High Sierra Topix

Quite interesting trip. I am looking forward to read the rest.

Thanks for posting another segment! Great photos. Good thing that you were able to catch yourself after slipping. I seem to remember Rogue going down the Enchanted Gorge on another trip. He took a photo of himself standing in the thickets at the bottom, I think. Did he recall that slippery grassy slope that you encountered?

I was on a trip where we went over Black Giant Pass from the JMT and into Ionian. We started at Bishop Pass. I felt that was a pretty easy way to get into the basin. We camped at the first lake past Black Giant Pass. Our second night in the basin was at Chasm Lake, which is still one of the most beautiful lake settings I've seen. A roped climber dropped down to us at the lake. He was on a solo down the gorge and planned to make a loop and go back up Goddard Creek all in one day. We went out over Wanda Pass. It was good to see photos of the top of the pass, which I thought was easy as well, especially the Wanda Lake side.

That was when I went down Goddard Creek and it was so miserable at the bottom. This was my first time in the Enchanted Gorge. And last time for that matter.

In general I doubt I will ever go back to that lower section of Goddard Creek. I think I have better sense than to ever attempt Tunemah Pass.

I'm surprised you chose to go there a second time
I went down Goddard creek in '89. No need to ever go back there again.
Was supposed to go down Enchanted Gorge in '85, but plans changed when one of the group broke their ankle in Ionian Basin. Over the years, I've heard the sames tune, "the only thing Enchanted about that gorge is it's name". It will never see my "to do" list.


I finally got around to viewing the video. The Less Stroud approach, pretty cool (except for the extra mileage setting up and retrieving the camera)!

For the pedantic version of the record, the USGS 7.5-minute “Tunemah Pass” is a mistake, repeated on Tom Harrison’s Kings Canyon High Country. The actual pass is located 200’ below Point 10987’ as it follows the 19th-century sheepherder trail from Bunch Grass [not so] Flat and drops 5K’ down the ridge to where Goddard Creek enters Simpson Mdw at 6K’.

The “faux” pass no doubt leads to some interesting country and has made for a number of adventures since publication of the 7.5 series ... not that the “real” pass and trail is any kind of reasonable alternative for those headed to Simpson Mdw.

I taught school and coached after school sports. I didn´t coach my 2 kids little league teams because other dads did. If they hadn´t I would have. I always said ¨thank god there are dads who do this so I don´t have to¨.

I don´t remember ever writing a trip report because to me it´s tedious like coaching little league. Thank you to those of you who write trip reports.

The actual pass is located 200’ below Point 10987’

fourputt- If I'm not mistaken this is exactly where the pass is shown to be located on both the Tom Harrison and USGS 7.5 Minute Series Maps. It may be a bit more than 200 ft according to the map I attached. I'm not sure where the pass would be if not there...

Should've said 200' below Pt 10987 to the south.



Secor, describing the Tunemah Trail, says "Make a steep ascent to the northeast, climbing over Peak 10,987, which is the real Tunemah 'Pass' (Some maps erroneously place the name on a different saddle 0.4 mile northwest of the peak.)"

You can save a little elevation by not going over the very top, but if you've spent so much effort you might as well enjoy the view.

And it's a surreal feeling camping in remotest Kings Canyon at Bunchgrass Flat and being able to see the lights of Hwy 180 at night.

I guess it's a bit odd to call that crossing a pass, since it feels like you're just going over the ridge of the point itself. Regardless, thanks for the clarification. I doubt highly I will ever be in that area ever again.. The prospect of going around Goddard Creek does not entice me one bit..

Alright fellow readers... Here's Week 4 which continues where we left off immediately after the Enchanted Gorge.

Days 22 & 23 Layover in the Canyon at the Confluence of Goddard & Enchanted Creeks
Since we went down the Enchanted Gorge all in one day we were actually ahead of schedule by a day. So we rested after the utter and total misery of Day 21 in the Gorge. Rogue had planned a layover day in the Gorge itself so we took an extra day of rest just to dry our gear out from the previous days downpour. On Day 22 there was some rain at 4 A.M. which was odd to say the least. It was quite hot and there were plenty of mosquitoes. We practically had a fire all day for drying things out. On Day 23 it was far cooler and it rained during various parts of the day. We also had smoke on both days from some fire but couldn't figure out which direction it came from. The canyon itself is quite picturesque but the prospects of climbing out of it the following day was definitely a damper.

Day 24- Canyon at the Confluence of Goddard & Enchanted Creeks to Lake 10,570 (Below Mt. Woodworth) 3+ Miles
We started the day out no earlier than 9 as we had little more than 3 Miles to go. In an attempt to get away from the awful brush of Goddard Creek we started angling up to 8000 FT on the Northeast side of the canyon. This posed to be a horrendous decision as we had to traverse through a thick oak forest! Yes... Oak at the stupid altitude of around 8000 FT. I could not believe my eyes nor could me feet or body take the pounding of fighting through nearly impenetrable trees! The hill sides were steep and filled with loose rock which only added to the painful climb upwards. We had to lose 150 precious feet just to cross the creek that drained our lakes far above in the drainage. Here we took lunch and prepared for the most grueling climb of our lives. After crossing it was no longer oak to be battled with but willows. Oh.. how I cursed the wretched vegetation! There was nothing one could do but battle and fight their way through it. Not only was the angle impossibly steep but it was very hot.. easily in the 80's with blazing sun. This climbing up the drainage continued for hours on end. It never seemed to end. And of course as we looked across the creek the way was easier with less brush. Unfortunately getting to it meant dropping down and around to cross the creek and fighting through more brush. Eventually we came to the last stretch of brush and what could it be if not the spiky ball brush. I'm not familiar with the scientific name of this plant but the name Rogue and I gave it describes the evil that it gives. The spikes not only hurt but also stung you and stayed latched on until you forcefully took them off. The last misery of the day was a slope of talus so steep one thought he was climbing a vertical wall. It was fortunately fairly stable and we trudged our way up the slope inch by inch. After the entirety of the afternoon was passed we finally reached the bench where our lakes were. We went to the smaller one for it had better camping. The final slope was easily the steepest slope I've ever climbed and Rogue agreed in saying it was the single hardest longest climb he had ever done. It was difficult for me to imagine any worse an experience than the Enchanted Gorge but this came in as a close 2nd. I was physically and mentally exhausted to the point where I collapsed into camp. Somewhere on the order of 3700 FT in just over 1.5 miles is no walk in the park. Thunderheads built all day long but no rain came of it. We enjoyed our dinner amid a gorgeous sunset.
Day 25- Layover
Our plan was to climb Mt. Woodworth but laziness prevailed today. I was still tired from the previous days climb and just wanted the body to rest up. We realized later that we should have climbed Woodworth from that point because it is such a difficult mountain to get to and neither of us wanted to get to this area again. It was a very remote area. The feeling of remoteness was all around. We estimated that very few parties have ever even been in this area for it requires the toil of climbing the drainage that we had climbed out of Goddard Creek. There was not a single sign of an established campsite whatsoever. Lots of clouds built again but no rain. The streak of rain seemed to have ended or so we thought...