SEKI Roaring River Campsite

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DoyleWDonehoo
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Post by DoyleWDonehoo »

bryanalban wrote:If some in the group are too tired to do both, which day should I take them with me? Would you suggest Cloud or Deadman as the better day hike if you could only do one.
Bang per mile, I would say Deadman Canyon:
http://www.sierra-trails.com/deadman/dead19.htm
Start from here:
http://www.sierra-trails.com/deadman/dead16.htm

Cloud Canyon is nice, but you have to hike a ways fairly viewless for the payoff:
http://www.sierra-trails.com/kaweah/Kaweah08.htm
The station was built around 1956 after the old one burned down.
And back a ways near Sugarloaf Valley below Seville Lake was Shorty Lovelace's historic homestead, which the Rangers burned down. They asked him where all his cabins were, and he basically told them to go fish. Some day I may visit his old Homestead site.
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oldranger
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Shorty's Cabins

Post by oldranger »

I don't think the "rangers burned the cabins" In 85 a couple of fire crew guys and I actually did a burnout to protect the remnants of the "headquarters" complex. As I understand it the headquarters was not "defended" during the next fire. This area had been picked over so there was nothing but the brokendown structures. There is a preserved "reconstructed, really" cabin a couple of hundred yards below the last, (highest) ford in in cloud canyon where the trail starts to go up and around the north end of the Whaleback and on to colby lake and pass.

It is my sense that the park service tends to manage western parks much more for their "natural" features than for their human history. It is as if we should feel guilty that we explored, trapped, ran cattle, and mined before the parks were parks. We don't even focus on the activities of native americans in the high sierra. There are a bunch sites, including bedrock mortars in sugarloaf valley, some immediately adjacent to the trail! There is even a bedrock mortar in the middle of the trail in cloud canyon near cement table meadow. There are signs of a camp high above big bird lake if you know what to look for.

I spent more than one night at remote sites that I knew had been occupied more that once by native americans. I could (and I'm not "spiritulally gifted) sense the presense of families escaping the heat of the san Joaquine Valley with children playing in the water and mothers and fathers relaxing in the sun, not much different than what we do today.

Whoa did I get carried away ...

Cloud Canyon or Deadman? It is about 5 miles to the lower end of Big wet meadow where you get the classic view of the Whaleback. It is 7 miles and more elevation gain to upper ranger meadow and the view of the U shaped upper Deadman Canyon and Coppermine pass and "Death Falls." I bet virtually no one in the park knows that place name. Where the trail goes up the east side of the canyon to top death falls is one of my favorite flower gardens in the sierra, to but that makes a long day trip. I agree that as a whole the trip up deadman is more scenic and Lower Ranger, about 5 miles up provides a pretty incredible view of Big Bird Peak. But if I only had 10 miles round trip in me I'd opt for lunch on the big square rock at the lower end of Big Wet Meadow in Cloud canyon.

Have a good trip.

mike
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Post by mountaineer »

It is my sense that the park service tends to manage western parks much more for their "natural" features than for their human history.
Very good point. I often wondered why, on one hand, a certain segment of people say we are "animals" and "one with the earth" and on the other hand those very same people act like we humans have no business even being here. I find human history a lot more interesting than some of the natural history.
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Post by DoyleWDonehoo »

mountaineer wrote:
It is my sense that the park service tends to manage western parks much more for their "natural" features than for their human history.
Very good point. I often wondered why, on one hand, a certain segment of people say we are "animals" and "one with the earth" and on the other hand those very same people act like we humans have no business even being here. I find human history a lot more interesting than some of the natural history.
I have always said that we are a part of nature, not apart from nature.

I have some long emails from an "old timer" who knew Shorty Lovelace well and had many an interesting story to tell. One of these days I will get them into shape and post them. (Not soon, for tomorrow I am off into the backcountry till next monday.)
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Rsunder9
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Re: SEKI Roaring River Campsite

Post by Rsunder9 »

Can anyone provide a recent update on the Roaring River Ranger station and nearby campsites, rules, etc. I backpacked there in 1966 on the way to Colby Lake. I plan to return July 2019 and want to avoid surprises. I have a 1966 pic of the ranger station.
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Re: SEKI Roaring River Campsite

Post by wildhiker »

I camped there coming and going on my trip up Deadman Canyon in August 2017. The descriptions on this thread seem pretty accurate. I used the camping area upstream on the west side described by OldRanger and found it pretty nice. My first night camping there, the ranger was not in and it appears that there were no other campers, either. Coming back three days later to camp again, there was a horse-packed group on the east side of the river and the packers were partying with ranger Cindy at the station. She graciously offered me a cold beer when I stopped in to say hi. That was really appreciated.
-Phil
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Re: SEKI Roaring River Campsite

Post by oldranger »

I always had a supply of cold beer and if I was off official time would frequently offer a beer. Once even gave a beer to a person I was giving a citation for leaving trash at a campsite at Sugarloaf Meadow after I tracked the party back to the station area. The current station was built in 1958 after the old station was accidentally burned down. The old station was part of an old camp that consisted of several structures, including a shower house, constructed by an orange cooperative executive in the 30s. When I was ranger there in 1984 there were 3 concrete slabs still there and visible. I, with the help of volunteers (mostly outward bound hoods in the woods), destroyed two of the slabs and used the broken material as fill in the Roaring River bridge approaches to lessen the steepness of the approaches. The old station was located on a slab that was immediately adjacent to the river and one corner was actually breaking off into the river when I first started working at roaring river. That was the first slab that I destroyed. The third slab is still present to my knowledge but I covered it with duff as there was no place else to hide the remains.
Mike

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Re: SEKI Roaring River Campsite

Post by Lumbergh21 »

I camped there in August 2016. That year, the water was lower I guess, and the river was pretty slimy. However this looks like a normal snow pack year, so more water. I had the camp all to myself. I camped on the ranger station side of the bridge just downstream from the bridge. It was late, and I didn't reaalize it at the time. But, the next morning I could tell that I had probably camped where I wasn't supposed to. It was flat and a durable surface, but in the light of morning it looked like they were trying to block it off from people camping there (there was a log pulled across the worn path to the camp site). I didn't notice an outhouse as mentioned above, but I guess there must have been. I wish that I had seen it, as I ended up digging a cat hole about an hour after leaving camp that morning.
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AlmostThere
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Re: SEKI Roaring River Campsite

Post by AlmostThere »

The outhouse is a box privy - if you are in the campsite to the north of the trail closest to the bridge, there is a sign just up the hill from the big open space with the fire pit. The bear box is across the trail from the campsite. The other campsite with a bear box is accessible by hiking up past the ranger station and looking for a use trail to the left that heads toward the river, behind a hill, to a large open site where the trail crew or the packers tend to camp as there are hitching rails and plenty of room for the bigger tents.

Last year we spent a late afternoon/evening camped at that site near the bridge, catching little brown trout and swimming. Was quite nice. The ranger was not in residence yet in July, as apparently her horse was injured coming over a pass - I assume Avalanche as there were places big rocks had fallen on the rocky switchbacks that would make it difficult for stock. Coming in from the pack station at Rowell TH there are no passes, and I certainly can't see them taking mules over Elizabeth or Colby.

It's definitely an area I will be back to again in the future. Love Kings Canyon in general but that region in particular.
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Re: SEKI Roaring River Campsite

Post by oldranger »

AT gave a perfect description of camping on the station side of the river!
Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
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