Winter day hike.

I decided to play hooky yesterday so a friend and I decided to hike the Sage flat trail up to summit meadows. The weather has been disturbingly nice so I just had to take advantage of it.

We left at 5:00am and got to the trail head around 7:00. It was 27 deg F so I had a tough time deciding what layers to bring, and as usual I brought too much. We started up the trail in time to catch a nice sunrise.




Looked like a few people must have hiked the trail last weekend, which turned out to be a blessing. About halfway up I spotted an interesting rock with a neat green patina and a interesting date carved into it.



Shortly after that the views got better and better.

Looking towards Haywee.



Looking at the southern edge of Owens not so dry lake.





Next we got into some snow.( this is where I was glad someone else punched the way)





False summit.





Summit pass.



Summit meadows and kingfisher ridge.



Looking towards Kennedy meadows.



Looking towards chimney peak



A cool old dead tree.



South fork of the Kern river is down there.



Another shot of Kingfisher ridge and Brown mountain on the right.



Olancha peak.



A old trough for watering stock at whiskey creek.



It was a nice hike 4600 vertical feet of gain and just shy of 14 miles. Hope you enjoy the silly phone photos.

Tyson

Great hike and pics, thanks for taking us along for the virtual ride.

jimmyb

Thanks Jimmy.

Thanks for bringing us along. I lived in Lone Pine in the late 70's and to see water in Owens Lake is quite the odd sight now. I took a trip into Volcano Creek and the South Fork in 2012, I can't imagine how dry it was this year. Whatever you took the pics with, it got the job done. I hope the snow machine turns on soon.

SWEET! A day hike is better than no hike!

I'm doing the snow dance right now! Thanks for the comments.

Thanks for the report and pics. It looks pretty nice.

.... It might be a bit dangerous letting us Angelenos know we left you a little water in Owens lake

4,600 feet? Quite the flog, especially considering the elevations. Heck of a snowpack up there....

Cheers,

ha, yea LA wants ALL the water. The snow pack is actually a fraction of what it should be. All the creeks in west Bishop are dry. Everyone's ponds are dry, lots of dead trout.

My legs felt it the next day! The trail is basically switchbacks all the way, but I was surprised when I looked at the gps after the hike.

We almost pulled the trigger on a place in Big Pine 3 years ago. Now I'm kinda glad we hesitated. We wouldn't have the finances to be digging a new well on top of all the costs of relocating from Vermont. Not exactly making those people in W. Bishop want to celebrate the 100th of the aqueduct, I bet. We went to the Palisade Glacier in Sept. It was a pitiful shadow of what it was in the 70's. Temple Crag is still magical though.
South Lake and Sabrina were jaw dropping low.

Great photos of your hike. You can sure see the difference between the sunny and shady sides of the mountains. I imagine you could feel it too.

Thanks for sharing!

More distance than I've done for a bit. Too bad there is no new gear shown. ??? Your phone did a great job, thank you for the photos.
I'm hoping to get a few miles into the Bucks Lake Wilderness this weekend, maybe Spanish Peak for a night. More new gear to try and of course an old stove or two to bring.
Duane

I didn't use any new gear on this hike! Never mind I think people are tired of me getting all excited over the stuff I've purchased lately!

Oh yea it's was perfect in the sun and a bit chilly in the shade.
Poor ol Big Pine, that town is on it's last leg.