The next morning we got up, my back hurting from sleeping on a lumpy mat. After breakfast and packing, we were off for the Big Arroyo and beyond.

Looking down Soda Creek from above towards Mount Whitney.

On our way down Soda Creek we passed another group. After some chatting, we learned that they had also camped at Little Claire Lake. They must have been quiet as we didn’t see them. They were a family of four and a bit distressed as the older kid had a case of AMS that didn’t seem to be going away - nausea, headache, vomiting, the whole thing. The two parents were both NOLS instructors and knew their stuff. Their plan was to descend as far down the Big Arroyo as they could, the trail bottoms out at around 8,000’. They didn’t have an InReach or Spot, so we offered to relay a message to the backcountry ranger at Little Five Lakes which they appreciated. They said that their emergency backup plan was to go visit the ranger anyways, so I figured it’d be a good idea to let the ranger know of a possible situation developing.

From the bottom of Soda Canyon we climbed up and crossed over to Lost Canyon and then up and over to Big Five Lakes. The whole area was quite lovely, High Sierra scenery all around. We stopped for lunch at Big Five Lakes.

The Kaweahs from the trail to Little Five Lakes.

One of the impressive peaks above Big Five Lakes.

We reached Little Five Lakes soon and walked through the campsites near the bear locker and over to the ranger station. The ranger was out on patrol, so I left a written message about the distressed party over near Soda Canyon, hoping that this would just be an FYI note. The ranger station was a yurt with quite a nice little set up. I guess that’s the reward for a summer of pretty demanding work.

The Kaweahs from the lowest of the Little Five Lakes.

A very impressive looking Black Kaweah.

One of the northern Little Five Lakes, which was starting to get a bit marshy near the outlet.

Black Kaweah again through the trees on the descent to Big Arroyo.

The old Big Arroyo Patrol Cabin.

We reached the High Sierra Trail with a couple of hours of daylight left, but after a 15 mile day we were pretty tired and called it a day. We found a decent campsite behind the cabin in the woods and set up for the night. Dad set about trying to repair my sleeping pad, which he actually managed to do with some tree sap and more super glue and tape, a set up which would hold for the rest of the trip. This area was a bit more crowded, it seemed to be a popular camping area for hikers on the High Sierra Trail, a roughly 70 mile trail that crosses the Sierra and ends atop Mount Whitney (for those hiking eastbound). This is a popular hike for its shorter distance and (probably) very nice scenery. We would run into many others out on this trail.

After dinner, we settled in for another warm night in the midst of the heat wave.