January 4-5, 2013
Amber, Andy (dog wonder), and I left Chantry Flats Friday evening hiking 8 miles to Devor Camp where we spent the night and completed a full loop up and over Mt. Wilson and back to Chantry Flats. Our base weights were both 9 lbs each.
The hike up was nice, cold and eventful; we had multiple sightings of what we later identified as gray fox kits and one adult. All were seen from a distance with yellow glowing eyes from our headlamps, as we were hiking mostly at night. Along the trail to Devor, we ran into patches of snow, which clued us in that we were in for snow on the north side of the mountain. All we had were our trail runners but we have read many stories of thru-hikers on the PCT that did just fine with the running shoes in snow. Plus, we were both well-equipped for the cold and if our feet did get wet, we had two pair of wool socks.
By 8:00 PM, we reached Devor and began setting up the tent, hanging the bear bag and heating water for dinner. There was another backpacker on the west side of camp that had his light on in his one-man tent. Our of courtesy, I walked over and from a stones throw, introduced myself, “Hi There, My name if “JT” and my wife, and I will be setting up nearby—I just wanted to let you know….”
A kind voice returned my calling and let me know he appreciated it.
32° outside but we were warm, as well as the dog, who has his own sleeping bag.
The next day we woke to 29° weather, packed up and talked to our camp friend, Roland. He is 69 years old and said he is planning on hiking the PCT this spring. After giving us a few tips on where to cross the stream, we headed up the West Fork toward Mt. Wilson. Minutes into the hike, we started seeing more and more snow and ice covering the shaded ground. Our feet were warm, dry and passing through the inch of snow perfectly fine.
It was at one of the many stream crossings that I dropped our beloved camera in the stream. With snow covering the ground, it took me about 30 seconds to remove my shoes and go in after the Canon PowerShot Elph 110. Needless to say, no more photos for the rest of the trip. It did dry out the next day.
Continuing up the trail we came to West Fork Camp where there was another solo packer. We filled our water bottles and part of our Platys for the hike up Mt. Wilson. We planned on there being no water at top. However, there were two water crossings that we could have filled at, saving a few pounds of hauling water. Once on the Kenyon Devore Trail, the path became increasingly snowier. At the base of Mt. Wilson (north side), there was consistently 2” of snow, 4” as we neared the top. Our shoes remained mostly dry—no wetter than if we were wearing boots and sweating inside. Amber and I were thrilled at the thought that we were doing perfectly fine with running shoes hiking through 4-inches of wet snow!
The last photo I took before I dropped the camera in the stream
Mt. Wilson was awesome! The view was incredible and now that we were in the sun, we were able to take a quick nap, fuel up with lunch and head down the Upper Winter Creak Trail to Hoegees. Our walk down was somewhat uneventful except for a few slick sheets of ice on the Toll Road, and running into an injured hiker who was in desperate need of Ibuprophen for his knees. I pulled out four pills as he explained that he called a family member to pick him up on top. I felt better (my good turn for the day!)
The rest of our 20-mile backpack went very well, and as usual, was over all too soon.