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Onions
and Thin Air - Onion Valley, Summer
2004
This
time, we found the onions.
When
I visited Onion Valley in the Eastern Sierra Nevada
last summer, I wrongly expected to find a flat
expanse of agricultural monotony. When I beheld the
alpine splendor above the town of Independence, all
thoughts of vegetables left my mind. This year,
however, one of my keen-eyed hiking companions
caught sight of a familiar purple bloom. Yanking on
the flower at its root, she pulled up a
finger-sized green onion. I wiped off the dirt and
crunched my teeth down on it. Sure enough, the
spicy tang proved it: there were onions in Onion
Valley after all!
True
to its name, Total
Escape
again provided a total escape from reality for the
six of us who made the 300-mile trek north from San
Diego. Six miles west of Independence, we made camp
in Upper Gray Meadows campground. Here, a lively
creek fed by snowmelt created a verdant band of
trees and bushes through the otherwise parched
foothills. We pitched our tents underneath this
green canopy, where the rush of the creek sounded
like the crash of surf upon a beach.
At
6,200 feet of elevation, we camped far below our
goal: Kearsarge Pass, the eastern portal into Kings
Canyon National Park, at nearly 12,000 feet. The
way up began with a winding, 10-minute drive up to
the trailhead at 9,200 feet, followed by a 5-mile
ascent to the pass. A 10-mile round-trip day hike?
No problem. A bear attack on a camper a few days
before our visit? No problem. Air thinner than
Mary-Kate Olsen? That could be a
problem....
Brain-splitting
Bodart Falls
Since our 3-day camping trip didn't give us much
opportunity to acclimatize to the elevation, we
decided to take a shorter, "test hike" before the
Main Event. The Kearsarge Trail begins where the
asphalt ends, at Onion Valley Campground. Less than
half a mile up, the trail forks to the right,
heading up toward Bodart Falls, a cascade visible
from the trailhead. I wanted to hike up to the
waterfall last
year,
but had to turn back at the halfway point when I
ran out of time. Today, we went for it.
Much
huffing and puffing later, we came near the falls,
but actually reaching the water would involve
trailblazing over rocks and through bushes. Though
I'm sure it had nothing to do with gender, the four
women decided to take a rest while Craig and I
crawled across to the waterfall.
I
guess it's true what they say, "the women are
smarter."
For
the record, Craig and I did reach the waterfall,
and even dunked ourselves in the brain-splitting
cold water (you'll find the photographic evidence
here).
But getting there was an adventure. Climbing across
the rocks proved to be as much fun as it was
challenging. The thick bushes surrounding the
cascade and the creek below it, however, would have
protected a medieval castle. In fact, I think this
is where those thorn bushes from "Sleeping Beauty"
retired after their Hollywood career ended.
I
still chuckle to myself when I see our final
approach in my mind's eye. I crawled through the
very center of a bush, going with the grain of the
branches, as a lobster might enter a lobster trap.
Easy going. Looking back, however, the ends of the
branches pointed at me like the spears of the enemy
on the field of battle. I felt like that lobster,
realizing there was no escape. We did finally find
our way back, but not before that bush claimed
Craig's bathing suit.
Into
Thin Air
The bush-whacking and brain-splitting at Bodart
Falls, however, was only a dry run. The next
morning, we rose early and prepared our Camelbaks
and protein bars. The sun beat down on us, but the
altitude kept the temperature mild. With the
enthusiasm only found at the beginning of a hike,
the six of us leapt up the trail like mountain
goats.
Beauty
abounds on the hike between the trailhead and
Kearsarge Pass. The trail parallels a series of
lakes, four of which lie either alongside the trail
or within sight of it. The stream that feeds these
lakes also follows the same path as the trail. With
the abundant water, we had no shortage of greenery.
At Gilbert Lake, we found a stony perch above the
lake and stopped for lunch. The view was
postcard-perfect.
Soon
enough, however, our group of six became two sets
of three, then three sets of two, and eventually a
line of six straggling singles. The already thin
air became emaciated. I had to take breaks more
frequently, and began to consider turning back. I
was confident that I could make it, but if it's not
fun, what's the point? After each switchback, I
expected to catch sight of the pass. Surely we must
have climbed above 12,000 feet by now?
Dragging
ourselves over the umpteenth ridge, we caught sight
of the final lake, Big Bunghole Lake (which was how
our altitude-addled tongues started pronouncing Big
Pothole Lake). Pausing for a morale-boosting photo
op reminiscent of Will Rogers, I caught my second
wind and finished the last couple of miles. At
11,760 feet, we laughed, we cried, we
hurled.
###
If
You Go: The hike from Onion Valley Campground
to Kearsarge pass is just one small stretch of a
trail that traverses the Sierra Nevada from one end
of Kings Canyon National Park to the other. Camping
is available at Onion Valley, as well as at Upper
and Lower Gray Meadows Campgrounds halfway down the
mountain. Camp sites run about $12 per night, with
a variety of first-come, first-served and
reservable sites. Each site has a fire ring, picnic
table and bear locker for foodstuffs.
Reservations:
Reserve
America
More
Information:
U.S.
Forest Service
Inyo National
Forest
873 North Main Street
Bishop, CA 93514
(760) 873-2400
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photography & design © 2001-2004 Michael
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