Ebbetts Pass
Where We Are in relation to Services and Resupply
For the Pacific Crest Trailer
I've met very few Pacific Crest Trail hikers who resupply at Lake Alpine over the years. A few.
The typical resupply pattern for the PCTer across the North Sierra is Tuolumne Meadows, Kennedy Meadows (75 miles North of Tuolumne Meadows), and then the Echo Chalet (70 miles North of KM).
PCT section hikers are much more likely to take advantage of Lake Alpine's hospitality and services.
Most PCTers bypass Ebbetts Pass as a resupply point. They are biting off 70+ miles of the trail between resupply points at a time, and for good reason. They are racing against the calendar to beat the late-season snows up North in the Cascades. And they have already crossed big distances hiking up to Muir Ranch as well as the Five Canyons North of Tuolumne.
PCT hikers really begin to pick up speed as the elevation and trail difficulty decreases North of Sonora Pass. But hitching down to Lake Alpine has its advantages.
Lake Alpine and Bear Valley Resources
Lake Alpine Lodge will accept your resupply package sent through UPS and hold it for you at no charge.
There are also showers, laundry, a poor backpacker's store, restaurant, bar, and bar menu at Lake Alpine. The restaurant is expensive, but a Pacific Crest Trail hiker could hitch the three extra miles down to Bear Valley instead of Lake Alpine and still do laundry, shower, eat a bunch of food at the deli, and then hitch back up to Ebbetts Pass to continue hiking the next day.
You have basically the same services at Lake Alpine as at the Bear Valley, but Bear Valley lacks the centrality of all the services as provided by the Lake Alpine Lodge, and has no shower or free resupply service. But the Bear Valley Deli is a heck of a lot cheaper than the Lake Alpine Lodge's fancy restaurant.
For the Tahoe to Whitney or Section Backpacker
I've both bypassed and resupplied at Lake Alpine when backpacking the long trails between Lake Tahoe to Tuolumne Meadows. Most times I stop at Lake Alpine for a day off. You can plan your trip to suit your tastes. But there's more to life on the trail than high mileage days.
I have made a point of exploring the mountain outposts and communities that support backpackers, if I resupply or not. I've done this both to build this trail guide, and because I really enjoy spending a day sitting on the deck at the Lake Alpine Lodge having a beer while talking to their cool staff, the fishermen and campers from all around California who pass through there, and the tourists from all around the country and world who go there to see Highway 4's narrow track through the close-up beauties of the High Sierra.
It's just relaxing fun with cool folks in a beautiful spot at the Lake Alpine Lodge. You're going to need a crowbar to pry my ass off of the Lodge's deck, because I almost always take a day off the trail at Lake Alpine.
My thought is that I will spend the money on one of the Lake Alpine Lodge's expensive dinners because they go out of their way to take care of backpackers. It's the least I can do. If I have the money. If I'm running broke I head down to Bear Valley...
Details-Details
The Lake Alpine Lodge sits 15 miles West of Ebbetts Pass, and is where we could have sent ourselves a free resupply package via UPS, if that was in our plans. Bear Valley, which has a couple of outdoors-sports shops (socks, shoes, water bottles; they are ski shops in Winter, and mountain bike shops during Summer...) and an excellent store-deli, sits 3 miles to the West of Lake Alpine.
The town of Arnold, where there are full grocery, medical, gear and repair services sits 42.4 miles West of Ebbetts Pass down Highway 4. It's an easy hitch-hike West to any of these destinations.
I've met lots of good local folk hitching down to Lake Alpine, Bear Valley, and Arnold to explore local backpacker support during my hikes up and down the Sierra trails. You find some pretty cool people and things just off the trail. I can almost smell the massive bacon cheese burger swimming in a huge plate of fries at Suzie's Diner in Arnold from Ebbetts Pass...
Tell Suzie and her uber-cool staff "Hey" from Alex if you stop in for a bite...
East of Ebbetts Pass
To our East sits no significant services for 39 miles, until you reach the Carson Valley Medical Center in the fine little town of Gardnerville in Nevada. Though I may be insulting the fine little biker bar in the tiny town of Markleeville. That biker bar is a significant service...
The Biker Bar was the turn-around point for the Markleeville Death Ride last I heard, and is always a destination for packs of Harley riders. Last I was there the ceiling of the bar was decorated with hundreds of bras contributed by biker babes over the years, but I heard that they took them down.
Markleeville sits a mere 17 miles to our East from Ebbetts Pass. I've never resupplied in Markleeville, though I suppose you could. They have a tiny store, and if their Post Office is still open you might be able to send yourself a package... But you'd be a lot better off resupplying on the Western slope of the Sierra at Lake Alpine.
Markleeville is five miles Left, North, up Highway 89 from the Highway 4 junction with Highway 89, which is located about 12 miles to the East of Ebbetts Pass. Highway 89 is also the route to Gardnerville.
If you continue East on Highway 4 through the junction with 89, Highway 4's Eastern termination point drops into Antelope Valley just North of Coleville and South of Topaz Lake on Highway 395. The canyon between Highway 4's junction with Highway 89 and its end at Highway 395 is through an amazing canyon. There are great people up and down Antelope Valley, but little in the way of re supply resources. I've spent time during all four seasons in the fine little towns of Walker, Holbrook Junction, and Gardnerville resting from the last trip to begin the next.
In fact, I've spent a lot of time kicking back with friends who live along the Highway 395 corridor between Coleville down to Walker, generally on my way to or from backpacking trips in the Eastern Sierra. Fine people live out there who I really enjoy seeing. They are as much fun as my backpacking, but in a different way. The good country folk out there make every trip better. But the Carson and Antelope Valleys are not good resupply options from Ebbetts Pass.
If you plan on using Highway 4 at Ebbetts Pass as an opportunity to resupply, I strongly suggest sending a resupply package to Lake Alpine.
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