Hiking over Piute Pass

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Another "easy" pass from the eastern side of the Sierra is Piute Pass. There aren't too many easy eastside Sierra passes, so I'm showing you some of the more sane ways to get into the High Sierra backcountry. The trailhead to Piute Pass starts near North Lake (accessible by heading west from the town of Bishop). Just the drive up to these trailheads is amazing in itself. Like most seasoned High Sierra hikers, I have gone over Piute Pass jillions of times to access the fantastic country beyond. During early and mid-summer, the wildflower displays along the trail up this pass is mind-boggling. Waterfalls, meadows, creeks, lakes, and jagged mountain ridges accompany you to the top. And, if you're lucky enough, a couple wonderful dogs will accompany you as well! In this photo, Heidi and Sierra paws along the trail so I can take their photo with some trailside flowers. But they are eager to continue on!

(I'll post a smaller version of the photo, with a link to a larger version if anyone likes IMAX stuff. My real name is Brian, not Buck, so I'll call the link BrIMAX)

BrIMAX version”

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I'll post a few of the flowers that I took along the trail to Piute Pass. I'm not the greatest at naming all the wildflowers I encounter, but I do believe these are tiger lillies. They were everywhere, and they were beautiful. I absolutely love wildflowers, but don't worry, I won't go sappy on you right now.

BrIMAX version”

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Another display of tiger lillies. I tell ya, I don't care what kind of a mood you're in, you can't frown when you look at wildflowers. They just ooze happiness. Even with all the skeeters around, the wildflowers keep me smilin' on the trail! FYI, this is all part of the magestic John Muir Wilderness.

BrIMAX version”

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Here's a photo I took while descending back down from Piute Pass after a storm, looking east towards Kansas City. We've lost most of the trees at this point due to altitude, and only a few hardy foxtail pines seem to eek out an existence. I'm hoping to take a ski adventure this spring over this pass and into the expansive country on the other side. I get full body shivers thinking about this stuff. Or is that because I have no heat in my room? Hmm. That's it for this thread, don't wanna bog 'er down.

BrIMAX”

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Oops, I meant to toss this other flower post in here, sorry! Probably the most common wildflower I see in the Sierra backcountry are the indian paintbrush. They can be anywhere from red, to blinding bright red, to flourescent orange, often with bright yellow pointy thingies sticking up. I'm a botanist, so I hope I'm not losing you in technical jargon.

BrIMAX version”

“do you freelance for national geographic? because your pictures are all fabulous....

what kind of camera do you use? and film? please give this rookie some tips!

really terrific pictures - i'm drooling

ps - nice puppies too!”

“Hey! I've been over that pass back in '99 on the first lamma hike! I flew into Reno, then hooked up with a couple ladys from here and we headed down to Mammoth and did the whole Devils Postpile tourist thing then went up and over the pass and spent a few days beyond. Here's my journal entries with photos.

http://www.mwestfall.addr.com/nigal/899llamahike.htm”

“Thanks, Twinks! I don't freelance for National Geographic, I OWN National Geographic. Ha ha! Okay, that was in response to my over-the-top modesty accusation. :^Þ No, I don't freelance, nor do I feelance, but when I really gotta go, I do a mean peedance. I use a Canon Elan 7 and I shoot Fuji Velvia 50 slide film and I scan with a Nikon Coolscan IV and I use Galen Rowell GND filters when appropriate. I like hiking and pizza and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders and caving in LARGE caves with lots of room. I put my pants on two legs at a time which means I trip a lot first thing in the morning. I hike with Asolo footwear and Ex Officio skivvies. This post has been brought to you by Cheerios®, the breakfast of goofy photographers.

And yes, I have a bad habit of biting my fingernails despite the wise Chinese proverb that states: "Man who scratch a$$ should not bite fingernails".

Hey Nigal, FANTASTIC trip report, man! That's really cool! I'm curious about you distancing yourself from computer people though. Shoot, I was hopin' to hook up for a crazy adventure some day!

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"I live in my own little world. But it's OK... they know me here."”

“"I'm curious about you distancing yourself from computer people though. Shoot, I was hopin' to hook up for a crazy adventure some day!"

It was very hard going back home. I generally deal with it better now though and I don't aviod group trips...SMALL group trips. I just HAVE to get back out to Cali again. It just blew me away. Going from Ohio to the Sierras was such a change, it wasn't humid, my nose kept wanting to bleed from dryness, and it was so wide open that it was almost agoriphobic. Here in Ohio, ya see a hill and ya spend half an hour walking to it. Out there ya see a mountain and spend two days walking to it. LOL!

I have no doubt you'd be an utter hoot to hike with.”

“I didn't think they had hills in Ohio!”

“Buck, if you take the skis out there, can I go?”

“can you smoke piutes?”

“Is that in Nevada?

Pictures are beautiful!”

“Hey Snow Nymph, I'd be honored to ski this place with you!

Troll, you can smoke anything you darn well please! :^D

Mamabear, this is High Sierra stuff in California. It ain't too far from Nevada though. Close enough for government work. Well, I take that back, Ahnold might not think so.”

“LOL”

“Nigal that was a fun hike wasn't it? At the time I thought Piute Pass was a killer hike but looking back it was a nice ramble compared to the Shepards Pass we went over several years later. Great tramping and after the hikes, remember those gigantic burritos and icy cold margaritas waiting for us at that mexican restaurant in Bishop? Man I miss California.”

“Hi solitary hiker®! The first time I did Shepherd Pass was the first time I absolutely fell in love with the High Sierra. Starting at around 6,000' with the pass at over 12,000', in just a few steep miles, whew doggy, what a great way to get up into the high country fast! I love the upper Kern River basin. There's something magical about that place to me. I had spent countless hours studying topo maps and dreaming of that place before I first hiked in there, and seeing the Great Western Divide, and Milestone Mountain (and basin) and all the zillions of golden-trout filled lakes that dot the country, MAN! I climbed my first fourteener on that trip, Mt. Tyndall, after having just climbed Junction Peak an hour or two before. These mountains had become like celebrities to me, and finally seeing them in person was better than seeing Elvis eating a peanut butter/banana sandwich at Denny's. Oops, I wasn't supposed to mention that. I'm eager to crank up Shepherd Pass again, and I want to ski the infamous Sierra High Route, which goes over this pass too. WILDERNESS ADVENTURE!!! YAAAA!”