drove south and out of the desert. Good bye Death Valley!

As with all of my trips in Death Valley, thank you to panamintcity.com without which we would not have even considered the Owlshead Mountains.

 

 

 

There is not much information online about the 30 mile Southern section of the Lost Coast. It is much less crowded then the northern section but is also much more steep. It climbs sharply up a ridge and then drops just as precipitously back to the ocean. There are times when it feels like a jungle trek as the trail is very overgrown and goes straight up hills in lieu of switch backing in many places. However the persistent hiker is rewarded with stunning views and occasionally a private beach. All of this combined makes the southern section different, not better or worse then its northern cousin.

I got a group of eight students together from my school and we all set out to hike it as a key swapping trip in two days. We would each start on opposite ends, camp in the middle and exchange keys and then each hike to eachother’s car.

I mostly focused on video on this trip but I did get a few pictures worth sharing.

 

 

 

 

Video below:

In keeping with the tradition of doing a crazy trip over Veteran’s day weekend. Matt and I set our sights on the 72 mile High Sierra Trail. This trail is typically done in one to two weeks, but we figured that by hiking light and fast we could do it in three days. Furthermore the cold scared most people away so we had the trail to ourselves, we did not see a single person past Trail Crest. No pre reserved permits were needed.

However, we had to hope that winter would not come early and blanket the trail in snow, as this would certainly foil our trip. The weeks ticked on and winter still did not begin in the Sierras, so the trip was a go, we invited our friends Adam and Jared who we had done a lot of trips with and Sim and Ng too motivated hikers from our school who would go in the opposite direction and key swap with us.

Unfortunately we did not leave Berkeley until 8pm due to numerous delays. This meant that when we got to the trailhead we decided that instead of sleeping for a few hours it would be best to start right away. This however was a mistake as none of us got more then an hour of sleep on the car ride there.

At first the hike went very well, we were all stoked to get out there and finally start the trail, we pounded out some miles and before we knew it we were at trail camp and the sun was rising.

As we climbed the switchbacks we got more and more tired and we began to feel the altitude. By the time we got to trailcrest I was ready to fall asleep.

Despite my exhaustion I wanted to go on to the summit. Luckily Matt convinced me that it would be better to get some rest as my exhaustion was only exacerbated by the lack of oxygen and continuing higher would be potentially dangerous. In the moment I really wanted to get to the top of Mt Whitney, but I am glad I rested up instead. I probably could have made it to the summit, but I came here for the High Sierra Trail, not for Mt Whitney which I had already climbed. CLimbing Mt. Whitney would have jeopardized the rest of the trip for me.

So I walked down the trail west of trail crest and found a small bivy spot to take a nap. Two hours later my friends came and woke me up and I was feeling much better. We continued down towards Guitar Lake.

We descended to Crabtree meadow and camped the night there, it was in the single digits that night but we were all exhausted so we slept soundly. The next morning we set off westward into the Kern River headwaters and the heart of the Southern Sierra.

The miles began to fly by, this was the flattest part of the trail and we no longer were completely sleep deprived like on the first day. We had lunch at the Kern Hot Springs, which were rather underwhelming at this time of year, and we continued west. At around 4pm we were relieved to run into Sim and Ng, they were right on pace as they had an extra day to complete the trail, we screamed for joy and hugged them before exchanging tips on the trail ahead.

But we were all over 30 miles from a road, the draw of getting back to school pulled us back to civilization and the impending winter made us not get too comfortable in the mountains. We are fairly certain that we were the last people to complete the High Sierra Trail in 2017 as a storm came later that week. The snow free trail that we enjoyed soon became buried deep in snow for the next six plus months. All in all se hiked 28 miles that day and made it a few miles short of Kaweah gap.

We walked across dead meadows and eventually attained Kaweah gap. We were treated to spectacular view in both directions and took some time to soak it all in.

As we descended further and further away from Kaweah gap we slowly left the alpine wonderland and entered the forest. We walked and walked and the miles began to drag on, it got dark and finally we reached the car around 6:30. We did it we completed the High Sierra Trail in three days!

Matt’s trip report: https://www.mattymorrison.com/hst-2018

Short video of the trip below:

I’d always wanted to go to Mineral King and it is one of the easier places in the Sierra to get permits to, so one weekend in September. Adam, Evan, Will and I set out to do a trip there. It is a beautiful part of the Sierra and if you can get over driving on Mineral King’s infamous 498 curve entrance road then it is a perfect place for a last minute trip. We did an about 30 mile loop visiting Little 5 Lakes basin, Big 5 Lakes basin and Columbine Lake, I also climbed Sawtooth Peak.

After Columbine Lake I split with my friends and climbed Sawtooth Peak alone. While it looks difficult from afar, it got much easier up close, as sierra peaks tend to do. The views from the top were fantastic, but clouds were moving in so the view was partially obstructed.

 

I then ran down the trail to catch up with my friends before they got to the car. Infinity switchbacks later and then infinity curves later and we were back in the Central Valley heading back to school.

 

I was excited all summer to embark on the Sierra High Route. After many intense weekend trips I wanted to try a difficult multiweek trip. Every trip seemed to end too soon, so a two week trip sounded very appealing. Matt, Dan and I had no idea how much of the Sierra High Route we would be able to accomplish in our limited time frame but we were excited to head into the off trail Sierra nonetheless. After a long summer though, it was bittersweet leaving my job at Ridge Runners summer camp. But the Sierra was calling. After my last day of work, my dad generously drove us up to King’s Canyon where we camped on the side of the road for the night.

The first day of the High Route involves a long 6000+ climb up and out of King’s Canyon. The climb is mostly on trail but eventually it departs the trail and as Steve Roper says “the truly adventurous part of the High Route begins” As we began to go up the Grouse Pass and we had to set up our tents in a suboptimal spot which quickly became a puddle. Knowing what I know now I would have kept walking until the storm ended or at least kept walking until we found a better campspot.

The second day of the trip was filled with more stunning beauty and more learning on our part. We crossed two passes, Goat Crest Saddle and Gray Pass. At the first drop of rain we set up our tents and waited out a storm which never materialized. Luckily the weather was great for the rest of the trip after this and it never slowed us down again.

The Sierra high route has 34 passes and on the second day we set out to climb three more, Red, White and Frozen Lakes Pass. Red and White Pass went by quickly and we got our first view of Frozen Lakes Pass across the Lakes Basin.

We were able to glissade down most of the way to Marion Lake. Crossing the Lakes Basin took the better part of the day. We had a quick lunch at Marion Lake in our tents because the Mosquitoes were so bad and then kept heading up towards the towering Frozen Lake Pass. This was the first of the notoriously difficult Sierra passes that we crossed and from far away it looked impossible. Like many of the harder passes however, only as we got close it began to look doable.

The descent down the other side was a little loose but not that bad. We were lucky that there was a lot of snow and we were able to glissade most of the way down.

Finally we made it down to the JMT. We joked about the trail being a highway for the first few days and it indeed felt like one compared to the pass we just came over. After days of not seeing anyone, we suddenly saw a lot of people. We camped just below Mather Pass.

On the fourth day Matt and I split off from Dan as he was really feeling the effects of altitude and wanted to take an easier day.  He stuck to the JMT well we stayed on the High Route. After quickly climbing Mather Pass, we went off trail again and up and over Cirque Pass. Potluck Pass was next and it looked impossible from a distance. Luckily as we got closer we found a doable albeit difficult steep route up it.

We then descended into the Palisade Bowl, and walked beneath 5 of the 14,000 foot peaks in California, what a sight! Our fourth pass of the day, Knapsack Pass, went quickly and soon we were back on trail and descending the switchbacks into LeConte canyon. Where just as all of the light disappeared we reunited with Dan. Dan saw 70 people that day on the JMT but we only saw one on the High Route.

The next day Matt and I were quite tired from doing 4 passes the previous day and we decided to take it easy, and call it early at Evolution Lake.

On the sixth day we set out to climb over the famed Snow Tongue Couloir, but took a wrong turn and went up Alpine Col instead. Alpine Col still crosses the Monarch divide and still gets you out of King’s Canyon National Park and is considered slightly easier, but there is a large boulder field at the bottom with rocks the size of cars that forces you to constantly climb and descend, and this cost us many hours. This coupled with the fact that Matt was not feeling well, lead to a short day.

On the 7th day we continued north towards Lake Italy, ascending passes and descending into a French Canyon, just to climb back out of it. The section just south of Lake Italy was on of my favorite sections of the whole trip.

We camped just South of Lake Italy. On the morning of day 8, Dan announced that he was going to exit over Italy Pass and would rest and then meet us in Mammoth. Matt and I took off and climbed three passes that day with no more then a few five minute breaks. The next section of the High Route had some beautiful sections like Gabbot Pass and Laurel Pass, but most of the route was very low elevation. Second Recess required a large descent and ascent and walking over a lot of fallen trees. We walked until sunset and set our alarms in order to get into Mammoth at a descent time. On the ninth day Matt and I got into Mammoth in the afternoon and were completely exhausted. We had both pushed ourselves very hard after  Dan left. As it turned out Dan had only gotten into Mammoth a few hours before we did. We all decided to get a room in a hostel and contemplate the next steps.

It was quite weird being in town after 9 days in the Wilderness. Suddenly my phone lit up with one hundred notifications, the bus ride into town felt like a roller coaster. After nine days of only worrying about miles and food, there was a lot on my mind and I felt lost and confused. The main thing that I thought about was the upcoming solar eclipse. I really wanted to complete the High Route in one go, but I also knew that the High Route would always be there whereas the eclipse would only last two minutes. It may have been possible for me to complete the High Route and hitchhike up to see the eclipse but it would have been risky.

Dan and Matt also had other things on their minds, Matt had a lot of work to get done on his solar vehicle project before school started and Dan had a flight back home to Mexico to catch. After much discussion and back and forth we decided that Dan and I would complete the next section to Tuolomne and hitch home from there leaving me with 30 miles and 6 passes to do over Labor Day weekend in two weeks time. This way I would have plenty of time to hitchhike home and I had a sure ride to see the eclipse with my family. Matt on the other hand had too much to do and hitched back to Berkeley.

On day 10 Dan and I descended into Red’s Meadow and climbed up towards Nancy Pass and the Minarets. Both of us were exhausted from the first part of the High Route and our bodies were pretty beat up so we decided to take it easy and camp just past Nancy Pass. After hiking quickly and pushing ourselves so hard south of Mammoth, it was nice to slow down and enjoy the hike a bit more.

We woke up on the 11th day to the stunning Minarets towering above us. We quickly climbed to Minaret Lake and stopped and took in the view.

After climbing up to Cecile Lake we undertook one of the sketchier descents of the trip, descending to Iceberg Lake.

The 12th day was one of the more beautiful days on the trail. We made our way from Thousand Island Lake, over Glacier Pass and past Lake Catherine towards the beautiful Bench Canyon.

We camped just outside of Yosemite that night and although we did not know it, it was my last night on the trail. The next morning we climbed over Blue Lakes Pass and began the 20+ mile on trail section into Tuolomne Meadows. I didn’t take many pictures of this section as it was mostly in the trees. 12 miles from Tuolomne we caught a brief glimpse of Half Dome from a distance and Dan, who knew he wouldn’t be back in California for quite some time couldn’t resist ending his hike in the Valley which was about as far away as Tuolomne Meadows.  We said our goodbyes and I continued northward alone. I considered camping in the wilderness and hitching out in the morning, but I was exhausted and really wanted to get home that night. T

The High Route had been very beautiful but also quite tough. I carried far too much stuff and got large blisters from not taking care of my feet properly. I was excited to go home and rest but I knew I would miss the freedom of the Sierra. As I limped the last few miles to the road, I was already planning next Summer’s adventure, hiking from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail.

A german couple gave me a ride to Groveland, halfway home just as the sun was setting. They told me they were underwhelmed with the Sierras after visiting the Alps. They had seen Tuolomne Meadows and Yosemite Valley but they were not impressed. One really can’t understand the true beauty of the Sierra until they get far away from roads and even trails.

My friend Dan wrote up a trip report as well for this trip as well and shot some beautiful film pictures of the trip: https://acasualvagary.wordpress.com/2017/09/07/the-range-of-light-a-film-essay/#more-590