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HISTORY
Carroll Creek is located at the foot of the eastern side of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains west of Lone Pine, California. The Carroll
Creek Pack Station was located ten miles southwest of Lone Pine. The
area still offers scenic trails into the heart of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains.
Even before the John Muir Trail was completed in 1938, hikers had begun
to take to the wilderness en masse, a tradition continued by members of
the Sierra Club. Mules packed wood-burning stoves and iceboxes, later
filled with snow into camp. This site became part of the Minaret’s (now
Ansel Adams) Wilderness after the Wilderness Act of 1964, which
protected places "where the earth and its community of life are
untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not
remain." Today the trail passes through three national parks, one
national monument, and four wilderness areas. But backpacking no longer
holds as much magic for the young generation, and only a few hundred
people a year hike the entire trail.
In May of 1895, Alfred W. De La Cour Carroll along with a hiking party
hiked from the mouth of George Creek Canyon, which was located about
eight miles from the scattered settlement of George’s Creek, a location
nine miles south of Independence, to the summit of Williamson Peak.
Given that much of the trail was utterly impassible for animals, the
group had to cut their way through the brush.
They took a route that continued along the creek, always staying within
a few hundred feet of the water until they reached a tamarack grove.
Here the altitude was approximately 7000 feet from the George’s Creek
mouth. The following day they ascended the ridge to the north of the
grove, walked along a gentle slope to the very base of Williamson Peak.
Mr. Carroll followed the backbone of the ridge to the summit. They were
the fourth party to accomplish this feat.
In August of 1895, Alfred W. De La Cour Carroll ascended Mt. LeConte.
Mt LeConte is on the main crest of the Sierra, about three miles
southeast of Mt. Whitney, and a little more than a mile north by west
of Sheep Mountain. It forms one of the most striking points of the
whole range , and the only one, except Whitney itself, having in its
immediate vicinity sharply defined lesser peaks. Because of this fact,
it has never been mistaken for any other mountains seen from the
southern part of Owen’s Valley.
View of Carroll Creek from the Cabins.
Mt. LeConte, named in honor of Professor Joseph LeConte of the
University of California, has a apex that is formed from a conical mass
of rock about 150 feet high and 250 feet in diameter. From this point,
Mt. Whitney is north 42degrees west, Williamson is north 17degrees west
and Lone Pine Peak is east 31degrees north. Carroll estimated the
height of the mountain at approximately 14,300 feet.
The Old Hockett Trail, finished in 1863, from Tulare to Owen’s Valley,
ended at Carroll Creek.
Carroll Creek was named for Alfred W. De La Cour Carroll who lived at
this place. Carroll, an Irishman, returned to Ireland around 1901 and
became du Earl. He was a charter member of the Sierra Club.
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Fine cuisine in the center of Lone Pine.