This year's high adventure trek was in the Eastern Sierras. The route was a loop out of Horseshoe Meadows going over Cottonwood Pass to Rock Creek and then back over New Army Pass.
We headed up a couple days early to get acclimated. We drove to Lone Pine and got a spot at the Tuttle Creek Campground a bit uphill from town. It was a pretty near camp but still hot. We had dinner at the pizza place.
Next day, we broke camp and headed back to town for lunch. Then we spent some time at Manzanar which was pretty amazing. Our plan was to get Subway and head up to the trailhead to camp for the night. However, the Horseshoe Fire started right as we were driving up the road. We headed back Tuttle Creek to plan things out and spend the night.
Next morning, I headed back up the road and the guard said it was going to be closed for some time. So I went back to the ranger station to change our permit. In the morning lottery, I felt bad when I pulled number 12. Since a lot of people were changing due to the closure, I wasn't sure anything would be left. When I finally got called, the ranger said the only thing available for our group size was Sabrina Basin near Bishop. I quickly reserved it and headed back to camp. Looking at the maps, the Sabrina Basin TH only had a few miles of trail but lots of lakes. We all agreed to drive the extra 1.5 hours to Bishop and start hiking!
At the trailhead, we unloaded and ate lunch before moving the cars to the hiker lot. Fortunately, the super nice camp hosts at the campground offered to stash our leftover food in their bear box. We then headed out. The trail starts out following the lake in a gradual incline. It was a bit hot since there wasn't any shade. After a bit, the switchbacks started and we gained a ton of elevation. Thankfully it was shaded most of the way. We finally reached the top and Blue Lake. The scouts picked a good spot and we setup camp.
Next day, the scouts decided to base camp at Dingleberry Lake so we packed up and made the quick hike over. Dingleberry is a nicer than Blue and we had a great site overlooking the water. Mosquitoes were a bit of a problem but not too bad. I had my new A16 bug bivy so was very protected at night.
Next day, we day hiked up to Midnight Lake which is the end of the line for Sabrina Basin. It was a pretty neat alpine lake with cliffs around half of it. The scouts did a bunch of scouting. They even made it up to some snow fields and I had to warn them about the pink snow.
Next morning, we packed up and hike out. It was pretty fast going since it was all downhill. We got to the cars, picked up our food stash and made the long drive home. It was another great high adventure trek for the troop.
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| Tuttle Creek Camp |
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| Scouts as Tuttle Creek |
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| Lone Pine Cafe |
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| At the roadblock |
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| Horseshoe Fire |
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| Let's Hike! |
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| Blue Lake |
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| Dingleberry Lake |
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| Tarp Camping |
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| Hiking to Midnight Lake |
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| Chilly Evenings |
