2013-05-22 - Day 14 Walker Pass to Chimney Creek Campground

5/22/2013
Miles: 29.3

A View From Canebreak Road

8:15 AM
Walker Pass Campground

When I got out of the car to go to bed last night the wind had blown both of my sleeping bags, pillow and Thermarest pad off the cot into the dirt. The wind blew to one degree or another all night. About 4:30 I got cold enough to get up and put on my thermal zip neck shirt (the one I did not lose off the back of my bike in March). I also closed up the hood on my bag and was toasty until Dan asked me to unlock the car at 7:30. It is a cool and breezy morning, 57 in the car at 8:00.

I will drive over to the Canebrake Road trail crossing soon and spend the day there. The campground is in a more sheltered location and will hopefully be wind free. I will decide soon if I will take the dirt Canebrake Road from Onyx 10 miles west on Highway 178 or drive around to the north end of Canebrake Road via 178, 14 and Kennedy Meadow Road. It is 20-25 miles vs 60-70. I looked at this end of Canebrake Road yesterday morning and it looks decent although it does traverse up the side of a very steep mountain. I can see the traverse from here and it is intimidating.

1:00 PM
Chimney Creek Campground near Canebrake Road

I sat at the summit of Walker Pass for an hour. I had enough phone signal there to briefly answer an email and let the phone update some apps while I read. In the end I decided to use the dirt road. The road turned out to be well graded and plenty wide and safe. It was 10 miles from 178 for a total of about 20, a savings of 30-40 and quite a bit of gas as the climb up from 14 is very steep. It took about an hour to get here from the pass.

I have been here long enough to have put up my tent and cook a delicious lunch of spicy Asian shrimp soup with a package of Top Ramen added for extra noodles. Noodles are very satisfying to me after a bike ride.

Dan left camp about 8:15. I will pick him up where the trail crosses the road 1/4 mile from here around 5:00. In the meantime I will play some Majhong and Freecell, read and perhaps even nap. Life is good!

5:00 PM
Canebrake Road PCT Crossing

Looking South on the PCT from Canebrake Road

I had a nice nap from a bit after 3:00 until 4:30. I just got here and am waiting. It is cool. The wind is not as intense as it was at Walker Pass but it is chilly. The elevation, where I sit now, per the GPS app is 5462, almost 500 feet higher than Walker Pass. It may be a cold night. I may end up regretting that I didn't pack thermal long johns before this is over. I may purchase a pair in Lone Pine before going up to Horseshoe Meadow and Onion Valley, both of which are at 10,000 feet. In my defense I can say that we were not planning to go beyond Kennedy Meadows which means that this would be the last camp and it would be 2-3 weeks later and warmer.

The campground is in the trees at the north end of a pretty meadow/valley, Lamont Meadow. As soon as I topped the climb up from 178 I could see the high desert type sagebrush covered meadow. I was surprised to see how close it was. I remember seeing the road I came down into the valley on this morning when I drove to the campground from the north in 2009. I had no idea it was so close to Onyx and Highway 178. Live and learn.

6:15

Dan is running late which is unusual for him. I started to wonder if this segment is shorter than the 30 miles Dan suggested this morning. We have a PCT "Data Book" which lists mileage and so on for the significant points on the trail but the pages between Walker Pass and the Oregon Border were removed for use on another hike or hikes. I had noticed hikers sitting at a table in the campground when I came here so I drove back to ask them and see if perhaps Dan was lurking about already. The hikers are Charlie (he does walk like Chaplin) and Claire, a British couple. They confirmed that this is mile 680, 30 miles from Walker Pass, before they took to the trail again.

Parked at the Trail Crossing

9:00 PM
Chimney Creek Campground

Dan came at 6:30 as I was writing the above. It took him 10 hours to do the 30 miles. I am not sure how I got the idea he would come at 5:00 but all is well. We have had dinner and have been sitting in the car staying warm while listening to the radio.

Tomorrow Dan has 20 miles into Kennedy Meadow. He will spend some time in the afternoon organizing his food hopefully in one tub so I will be able to put it in bear boxes at Horseshoe Meadow and Onion Valley with a minimum of hassle. At those places leaving food in the car is an invitation to have a window broken or a door destroyed or both.

PCT Crossing of Chimney Creek, Nearly Dry