This blog is about what really happened on the Sawmill Pass. I really did spend 4 days in the complete basement. No cell phone access, no internet, none of my present day concerns haunting me, only my own will to hike one of the toughest summit hikes in the Sierras. Actually, check that, it is the toughest summit hikes in the Sierras. Day 1 began on the evening of Wednesday, June 23rd where we stayed at the very upscale Independence Creek Campground. After scaring away a couple of characters that looked like they could have stared in Breaking Bad, we setup our tents and got ready for a relaxing night’s sleep before our big hike. At first we had what we thought was a heavenly sign that our trip was blessed by the nearly angelic view we had of the climb ahead of us.
However, a little later my nephew and I decided to try to test out a can of bear spray. The first couple of tests worked, until the wind started to pick up and blew pepper spray back into our faces. We were gagging and coughing and laughing all at the same time. Then the wind got worse and that did not bode well for our hopes for a good night sleep. I knew the first part of the hike would be in the desert, so I told everyone to get a good night’s sleep because I was waking them up at 4am.
Come next morning we stumbled, and grumbled our way into the car and drove up the road 18 miles to the turn off for the trailhead. This is just a little past the Manzanar internment camp historical site, which was a bit of a foreshadowing of our experience of sheer torture we would be experiencing later on. However, this particular torture was self inflicted, and we took it on, smiling and happy and signing a couple of songs as we started out on the trail as dawn started to glow across the high desert landscape at 4,600 feet of elevation.
It was good we were excited and fresh because the first 2 miles were rather dull, walking through the desert floor. Full of sage brush and more sage brush. The real climbing starts when you hit the John Muir Wilderness boundary, marked by a nice rustic looking sign. Then it is literally straight up the high desert foothills of the sierras for at least 3 miles. The people who made this trail did not even give you the courtesy of switch backs in many cases, you are literally walking straight up the sandy, rocky hillside. Once you get to the base of the first major hillside, you start to switch back for a few miles and this is a brutal, steep climb. It was slow going and the sun soon was out and we were really glad that we left at 5am.
Our hopes finally rose when we came into view of the Sawmill canyon, marked by the characteristic jagged rocks. This is where the trail turns into the canyon and you start making your way up into more elevation. Seeing some rock formations was a nice change in scenery.
After several hours of climbing we finally came to our first tree. It was a miraculous moment. One hiker we met days later called it the “savior tree” and he was right. We all gave this sequoia pine a giant hug and almost cried as we sat their under the shade of this magnificent creature.
After this we experienced some downhill trail. Wow. Little did we know this was the last time we would going downhill for two days. We almost skipped and danced our way down to the first encounter with water, the Sawmill Creek which is still flowing water at this time of year. This is a really dry year. Many of the lakes we would encounter later on are completely dried up, so seeing a flowing stream was a nice thing to see. We sat and ate lunch, and relaxed for a while. Our spirits were definitely improving.
When we started again, there was no mistaking what the day was going to be like. We only had a few miles to go as a crow flies, but this was absolutely straight up hill for the entire time. We crossed the stream a few times, but then we were just going up hill, one switch back after another. Some of it was under the shade of trees, and others under the merciless heat. I did take note of how the changes in the environment were slowly happening. Sage brush gave away to manzanita bushes which gave way to pines trees which gave way to sequoia.
We did not really understand what going up 6,700 feet in a few miles meant, but we did now. We trudged our way through the forest one ridge, by one ridge until we finally arrived at “the meadow.”
This was an incredible sight after being through what we had. Not only were we walking on flat ground, but we saw this lush green meadow with leaves almost sparkling in the light breeze. We all felt that this scene was worth the hike. We should have set up camp for the night, that would have been the smart thing to do. However, after a snack and some joking around we decided the 1.4 miles yet to go to the Sawmill lake would be a small price to pay to stay our first night by the lakeside, right?
Wrong. It was slow going. One of my party started to get sick. We were now getting closer to 10,000 feet. Another in my party was slowing way down. The 12 hours of hiking was starting to take its toll. Now we were in a bit of trouble. Some decisions had to be made, we were out of water, the sun was going down and we were on the trail. I sent two of the party on a head and had a conference with the party member that was fatigued. Now in her defense she was 71 years old. I would like to challenge any one to hike over 6000 feet up in a single day, in the heat, and carrying a 40lb pack. The fact she made it this far was a miracle and the fact that I even considered this possible was just stupid. Anyway, we ditched her pack and made our way up the mountain. We found the lake, Sawmill Lake at 10,800 feet and there is a pretty nice campsite for hikers up there. I ran back down the mountain and retrieved the pack and brought it the rest of the way up. While I was gone, my party fought off a bear. The little black bear “charged” the camp looking for handouts. Luckily my 71 year old aunt, kept her cool and handled the situation. No bears were harmed with the over zealous nephew of mine, eager to use his new found skills in pepper spray mechanics.
That is when my son got really sick. He started vomiting, altitude sickness really kicking in. He recovered quickly and seemed to hold down fluids, so I got him into his sleeping bag and decided to see how he fared in the early morning. At long last we ate freeze dried “beef and mac” and passed out. We woke up in the morning, and realized the stunning beauty of the lake. The full moon was out casting an eerie glow followed by a spectacular sun rise.
Everyone was feeling good when we got up, and after some good old fashioned quick cooking oats took of to hit the summit. We were on a mission! However, after the first set of switch backs we suddenly realized what we were up against. The summit seemed to be getting farther and farther away. Every crest we would get to, would introduce another set of switch backs. Everyone was wiped out. My son was feeling pretty tired from fighting altitude sickness and my aunt was equally tired. My nephew and I decided to head up to see how “far we had to go.” We left at 10:30am, got to Wood Lake and then came back. We got back to my son and my aunt at 4:00pm. Wow. My nephew and I took up the other packs and we all worked on climbing to the summit together. Teamwork.
After four more sets of brutal switchbacks we finally reached the Sawmill Pass summit. We were all very excited. We were now above the tree line at 11,400 feet and this was a great moment for everyone.
After this we headed into the Woods lake area. This is preceded by a half mile walk through the pass which looks like you are walking on the moon. Barren, rock strewn landscape with slow descent. You eventually come to drop off, for which the trail is carved into the side and you get to see the spectacular view of the Woods lake area where the Sawmill Pass and John Muir Trail meets.
We hiked down, and were amazed at the beauty. I fell down and bummed up my hand and we decided to find a place by the lake. We were quickly turned back by a horde of man eating mosquitos. I say man eating, because they did not seen to want to attack my aunt for some reason. Anyway, we went up to a small hill for some respite and set up camp. We had many ambitions for our experience, but we figured we did enough and laid around the next day and relaxed. We made our way back to Sawmill Lake and stayed there. A warm, windless day where we played in the water, sun bathed on rocks and just sat around and talked.
The last day we hiked down. It went pretty smoothly. That is until the last few miles in 110 degree heat. We ran out of water. My son and my nephew went on a head and my aunt and I found ourselves huddled under a trail sign for a little bit of shade. My aunt was starting to suffer from heat exhaustion. I said a little prayer for help and out of nowhere this family pops up on the trail, brings us water and electrolyte tablets. We were saved. My son and my nephew huddled under a parked truck at the trail head when a member of that same family that came down the trail invited them to sit in the airconditioned cab of the truck. My prayers were answered.
We finally finished. We ate hamburgers and fries at the World Famous Whitney Portal Cafe and tipped a couple of glasses of soda at our accomplishment.
That was my four days in the basement. At the end, Kathy, Guy, Ayden and Ellis.
As we drove away from the area, we took one final look at what we had just done. We had a totally different perspective as we stared up the mouth of the Sawmill Pass. \
Guy Reams
Very nice
Nice work!