Going to Kings Canyon Tomorrow

[Terence McDonagh]

We're looking to back-country camp. I routinely hike in Colorado and Utah year-round and the folks I'm going with live in Colorado, so we're good with pretty much any weather contingency, training and gear-wise.

Does anyone have a good recommendation on books, trail guides, preferred maps, etc for the parks? We'd probably do a three to four day backcountry hike, and a couple of day hikes. I have a couple older, hand-me-down trail guides, and a Trails Illustrated map, but nothing spectacular.

Recommendations on favorite trails, especially for that time of year, are also greatly appreciated.

[John Kasaian]

Aptly named Hell For Sure Pass, throught the LeConte Divide and above Goddard Canyon is an interesting area, but it is out of the way unless you're coming in from Courtwright Resevoir (a friend actually chased a stray cow over Hell For Sure!)

Dead Man Meadow is also an interesting, less visited area.

Mineral King Ranger Station in Sequoia will put you in the proximity of about a dozen trailheads where you won't have to be concerned about trail qoutas, unlike the John Muir or Pacific Crest trails.

Have fun!

[tgtaylor]

Does anyone have a good recommendation on books, trail guides, preferred maps, etc for the parks? We'd probably do a three to four day backcountry hike, and a couple of day hikes. I have a couple older, hand-me-down trail guides, and a Trails Illustrated map, but nothing spectacular.

Recommendations on favorite trails, especially for that time of year, are also greatly appreciated.

For a general guide to the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite to Mt. Whitney I would recommend Starr’s Guide to the John Muir Trail & and High Sierra. It's main focus is the John Muir trail but it accurately describes "laterals" i.e., trails running to the east and west from the Muir trail. It was first published back in the '30's but is still in print. If you buy it, I would further recommend you get the "Sierra Tote edition" which is similar in size to a pack of cigarettes but thicker, has an indestructible cover, and fits comfortably in a pocket. I've been hiking in the Sierra for 15 years now with my copy which I found in a used bookstore for $4.95.

You can probably access the Sierra crest more quickly from Kearsarge Pass on the eastern side. The Kearsarge TH ("Onion Valley") is located 19 miles by paved road from the small town of Independence. There is a campground and pack station at the TH. The distance from the parking lot to the top of the pass (~12,000') is 5 miles and another 5 miles down to the Muir/PCT where you can access East/Reflection Lake and the Mount Brewer area of the park. Alternatively, instead of dropping down to the Muir trail, continue north from the pass and latterly for about the same distance to Glenn Pass where you can access the Rae Lakes and Sixty Lakes Basin on its north side.

Finally, be advised that the park recently issued an advisory that the marmots on the west entrance side were chewing thru hoses to drink the vehicles antifreeze and were advising an undercarriage net be placed on vehicles left parked there.

Thomas

[Drew Wiley]

Terence - the Leconte Divide area which John mentioned is particularly nice in the fall,
and relatively safe if you go in from the West at Courtwright Res. What you don't want
to do is get behind a high pass which will snow shut, unless you're properly equipped
and experienced for more of a real adventure. About three years ago there were a lot
of rescues because people were equipped with summer type hiking gear and wearing
lightweight hiking boots. At the same time I was way back in but properly equipped for
snowstorms and having fun, even if it was damn cold at night and snowing heavily on
the passes. The secret is, don't get BEHIND a divide which can prove hazardous if
there's a serious snowfall. And don't park your car somewhere where you can't get
back over a high pass if it snows shut for the season! But you can get heavy rain or
snow any month of the year, and the fall is especially fickle - but also exceptionally
beautiful, no mosquitos, less people, and the dusty trails have usually been cleaned
by at least a few rains. Red Mountain Basin is a relatively easy destination in the
LeConte Divide area for a week or so of hiking. You can branch off cross country in several directions and there will be plenty to photograph, even though the peaks are
not as high as the eastern side of the range. Immediately over the Leconte Divide,
however, you encounter some very dramatic country; but it is largely untrailed and
very rough.

[Drew Wiley]

I should have qualified my previous post by noting, as has already been mentioned,
that east side approaches from a town like Bishop or Indpendence are much faster
than from the west, where you have to drive a lot farther to the trailheads. The only
easy passes from the east are Bishop Pass and Kearsarge Pass. Bishop Pass will get
you over the top in a single day and into Dusy Basin, with the ability to overlook the
headwaters of the Middle Fork or cross-country into Palisade Basin (if you want a good
four day workout). Kearsarge Pass leads into the heavily-visited Rae Lakes area. Both
areas are heavily photographed, on well-worn trails. Or just a few miles above the
South Lake trailhead leading to Bishop Pass you have Lake Sabrina and the trailhead
leading into spectacular Sabrina Basin area - a very desireable short trip in the Fall,
but not technically Kings Canyon Park. Bishop Pass and Rae Lakes now require bear
canisters - Sabrina doesn't. You could spend an entire lifetime in the Kings Canyon
drainage and not see everything.

[Drew Wiley]

Terence - Here I go rambling again, but now that you mention you only have three or
four days, that limits the options. What people need to know about the Kings River per
se is that it is deep! Many places all three forks of the Kings are nearly twice as deep
as the Grand Canyon, and much higher altitude at the top. So unless you start in the
bottom at Cedar Grove on the west, you're probably never going to get into Kings Can
itself on this short a trip, unless you're in exceptional shape. The days are short indeed
in the fall. From the east Sabrina Basin or Dusy Basin would indeed fit your schedule,
and allow you a lot of casual off-trail opportunities. From the West you could get into
Red Mtn Basin from Courtwright. Spectacular Evolution Valley is accessed from Florence Lake trailhead, but ferry service is suspended in the fall, so you've got at
least 22 miles of hiking in and out. Getting to Mineral King (where marmots chewing
your radiator hoses in an issue) would probably cost you a whole day of driving, and
the trails lead into Sequoia, not Kings. Just above my ranch Dinkey Wilderness is a less
strenuous objective and truly colorful in Oct, but whether or not the road is open again
depends on early snows. Florence and Edison trailsheads are both behind Kaiser Pass
which can shut early sometimes. Unlike Colorado, most of the Sierra road passes close
for the entire winter once the first heavy snow arrives. Courtwright road generally
remains open from the west, and HWY 168 above Bishop is open well into winter. This
is big country. From Dusy Basin over Bishop Pass you can at least look in, to the point
where the "real" Kings Can Park is, with very few trails at all! If you are in top shape
you could go from North Lake above Bishop over Lamark Col into Evolution country the
back way, but then you'd be behind an off-trail pass over 13000 ft high. Well worth it
if you can move quickly up steep grades, watch the weather forecast, and have
winter-quality gear if needed, including ice axes. I'd simply get a combined topo map of both Sequoia and Kings to get a general idea. Sorry to ramble, but I do know this country well. Don't fret too much about which part of it to see - it's all wonderful!

[Michael Wynd]

You'll have to get to Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory here in Australia. It's spectacular. Just ask Robert Teague. Besides Australia needs your tourist dollars.
Mike

[PenGun]

Google Earth Pics

Kings Canyon



Kings Canyon Australia



I carry a laptop with a USB GPS device and Google earth. It's useful to find my way when the roads are behind me.

[tgtaylor]

According to Wikipedia, Kings Canyon in California is more than 9 times the depth of its namesake in Australia: 8,200' vs 900'. Nice looking sandstone though.

BTW, this is supposed to be an El Nino season here on the west coast. Temperatures this summer have been running close to 10 degress below normal and low pressure systems have been frequent. In SF/Monterrey Bay area and we even had some rain yesterday. El Nino translates to beacoup rain and snow so if you will be traveling in the Sierra this autumn make sure you have a well thought out escape route planned in advance in case you have to bail out.

Thomas

[Terence McDonagh]

Looks beautiful. Any shots from the ground? That looks like one heck of a cliff on the left side of the image.