On June 27-28, 1981 Jim White and i backpacked up North Fork Big Pine Creek in the John Muir Wilderness on a 16 mile round trip.
We left Independence around 6 p.m. or so Friday night and drove to the walk-in campground on the North Fork. Jim took the car down to the hikers parking lot and hiked back (took 45 minutes or so) while I set up camp.
Saturday morning we laid around and finally got on the trail around 10 a.m. Stopped for snacks at the Lon Chaney cabin and met the Wilderness Ranger on the trail just above. Stopped for snacks above second lake and at the Glacier Trail trail junction. Made it up to Sam Mack Meadow around 5 p.m. and setup camp with a beautiful view of the meadow and peaks of the Palisade Crest. Few mosquitoes but not bad.
Sunday we hiked up the Glacier Trail to the top of the terminal moraine for a nice view of the Palisade Glacier. We took a more direct route down the snowfields back to camp enjoying some glissading. Laid around camp a while and left about 4 p.m. (I think). Stopped several times for snacks. Stopped on the road just above the First Falls Group campground and I stayed with our packs while Jim hiked down and brought the car back. Very pleasant weekend.
Big Pine Creek to Sam Mack Meadow 1981
