LeConte Divide / Goddard Canyon Trip Report

[Harlen]

My wife Lizzie and I, and our usual partner Carleton stretched a Laconte Divide trip over into Kings Canyon National Park. We headed in Sept. 13 and came out 5 days later. The Laconte Divide is part of Sierra National Forest, and therefore one of our dog friendly standby areas. But from the many nice high points along the L. Divide, one is finally lured over into the wild Goddard Canyon, which can lead on into even wilder basins, such as Ionian Basin, Goddard Creek/Blue Canyon, and others- beautiful places, but where the dogs cannot go. We only went as far as Martha Lake, at the head of Goddard Canyon, but returned over a new route, crossing just north of Mt. Reinstein, dropping into the lovely Blackcap Basin, a place our canine hiking partners have been before, so I'll slip in a couple of dog shots for Russ, who we know is looking forward to his first trip with the new lab.

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The dome country around Courtright Res. is fantastic, but untravelled compared to Yosemite's. Maxon Trailhead leads one through some fine domes, and a diverse forest that highlights Abies magnifica- the red fir.

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Young and old red fir trees.

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Carleton is both a bird and mushroom expert- at least he knows his Boletes. We added this king bolete to the first night's dinner.

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The established route over LeConte Divide crosses at Hell for Sure Pass, which is 17 miles in, and leads one through Red Mountain Basin. We were hoping to make Hell for Sure Lake- just before the pass, but fell 3 miles short. Note Hutton Pass just right of center in the photo. You can move on and off the crest almost at will along LeConte and White Divide to the south.

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Looking south up Goddard Canyon toward Mount Goddard from just over the crest, east side of H.for S. Pass. From our second day on we never saw another soul for the 3.5 days it took us to circle back around to the dome country above Courtright Res. Last day we met a nice hunter set to go in for 14 days.

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Coming into Martha Lake basin at the end of our second long day. We figured it at 25 miles in. Just above C's head is the ridge that holds Lake Confusion and its pass, and the smooth saddle to his right is a second pass that can be used to lead down into yet another high basin on the west side of Laconte Divide.

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luckily one of us staggered out early, and found one of the brightest sunrises ever! These clouds were really moving too. Martha Lake is a stark and highly exposed area, and we were nearly blown away setting up camp.

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Back over on the west side of LeConte Divide. These are some of the beautiful, unnamed peaks above Blackcap Basin.

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Same peak illuminated by what one photographer friend called "sweet light." I'll leave it for Mav or SSSDave to fill in the physics of it.

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The high mountain seen here is Finger Peak. Crisp, cold mornings.

[Harlen]

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We caught a pan-full of rainbow trout of great size.

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I'm not dead sure, but I believe this pan is nearly 3 feet across.

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The long walk out along the North Fork of the Kings River is through some beautiful forest and meadow country. There is the ubiquitous lodgepole pine, but also ...

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Western white pine, and ...

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some immense Sierra junipers.

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Hey Russ, here's our "Mountain Pom" on a summer trip, hanging in the rocks.

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There are some very rustic old cabins in this same area of the Northern Kings River. This is one of 2 cabins along the North Fork near Big Maxon Meadow. Anyone know who built them? - cattle ranchers is our guess.

Lizzie and I recommend this area for folks who like to put in long miles. The best high country basins, lakes and mountains are generally pretty far in. The southern end of LeConte Divide, and on into White Divide, contains some really fine granite peaks. Good luck, the Harlens.

[Gazelle]

plan to go for the ionian and the white divide peaks next year, so thank you for a great report! kristine

[wildhiker]

I went in to Blackcap Basin in mid-August from Wishon Reservoir area (Rancheria trailhead). The basin was beautiful, but it was indeed a long walk to get there - I figure nearly 20 miles through mostly forest. But I only saw 10 people in an entire week, so this is lightly traveled country. Thanks for the photos, especially that sunrise!
-Phil

[Harlen]

Last day we met a nice hunter set to go in for 14 days.

Question for Russ, and other hunters: Can a hunter camp on the "kill" and eat as much of it as he or she likes? Seems like that would be allowed, and it would be a good way to minimize the carry out of a big deer. We assume a lot of hunters use pack animals to do it.

We wondered, because the guy we met seemed to have a pretty small amount of gear to stay in 14 days.

[sekihiker]

Wow! That country looks just as pretty in the fall. Thanks for posting.

[freestone]

Really like the picture of the lake with ice at the edges, well done... and thanks for posting the TR

[Jimr]

I love that area. It is a long way in though. I went there in '85' on a trans-sierra hike. We made Rae lake on the first day. It was not our plan, but the flies were so bad that we decided top do our first two days on day one. I can still remember waking up throughout the night at Rae Lake batting flies away from my face that didn't exist. We headed over HfS pass (not sure why it's called that) to Martha Lk. then into upper Goddard Canyon, Ionian Basin, Neitche col, jmt to Dusy and out S. Lake. For some reason, I decided at Martha lake that angling up the left side of Reinstein pass, through the large talus was a good idea. Wrong move. The talus became larger and larger. When I was about 50' from the pass, I hit an .....impasse. A huge boulder sitting on top of a huge, flat boulder. I couldn't go around any other way but to put my pack in front of me and belly slide around pushing my pack in front of me. I think there is a story I wrote about the Ionian section of this trip somewhere in the HST archives. Here it is.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3908&p=32622&hilit=Ionian#p32622

The second time I went there, we stayed at Big Maxon Meadow, then to Rae Lake. 1990. I took my wife (then girlfriend). We day hiked up to HfS pass, then down far enough so she could get a glimpse of the black rock of the Emerald Peak area. An inspiring contrast. It was a July 4th weekend, so on the way out, seeing the zoo at Big Maxon Meadow, we decided to hike out the whole way.

[xcountry rider]

Thanks for the TR and pictures! I have yet to get up into that area. I would really like to check it out. I am all for long miles, would have to convince my hiking partner (wifey). She is a trooper. She loves solitude, Might be an easy sale...

[rlown]

Last day we met a nice hunter set to go in for 14 days.

Question for Russ, and other hunters: Can a hunter camp on the "kill" and eat as much of it as he or she likes? Seems like that would be allowed, and it would be a good way to minimize the carry out of a big deer We assume a lot of hunters use pack animals to do it.

We wondered, because the guy we met seemed to have a pretty small amount of gear to stay in 14 days.

You can eat what you kill, but even in 14 days, that won't put a dent in what you have to carry out. 3 of us back in '09 got a 300+ lb bear. We ate a bit, but it took us 2 trips to get the quartered bear out. No wanton waste. Even a deer is a challenge if it's a muley. I dragged one out 2 miles in Utah. Luckily the horns fit around my waist which made it easier.