2020, the year of COVID. Lots of changes in the Willis Wall World….retirement, selling our house, purchase of a Class B RV a few years ahead of schedule, and temporarily residing in Colorado. I traveled and lived full time in the RV for 3 months, traveling from Washington to California (spending two weeks hiking with my daughter), then back to Washington. While back in my home state I spent some time in the Olympics but the majority of my hiking was in Mt. Rainier National Park; peak bagging, hiking the Northern Loop Trail and my 32nd time around the 93 mile Wonderland Trail. I departed at the end of October and made my way to Colorado to rejoin my wife, stopping in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. From 9,000 miles of driving, 1000 miles of foot travel and over 174,000 feet of climbing come snippets packed into a 6 minute video. My thanks to my son and my friends who allowed me to spend a few nights in their driveways during this time. Please enjoy, and stay safe!

Day 0 My wife and I worked tirelessly for months finishing renovating our house to prep for sale. Just one week prior to my planned departure date for California, where my daughter and I planned on a two week trip through some national parks, I finally took delivery of a Winnebago Solis (class B), driving to Montana and back in the process. I was able to depart on time, and we started out in Sequoia National Park. Our first day upon arrival had us staying outside the park, but we were able to spend a few hours at the south entrance hiking the local trails and trying to grasp the splendor of these engorged towering trees. Even the burn survivors were gorgeous, with new bark slowly encasing the black remnants of a long ago fire. Simply magnificent. We also saw a bear as we approached our parking area but neither of us was able to get a good focus on the bruin through the undergrowth.

Day 1 We finally arrived at Mineral King and found a place to park on the side of the road, thankfully fairly level as we stayed in the van returning at night on our last day. We had a planned itinerary (Cassie did all the planning for this and subsequent trips in CA), which was the usual; suffer on a long first day into the night and cover some mileage. After some elevation and time, we both came to the conclusion that a high mileage day with 8000 feet of climb wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully, once on the trail our permit was good for anywhere. With both of us suffering more than anticipated, we hiked the Timber Gap trail towards Redwood Meadow. By the time we reached Bear Paw and the start of the High Sierra Trail, it was already dark. We hiked into the evening and found a spectacular place to bivy on the trail cut into a sheer rock face, right before Hamilton Lakes.

*Our bivy spot below Hamilton Lakes, Sequoia NP*

Day 2 We got up early and headed for Hamilton Lake, now able to fully appreciate the rocky faces we were traversing. Towering granite was to our left and right, the views were truly eye popping. We took a short break at Lower Hamilton Lake and eventually started our climb towards Kaweah Gap at 10,700 feet, passing a small tarn before the magnificent Precipice Lake. With a sheer rock face on the opposite side, the name was truly apt. Another break was in order in this astounding place, but still behind schedule we moved on to Kaweah Gap. We ran into Geof and Matt (both from CA) here for the second time and had a nice chat, just two of only a handful of people we had seen on the trail so far. It was funny trying to verbally coach them on the Willis Wall pose, but they got it after the picture and will now help spread this pose throughout CA…..bwahahaha!

Sometimes struggling with feeling quite puny, we both trudged on towards Little Five Lakes, where once again we found a place to bivy well after darkness fell. During the day, when we were feeling low, always our spirits were boosted by the never ending parade of Sierra spectacle, the views were simply sublime.

Geof and Matt (CA), attempting the Willis Wall Pose via verbal coaching at Kaweah Gap — *Geof and Matt (CA), attempting the* *Willis Wall Pose* *via verbal coaching at Kaweah Gap*

*High Sierra Trail below Hamilton Lakes*

*The aptly named Precipice Lake, Sequoia NP*

Day 3 We wanted to be closer to our exit at Mineral King to finish this approximately 45 mile loop, but alas, our puniness hampered fast speeds. Sometime right after Big Five Lakes, I heard my daughter cry out and looked back to see one foot in front and a leg twisted under her….she had slipped on a rock and twisted her right ankle, landing on her left knee. A quick assessment determined she could continue, but the rest of the hike necessitated even slower pacing and careful footwork. The abuse seemed to keep coming, but then we ambled up the Lost Canyon Trail to ever more spectacle. I tried wide angle, panoramas, multiple overlapping shots and video, but the no camera could capture the grandness of the views both left and right. How could we not stop at the creek and sit on a grassy knoll, soaking our feet in the cold water? Impossible to just blow through here, lingering was a must. One of the most beautiful alpine places I have seen, rivaling anything experienced so far in my 40 years of hiking….my daughter was in complete agreement.

*No camera can capture the splendor of Lost Canyon, Sequoia NP*

Eventually schedule beckoned and we departed for Columbine Lake and our highest point on this loop, Sawtooth Pass at 11,700 feet. It was a pull up to Columbine but the lake is a classic high alpine water bowl, surrounded only by rock and scattered grass and flower patches eking out an existence in improbable places. Oh, what a trudge up to the pass, always wondering where the pass was. When we finally reached it, my daughter said “a pass is supposed to be lower than the surrounding peaks!” And I probably don’t want to go into the navigation from Sawtooth Pass down to Monarch Lake. I’m sorry, but scouting ahead, below, left and right, I found no discernible trail; Cassie had to carefully make her way down with her bad ankle on scree, slanted rock, foliage hiding marmot holes and generally all manner of ankle twisting impedimenta. Even when we arrived at Monarch Lake and looking back, no trail was to be found visually, and despite showing us right on top of it with GPS, well, it just wasn’t happening. Akin to the Dune series, we experienced no-pass and no-trail in one day. We were quite thankful to have reached Monarch when it was still light and we refilled our water and ate dinner before departing in the dark for our waiting mobile man cave at Mineral King, happy to find that the car munching marmots (yes, that’s a thing….many vehicles had tarps protecting their undersides from hose and wire gnawing teeth… only in California!) had spared our vehicle.

Yes, we made it with no further injury, but the lateness necessitated sleeping at the trail head and departing early the next morning down that horror of a road, made even worse by constantly riding the brakes despite being in second gear the entire time.

Once the pain subsided and the serpentine road was behind us, we both agreed that the vistas in Sequoia on the Nine Lakes loop made every painful moment well worth it. What a splendid place!

*Little 5 Lake in the morning, Sequoia NP*

*Sawtooth Pass (11,700’) with Columbine Lake below*

Willis Wall 2020 Year In Review

Sequoia National Park: Nine Lakes Loop 8.1-8.3, 2020