Back in November, we had a hankering to get out for a backpacking trip and didn’t want to let the early winter in the mountains stop us. After some searching, we decided to go backpacking in John Muir Wilderness. So, after we finished up Thanksgiving celebrations, we took a trip up Highway 395 to backpack Big Pine Lakes. My boyfriend and I have never gone on a backpacking trip in the winter (or snowy weather) so this was a first for us. Sure, we’ve stayed in forest service cabins in the middle of winter but it’s different when you’re in a tent.
We initially planned to hike for 3 days and camp for 2 nights but shortened our trip after a few issues which I’ll detail below.
Permits
The trail that we took up to Big Pine Lakes was the Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail in Inyo National Forest. Permits are required for all overnight trips regardless of the season. To secure a permit, you can go to the Recreation website. This hike is really popular during the high season but there were no issues getting a permit in November. Trail quotas are in place from May 1 to November 1 so there was no limit the weekend that we went.
Keep in mind that you also need a campfire permit if you plan to use a portable camp stove to heat any food or water while you are backpacking in this area. Based on our experience, I would definitely recommend hot food for a November trip like this. It was cold!
Parking and Trailhead
We made the roughly 4.5 hour drive from my parents’ house in the IE. The trailhead is just outside of Big Pine, CA. If you plan to backpack or day hike the trail, you can park in the Big Pine Creek Overnight Parking Lot which is spacious. There are toilets at the parking lot, but they were locked when we went in November.
Alternatively, there is a small parking area further up the road which would cut some time off of your hike. However, we were under the impression that this parking area was not open to overnighters. Take caution and read for parking limitations if you choose to park here.
There is additional parking for campground reservations, but this parking is separate from parking for day and overnight hiking.
Day 1: Big Pine Creek Trailhead to Lake 3 (5.5 miles)
The beginning of our hike was surprisingly warm! It was a balmy 60F day and the sun was shining. We arrived to the trailhead around 10 or 11am so we didn’t want to hike too far as the day was short and we had limited daytime hours. Our goal was to hike to Second Lake before finding a good spot to set up camp.
The hike from the Backpackers parking lot begins as a gradual climb up along a sun exposed canyon. As the trail gets closer to the river, there is more vegetation and more coverage from the sun. Where there was shade, there was snow and ice on the trail.
A few miles into the hike, we came across a frozen section of the trail – it looked like an ice rink! We, along with other hikers, slid our way across and I wished I had some spikes for this part.
First Lake
After about 4.5 miles, we began seeing views of First Lake and the lake was covered in ice but still had an amazing blue/green color. We didn’t spend any time here on Day 1 as we wanted to find our campsite as soon as possible to set up camp before dark.
Second Lake
A half mile later, we came to Second Lake and found a few other groups of backpackers who already set up camp. We stopped and chatted with the groups and they told us they were planning to hike up to the glacier next day. (We made a mental note to try to do that hike at another time.)
Water access to filter and fill up our bottles wasn’t great at this point. Since there were also so many other overnighters, we chose to continue on with our hike.
Third Lake
When we continued for another half mile, we started to find some good flat spots to set up camp but couldn’t find flowing water. We hiked a bit further to find a frozen over creek that was almost impossible to get water from. We punched a hole in the ice with our hiking poles, but the struggle didn’t end there. Our water filter froze in the cold temperatures and the water wasn’t warm enough to thaw it. We filled our bottles with “dirty” water. I held our filter in my coat to keep it warm so we could try filtering water after we set up our camp.
We set up our camp and continued having trouble filtering our water because of how cold the air was. This issue was disconcerting. I made the call that we’d finish our trip the next day to avoid struggling this issue again. Not being able to access freshwater is too risky for me to continue a trip.
Day 2: Third Lake to Fourth and Fifth Lakes and back to the trailhead (8.3 miles)
In the morning, we woke up to an amazing sunrise and a frost covered tent. The moisture that we exhaled over the night froze to our tent. I was cold throughout the night and happy to get packed up and moving.
Fourth Lake
We made our way to Fourth Lake and heard the most amazing sound. Because of the morning sun hitting the frozen lakes, the ice started cracking. This cracking made an epic, breathtaking noise that reverberated on the surrounding mountains.
We enjoyed half an hour of taking in the surroundings of Fourth Lake before the cold encouraged us on.
Fifth Lake
We visited Fifth Lake, enjoyed the views, and ate lunch before heading back down to the car for our drive home.
The trail back down to the trailhead was more challenging to navigate. With the cold night freezing the trail, the downhill portions were slippery and felt quite like ice skating. All in all, the conditions were better than I had initially expected.
Trip Reflection
Things that went well:
Stayed “warm” – We were able to make it through the night in our tents and avoided getting hypothermia during the trip.
Good outcome with relatively little planning – We typically plan backpacking trips months in advance, but we only decided on this trip a couple of weeks in advance. I guess that’s a benefit of going on a trip during the non-quota season! I think we’ll try to backpack in the non-quota seasons more often.
Lessons learned:
Keep warmer – Although we avoided hypothermia, our water filter froze, I was uncomfortably cold and it shortened our trip. I plan to buy a warmer coat for fall/winter backpacking trips. I also want to figure out how to get rid of dead space in my sleeping bag. This way, I can prevent any pesky cold air pockets from forming.
New pillow – The pillow that I backpack with is an ultralight pillow case that requires stuffing unworn clothes into the sack to create the pillow. Needless to say, I wore all of my clothes to bed because it was so cold and I had virtually no pillow. I’m switching to an inflatable pillow so I can ensure that I’ll have a pillow at the end of the day.
If you want to read more about any of my other posts on backpacking in California, click here.