Baxter Pass
Written: May 10, 2019, June 28, 2020
Baxter Pass is one of the four challenging east-side passes. The trail begins at an elevation of 6037 feet and climbs to 12303 feet in 7.2 miles. You may read that the trail is in shade, but this is no longer the case. A fire in 2007 burned the big trees along the creek, so the first miles of the hike are now quite sunny and hot. If all this has not already discouraged you, you should also know that this trail is no longer maintained and can be difficult to follow in many places. This is not a good choice unless you are a fairly experienced hiker.
I wanted to do this hike because this was the only east-side pass I had not visited. I was rewarded by unpleasantly hot weather along with an abundance of wildflowers. I am not sure I would hike over Baxter again. If my goal was to get to the Rae Lakes area, I could get there much more easily by going over Kearsarge and Glenn Passes. On the other hand, if you want some solitude and adventure, this is a great choice.
It is good to start a trip well rested, which is how I started this trip. I start many trips exhausted trying to finish up things at home that need to be done, packing gear, and squeezing in some trip related project. The sun set at about 8:00 PM, so leaving at 11:00 AM worked out fine. Starting earlier would have put me at a hot camp in the desert, which might not be ideal.
My starting pack is 20 pounds, 2 ounces (no water). The hiking is hot and unpleasant until I reach 8000 feet. At one stream crossing I have an nasty encounter with an interesting plant: Urtica dioica (stinging nettle). It likes wet areas at somewhat lower elevations and is worth knowing and avoiding.
At 3:30 PM I am at 8400 feet. This is a critical trail crossing. There is a talus field here, and some people think the trail continues up the left side of the creek and that the talus has covered the trail. This is nonsense. The trail crosses the creek and then angles back downstream through thick vegetation and gains a flat bench on the right side of the stream that it then follows. There are a variety of misleading cairns placed by people who were lost and confused. That is what I always do when I am lost and confused -- I spend time erecting cairns! Lots of Chamerion angustifolium (fireweed) here that covers the hillside in purple.
By 5:00 PM I am at 9400 feet and near what is marked on the USGS map as Summit Meadow. The Harrison map shows Summit Meadow at 10,600 feet, so it is not clear what to think. Actually, I know what I think, the USGS 7.5 minute has it right and Harrison marks it about 600 feet too high and almost a mile too far west.
By 6:00 PM I get to the top of a rocky tree covered ridge at 9830 and find a good spot with hammock trees. (Limber pines along with some whitebark). A windy night. Temperatures drop only to 58 degrees, but with the wind I am a bit cool in my hammock. It would be bad being in my hammock with wind and truly cold temperatures.
At 1:30 PM I am on Baxter Pass (whew!) Baxter Pass runs pretty much east to west, so it has a south facing side and a north facing side. The north facing side might hold snow in some years, but there was certainly no snow on my visit this year.
I am, as usual, paying attention to the plants. I see Ivesea pygmaea in the fell fields north of Baxter Pass, along with Erigeron compositus. Unusual species on the non-granitic soils at the pass (in some metamorphic roof pendant rocks).
I meet a group of 5 from the Bay area at Baxter Lake. They hiked in over Taboose Pass, visited Bench Lake and traveled crosscountry to Window Lake and on to here. They have a vehicle waiting at the Baxter trailhead. I have heard of this route a few times and perhaps should try it someday, but maybe in and out both ways via Taboose Pass.
At 4:30 PM I am at a nice well used camp below the big lake, but I continue on to a camp above the next to last lake (which is down in a chasm). There are plenty of hammock spots in the whitebark pines at 11,000 feet.
No wind, 47 degrees, but I had trouble keeping warm. This is odd, considering I am carrying my fancy new "incubator" zero degree rated underquilt. It is either a matter of rigging it right or that I am pushing myself hard and exhaustion makes me sleep cold (as it indeed can do). Carrying a torso length foam pad to give a ground sleeping option (as well as adding some insulation down under) is worth considering.
I stoll down to visit the Foxtail pine groves where the Baxter Creek hanging valley gives views into the south fork of Woods Creek. By 12:30 I am back at my camp. I pack up, start hiking and am back on the pass at 3:20 PM. I am feeling good and fueling is certainly part of it. Maybe stop every 1000 feet for refueling on a big climb like Baxter. By 6:00 PM I am at my first camp at 9800 feet.
I met two parties of 3 people heading up as I am heading down. One was camped at 10,800 feet intending to go to the pass tomorrow and then head down, doing a two day jaunt to visit the pass. The second party consisted of 3 guys with helmets and climbing gear intending to climb Fin Dome and Clarence King. They are going all the way from the trailhead to Dollar lake in one day. They expect to be on the pass by 7:30 PM, then hike down in the dark. Ah, to be young again!
It was windy when I arrived, but the wind died down a lot after sunset. It ended up being a lovely night with a low temperature of 57 degrees.
By 2:00 PM I am on the summit. No cell service! My GPS reads 10932 feet elevation (official elevation 11,043). The summit area is almost all bristlecone pines. The bristlecones have an attractive brown bark, while the limber pines are often smooth and white.
The hike is fantastic, but would be even better with clear air. There is lots of smoke down in Death Valleyfrom a fire somewhere in the Sierra. The hike has a strenuous start and finish and a fairly level section in the middle. I carried 3 liters of fluids, which turned out exactly right. One water, one perpetuem, and one gatoraid.
I was amazed at the wildflowers at high elevation in a desert mountain range. Note that the "purple sage" is not sage at all, but is in the mint family (Lamiaceae).
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