High Sierra Trail - Day 3

Day 3 - Pinto Lake to Big Arroyo

July 23, 2017

No more late mornings for us; from here on out we set alarms for 5 am to make sure we were making good progress on the trail before nightfall. We knew this to be especially important if we were going to make up for a lost day. This would be my bad day. I was feeling discouraged that we had not made it further than Pinto Lake, and that we had this enormous climb (3200 feet in 2.6 miles). The packs were not very much lighter, and we knew we had to have a full three liters of water for black rock pass.

Leopard Lily

K on the switchbacks in flowers

The trail immediately began with a meadow; we thought maybe this was Pinto Lake dried up? We finally saw the lake, which looked like a little pinto bean,  to the north, away from the campsites and the meadow. As we ascended, we struggled to discern exactly where we would "pass" through. There was very little shade, but a multitude of flora. Identifying the corn lilies, the paintbrush, shooting stars, leopard lilies, and other delicate flowers, helped us pass the time on the lower switchbacks. I was very sick to my stomach, struggling to eat small bits of Clif bars without vomiting, and definitely overheated. I cursed myself for not losing weight before the trip. The two lakes opposite us, Spring Lake and Cyclamen Lake, were mostly ice covered, and the views were amazing, had I cared to look. I dubbed any tree that provided cool wind and shade a "Jesus tree", as only God could have provided these on this awful mountain. It became clear which direction we were headed, and I would have never pegged it as a "pass". We joked that if Cajon Pass were like this, people would drive above Wrightwood and Big Bear. The snowfields on this southwest side of the pass were mostly melted away, which was a blessing given how steep the switchbacks had become. M & I were betting on number of switchbacks to a particular rock; she couldn't fathom that we'd reach it in 3 so she bet 5. It was three. Soooo steep!

Spring  and Cyclamen Lakes

M on the switchbacks

I pushed myself and began taking one breath (in and out) with one step. I was slow, but steady. I knew my body needed fuel, but I struggled to keep even small bites of food down. Finally, after I think 5 hours, we made it. M was first, I was second, with K right behind. The views were spectacular and we took in some lunch (which I again struggled to keep down the rest of the afternoon). Lunch consisted of tuna in sunflower oil, mayo, and left over cheese in a spinach wrap. Let me pause for a moment here and say, I will never eat Clif bars OR spinach tortilla wraps again. M also struggled with acid reflex on the way down, a difficulty we'd share for the remainder of the trip.

M & I on top of Black Rock "pass"

Moving on, we flipped off the southwest side of the pass and looked towards the snowfields on the northeast side. The first one was easy to get around, but the rest would involve a lot of trail spotting. We never needed the microspikes but a detailed map would have been oh so useful. (I purchased a 7.5 minute map for Kaweah Gap... not really helpful for our detour. Should I burn this map? Maybe not, since I share a deep, passionate love for maps.)
K took the lead here, and I staggered behind just wanting the day to be over. M & K diligently trail spotted; sometimes I would just wait until they found it before I made an effort. Like I said, this was not my day. Thank God K was on point and we found the trail after some time and made it into Little Five Lakes. Here we met some guys that wanted to head up black rock pass; after our conversation, they elected to stay the night and tackle it first thing in the morning.

Little Five Lakes

Enter mosquitos (emphasis on the first O, courtesy of Tom from the UK). M wears contacts and as we covered ourselves in Deet, she accidentally sprayed it in her eyes. Stuff went flying and she cried as she threw her contacts on the ground and begged for reprieve. K moved out of the mosquito area and I tried to help M (Did you try water to flush them out?) Eventually we moved out of Little Five Lakes and towards Big Arroyo. I knew we hadn't made up any time, but I didn't want to press on beyond Big Arroyo (this was the only time I'd concede to a shorter trip). The trip to Big Arroyo was mosquito ridden and fairly uneventful, except several creek crossings that required boots off. Actually, entering Big Arroyo required us to cross one last creek (One more? WHY???). Several women were bathing on the other side of the bank, and I could not fathom how they did it without being eaten alive. It was here, in Mosquitogeddan, that we all were chewed up. We surmised we would have been better to cover ourselves in mosquito blood, like the Walking Dead. Should we farm mosquitos and sell their guts to backpackers? K & I were covered in bites while M wore a Gore-tex to fend them off. Her butt, however, did not fair so well (see #lumpybutt).

While at Big Arroyo, we met the groups of people we'd see to the end of the HST, including the bathing woman. They had all managed to get through the #icetunnel, a day later than we would have encountered it. They all agreed it was scary and crazy and I knew my husband would be proud that I had not tried it. My adventurous spirit can sometimes overwhelm the sensible side of me. I can't remember dinner, but it was probably beef stroganoff and corn that I had difficulty eating. We made it to bed by dark and set our alarms for 5 am.

Overall
Miles:  6.9

Elevation start: 8400

Elevation end: 9520
Elevation gain/loss: +3200/-2080
Campsites: many, dirt/rock, fairly level
Water: Creek very near by
Toilet: N
Bear storage lockers: Y
Privacy: Some

Hashtags for the day:

#blackrockpeak #jesustree #inhumanepass #inadvertantwhitneytraining #wrongturnatAlbuquerque #snowfields #trailspotting #mosquitogeddon #pmsd #katiesgotthepox #lumpybutt #highsierrasexy #mosquitozombieblood #mosquitowarpaint