Eastern Sierra Nevada hikes - Lone Pine Lake and Kearsarge Pass - (and my knees...)

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Sabra

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In the beginning of September we traveled to Southern California for a family visit. We decided to extend the visit and spend a couple of days hiking in the Eastern Sierras. We arrived in Lone Pine, CA on a Sunday night. We set our alarm clock for 5:30 AM and when we woke up we were greeted to a wonderful sunrise over the Sierras and Mount Whitney. The view of the mountain range and the rapid changes of colors were spectacular as the sun rose.

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Sunrise on Mount Whitney

This was my first time in the Sierras and my first time hiking at an elevation higher than 8,000 feet; I wasn’t sure how this would affect me. Not having time to acclimatize, we looked for a short hike for the first day, and decided to take the Mount Whitney Trail up to Lone Pine Lake. The lake is at 10,050 feet, about 2,000 feet above Whitney Portal, where the trail begins. Lone Pine Lake is as far as you can go without a permit in the Mount Whitney area, even for a day-hike.

The trail consists of many switchbacks. It goes at a very comfortable grade, about 700 ft elevation gain per mile. The footing is smooth, mostly dirt with some steps, so for us New England hikers, the conditions promised an easy hike. The views were spectacular, I felt as if I stepped into a postcard every time I took a corner. The trees, the mountains, and the blue sky made me stop to take pictures the entire time. We started going up at the normal pace we would go in the Whites, but we quickly learned what we already knew… as much as the footing was easy and the grade low, the lack of oxygen took its toll, and we had to take frequent stops to catch our breath. We adjusted our pace to the point where we could walk steadily. I was a little dizzy in the beginning, but I kept drinking lots of water and Gatorade, and the dizziness soon went away.

We reached Lone Pine Lake in about 2 hours, and were impressed by its beauty. We engaged in a conversation with a family of locals and we learned that the lake used to be much larger, but the drought in California caused it to shrink. We were told that the area has not had significant precipitation in the last 7-8 years, leading to some lakes drying out and changes in others. We spent about 2 hours in the area, we had lunch and we took a peaceful nap on one of the large rocks on the side of the lake.

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One of many beautiful dead trees along the trail

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Lone Pine Lake

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Lone Pine Lake

Mount Whitney trail is one of the most popular trails in the area. We met other day hikers, backpackers who came back from Mount Whitney and a few through hikers who were just finishing the JMT. We were impressed by the hiking etiquette and trail courtesy. Hikers on the descent always yielded to ascending hikers and the trails were clean. LNT practices are strictly followed in this area.

Descending back to the trailhead was quick. We spent some time in the Whitney Portal gift shop, had a cold beer and drove back to Lone Pine.

Day 2 - After a short consultation with the rangers at the visitor center in Lone Pine we chose Kearsarge Pass for our next day’s hike. The trail to the pass starts at Onion Valley Campground at 9,100 feet. The trail climbs through a series of 5 lakes, all connected to each-other via streams and waterfalls, up to the pass which is at 11,760 feet. This is an out and back hike of about 10 miles. We were promised more spectacular views.

The start of our hike was like the day before, but as we gained elevation, breathing became harder. I had to be reminded that I should not walk faster than I can breathe. After about an hour our pace became steady and we felt good for awhile. The views were magnificent; the lakes looked peaceful with clear water and that dark turquoise color that made them look so beautiful. This trail is less populated than the Mount Whitney trail. We crossed paths with just a few other hikers, a couple of backpackers, and a PCT and a JMT through hikers who took the Kearsarge pass to get to the town of Independence for resupply.

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Gilbert Lake, one of the 5 lakes along the trail

At around 11,000 feet we cut above treeline. It was a little windy but nothing that created a problem. From there, the trail went along a steep slope. There were three or four more switchbacks to the pass. Although the trail continued to follow a very moderate grade, the high elevation, combined with the steep drop to my left caused me to be dizzy, but being so close to the pass I didn’t want to turn around. I kept drinking Gatorade, I used the poles to keep myself balanced, and I tried to avoid looking around. This worked well and in a short time we reached the pass.

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The last stretch to the pass

I did not know what to expect when I reached the pass. I knew that when I got there I would see the next mountain range, but I had no idea how magnificent it would be. The view that opened up as we reached the pass was beyond words.

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View from Kearsarge Pass

We spent about an hour in the pass and took plenty of pictures. We left the pass and descended quickly. The ride back from Onion valley campground to the valley was probably the scariest part of the entire trip. This 13-mile road goes from 9,100 feet down to the town of Independence at 3,900 feet via a set of switchbacks that run above steep drops. It was already dusk when we drove down and in one of the switchbacks we were surprised and delighted to see deer crossing the road.

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Surprise driving down from the Kearsarge Pass Trailhead / Onion Valley Road

We made our way safely to the motel and left to SoCal the next morning.
The two days in the Eastern Sierras left us with a feeling of “we have to come back”. I love hiking, but I do not consider myself a very strong hiker. This trip taught me a lot and improved my skills tremendously. I am really looking forward to getting back to the area.

Another subject that I wanted to touch in this post is the aches and pains I have been suffering while hiking. The two straight days of hiking in the Sierras have been a turning point for me. I was able to do these two hikes for a total of ~17 miles without suffering any knee pain during or after the hikes. I know that 17 miles in two days do not seem much to most of you, but this was something I was not able to do in the past few years. In fact, I was not able to hike 2 days in a row, regardless of the number of miles, due to knee pain.

There have been many threads on knee problems and hiking, so I will try to make my story short. My knees have been bothering me for years. In bad times I used to have to heal my knees for up to 2 months after every hike before I could go again on the trail. I got my knees checked by professionals and the treatment always included stretching, strengthening the legs, ibuprofen, etc. Following these instructions improved my general conditioning but even when I took enough time off to heal my knees, the next hike brought me back to the same situation.

A few months ago I read an article about the relation between the positioning of the feet and knee pain and inflammation. It emphasized the importance of treating under- and over-pronation to ensure even pressure on the knees and improve knee health. With nothing to lose I went ahead and fitted myself with new insoles and I started using them in my sneakers while working out and in my boots while hiking. At the same time I continued to work on the strength of my legs (lunges, leg presses and squats with and without weights). As a result, over the past 4 months my knees gradually healed. I continued to hike during this time and had no setbacks after hiking. I am now pain free, I hardly consume ibuprofen and I am able to run again after a few years of only using the ellipticals for my cardio workouts.
I thought I will share this and maybe help others who suffer the same problem.
 
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