Hitch Nine

Our penultimate hitch put us in the heart of the Kiava Wilderness, just south of Sequoia National Forest. We drove about two hours in on some windy back roads that clung to the hillside all the way up to our camp at 7500 ft in the Skodie Mountains. He had heard that bad weather was approaching so we psyched ourselves up to get snowed on. We put in two full days of work before our old buddy the rogue volunteer came by in a Jeep and told us that we should plan on at least 8 inches. We got up the next morning with an inch on the ground and it still falling steadily. We decided the safe thing to do was drive out then, while we knew we could make it. So we headed for Ridgecrest with ideas to wait out the storm and attempt to find another place to work. The next morning we went back to Walker pass where we had stayed the previous hitch… it lies around 5000 ft so we assumed we would see some trail… we were mistaken. But we did have a great time playing in the snow. We made the safe decision and got off the mountain and had to sacrifice a few days of work. Like any trail crew member will tell you, the job takes sacrifices.