Shuttle service up Bishop Creek

Cheaper than pizza and beer at $5 per adult one-way, less for youth, seniors, and disabled. See www.estransit.com/routes-schedule/community-routes/bishop-creek-shuttle/ for more info.

Many thanks to zeke for your generosity on all of the "shuttles." I think you were here three times fairly recently...once with Chal, once with Mike, then with Chal and Rebecca...

Greg and I used Eastern Sierra Transit for ride home from Lone Pine after our JMT hike. It was a bargain at $8.00, then, per person including our giant packs.

rebeccad

It took us an entire day to preposition cars at start (one at Horseshoe Meadows the other at Crescent meadows.)

Our trip went east to west over Army Pass. Shepherd Pass will cut off a day even tho that is one bugger of a hike up.

It took us an other entire day to recover the cars driving from Fresno (Spent night there) Through Yosemite to Bishop and down to entry point.

From LA to Crescent (drop car) to Lake Isabelle (spent night) to Horseshoe Meadow to start hike to first night at Cottonwood Lakes (New Army Pass the next day - less snow at top).

From Crescent Meadow 2PM to Fresno and overnight with BIG dinner. North to Yosemite down to Horseshoe for car and then home to LA LATE.

There were several memorable 'long moments'.

The first was getting over a snow clogged New Army Pass. I knew that if the two of us could get at the pass, the rest of the trip was going to happen. It was a long hug of congratulation. The last 100 feet took two hours of post-holing and slipping up an almost vertical side off from the trail with 9 day packs.

The second was the hot bath at the hot springs at the end of Rock Creek. HUGE concrete bathtub that would easily hold two couples. Pull the wooden stick plug from the front and stick it in the bottom back and you just had to wait for a full tub. The river was only a few short steps behind us to cool it down. AND the crapper with the best view in the Sierra. It had three sides, no roof, a two holer and a stick just a few feet back that you hung your hat on. (Occupied, occupado..etc). You sat down to look up at a melt swollen Rock Creek tumbling down a thousand feet or more.

Next was a beautiful night at Upper Funston Meadows laying on our backs in deep grass and flowers watching it get dark in the deepest part of the Kern River 'ditch'. Looking up while martins and swallows (we guessed) cleared the sky of flying insects. Looking up at the wall we would have to get up the next day was intimidating. It was a LOT of switchbacks with the receding floor of the meadow too slowly dropping below us. Walking through a cloud of mosquitoes that filled your nose and mouth without breathing through a shirt sleeve. It must have been the font of all the bugs the birds were feasting on. It was the first and the last mosquitoes on the trail.

The forth was the sheer joy of walking from the high trail at the start of Chagoopa Creek to the Kawea Gap the next day. That evening a large fire below Crescent Meadows produced smoke that completely blotted out the sky. I took advantage of an early stop for the day to catch up on reading through a small summary book of Cosmology. I was at the conclusion of a set of factors that the author said 'proved' that there was, therefore - no God!. No more than a few seconds after reading that, a strike of lightning hit a snag about 100 feet away. Yep, buried that book in the bottom of the pack, swearing I'd never read any more of that!! What followed was a down pour from the smoke shielded large thunderhead forming just over us. A scramble to set up the tent was followed shortly as I got the last peg nailed down - by no more rain. 5 mins...that was the only rain we had that entire 9 days.

An even bigger impression was walking from the gap down the trail that used thousands of hardrock bits -- many still forming the foundation of the hand-laid trail. I have no idea of how many thousands of pounds of powder/dynamite it took to scrape that trail out of the wall down to Hamilton Lake. The end of the hike psychologically was at Bearpaw Meadows. We were asked the same kinds of questions that must have come up 100's of years ago: "How's the water availability; Tell me about the trail - is it easily passable; How about the snow at the high pass?; Any bear?" I could understand their anxiety at the end of the first day being plopped into the middle of the largest downfall of big timber I had ever seen. It had happened the previous winter - I suspect. One had to find a way to get over and around the 6 and 8 foot diameter logs to find a place to sleep. The entire camping area was a maze of logs laid out like pickup sticks.

We arrived at the 'town' to hundreds of green forestry trucks.  There were trains of hundreds more on the way up as we went down the hill to Fresno.  The last three days had been consumed by Sue and I discussing the contents of many different kinds of salads.  We ended up eating a gargantuan buffet full of ribs and slabs of meat and sugar.

Ah well.

There is a cross country and un-maintained trail down to the river. It is very steep. I'll see if I can find that description for you. We went down Wallace creek on trail then poked around at bottom on a trail that led up and away for pictures. That was fun and nice packless it only cost us a day and we got to see some more wonderful scenery.

That trip added so many more things to see!!

RE the shuttle. A great (and welcome) Sierra service, but -
Not addressed yet -
Where would you suggest parking your car in Bishop when left for a backpacking week... that is safe?