On August 6-14, 1983 Gordon Lee and I set out on a Pine Creek/Piute Pass Traverse Deck Trek. This 'Old Futzer's Hike' was supposed to be six people but everyone bowed out except Gordon & I. We drove to Bishop Friday afternoon and put his car up at North Lake so we could come out there. After supper we saw Return of the Jedi and then drove to the Pine Creek roadhead and sacked out.
Saturday morning we took most of our supplies in to the Pine Creek Pack Station who packed everything but our day needs to Upper Pine Lake. With light day packs we enjoyed the hike up to Upper Pine Lake. We stopped at Lower Pine Lake for lunch and headed on up the trail as clouds started to gather. I got off the trail just before reaching camp but we soon were there and found our gear the packer had left. It was sprinkling lightly as we made camp but never did rain very much.
Sunday we shouldered our heavy packs and tackled the first problem of the day - crossing the creek. After a bit of wading and splashing around we made it and headed on up to Honeymoon Lake. At the ridge, before the trail drops down to the lake, we turned left and stayed high as we contoured above the lake and headed into the pleasant alpine country toward Hilgard/Italy Pass.
We stopped for lunch as it started to rain. We continued up the slope. I wasn't feeling too hot - a spider or something had bitten me in the elbow during the night and I seemed to be having a mild allergic reaction. We finally topped a ridge and saw lots of snow ahead of us. Since the weather wasn't too good and I wasn't feeling too great we made camp.
It rained heavily that afternoon and night and didn't look too great the next day so we laid over. The day turned out pretty good but rain moved in again for the night.
The next day we laid over again but did take a hike up toward the pass to the top of a small peak. We had already decided that there was too much snow to follow the original plan over Italy Pass.
Wednesday I was feeling better and the weather was cloudy and sprinkly but the sun came through regularly as we contoured over toward Pine Creek Pass. It was a pleasant enough hike but the wind was chilly on the Pass. We contoured over toward French Lake and made camp on the stream about a mile below the lake - a great campsite with views of French Canyon.
Thursday we laid over and took a short hike up to French Lake and back to camp. It was a beautiful sunny day so we dried everything out and were in good spirits.
Friday we headed down French Canyon to Hutchinson Meadows. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the easy hiking. Our biggest problem came at the end of the day getting across the creek. We messed around trying to find logs and ended up wading. After drying out we hiked about a mile up Piute Creek before making camp in a mosquito infested campsite (worst of the trip).
Saturday we got an early start up Piute Creek. It was another beautiful day with a few clouds and we enjoyed the scenery. By mid-afternoon we had reached the Summit Lake just before Piute Pass and decided to make camp. It sprinkled a little but soon cleared and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on our last night.
Sunday morning we got up and moved out quickly just beating a rain storm. As we descended toward North Lake it poured down pretty hard but didn't last long. We enjoyed the final hike down to the car and the end of a fine trip.
Pine Creek-Piute Pass Traverse Deck Trek Route
Pine Creek-Piute Pass Traverse Deck Trek Map
