September 29

~9 miles, 5,700’ gain

This was my kind of day. Lots of climbing, some of it quite steep. We were well into the mountains now! We first made our way upward from our camp via a game trail to old mining roads which we followed high into the Inyos, stopping at Belmont Mine for a rest before pushing on the crest of the Inyo’s where we could see across Owens Valley to the vast expanse of the high peaks of the Sierra. We then dropped down into the old mining town of Cerro Gordo where we met Mike and Travis for another resupply and a welcome break in the old hotel away from high, cold, gusting winds. Those of us visiting for the first time also enjoyed a tour of the town from Robert, a longtime resident manager of the town, and a passionate teacher. After a lengthy break, we headed north to camp above Mexican Spring via an old burro trail along a water pipeline that ran from Mexican Spring to Cerro Gordo. The trail was quite narrow at times on a steep, loose slope; a shortcut from a dirt road which we eventually joined nearer our camp at about 9,000’ where we all tucked in behind low trees for shelter from the gusting wind.