Golden Trout Wilderness - Eastern Sierra Nevada

[Alan H]

The Luminous Joan and I took a trip to the Golden Trout Wilderness in the Eastern Sierra Nevada a few weeks ago. She's about 3 1/2 months out from a hip replacement, so before taking off into the wilderness on our usual backpacking trip, we thought we'd dip a toe into the proverbial waters, first. Golden Trout Camp is about 2.7 miles in from the Cottonwood Creek trailhead, which is at 10,000 feet. To get there, you drive up, up, UP out of the little town of Lone Pine in the Owens Valley of California. You hike in with clothes and a sleeping bag. Once there, you stay in canvas wall tents, sleep on a cot but have all your meals in the cookhouse. You share the work, helping out in the kitchen and doing dishes during the week. Hikes are guided by naturalists familiar with the area, and I learned a LOT of minerology and geology during the week.

On to the pictures!

This little footbridge over the creek leads you into camp, after your 2.7 mile hike up the trail.