R04 TR: North Fork of the Kings- Woodchuck Country, 6/13-6/16 2019

[Harlen]

My plan for this trip was to cross Woodchuck Creek, and carry on over Crown Pass, and establish a camp somewhere between Portal and Cathedral Lakes, and climb Finger Peak. My questionable itinerary included a quick exploration of Blue Canyon's upper basin, but that would be far better without Bearzy. That 3-4 mile trip in sin would allow me to make a circular route into Crown Basin, and along a backcountry ridge trail to Scepter Lake and back via Chuck Pass, and back to Wishon Res. where I began. Nice trip for someday with Lizzie, who can take Bear for the National Park days. As it turned out, I was stymied by high waters anyway.

Here is the complex Finger Peak, to be visited later.


I hiked in via the south end of Wishon Res., and arrived at Woodchuck Creek about noon on Thursday, June 13, and man was it raging! I walked up and down the area around the trail to no avail, and nobody else to be seen for the next 4 days. I decided to bushwhack up to the point where Woodchuck Creek met the flow down from Woodchuck Lake's drainage in order to hopefully cross each branch separately- and had no luck there either- the twin flows were both cataracts! I backed off at least 10 log-jams, boulder-hops, and other possible crossings points- isn't it agonizing to contemplate hairy, sometimes death-defying river crossings?

This is near the usual crossing where the trail meets the creek ~ 2-3 miles from the Wishon trailhead. It is ~ 4' deep and hauling arse here!


At this age, I really enjoy the feeling of backing off- especially when I am also responsible for my great dog friend Bearzy. I would have tried some of them, but not with Bearzy on a weak rope, attached to the handle of a dog-pack. My dog set-up with real harness and 6ml. climbing rope is much more secure.

Even this seemingly easy log was beyond us, as Bear- or me, would've been lost had we fallen off it. Bearzy's too large to carry under my arm.


We thrashed on- actually, it got much better the higher up we got, but even though the creek leveled out and slowed its pace, it still would've been miserable deep and cold right before camp. Instead we camped on the west bank, and the creek crossing at 7:30 Friday morning was a piece of cake.

This is that crossing point- hardly wet my boots.


Speaking of "cake" and other food- this was my first experiment with a "foodless trip." I was trying a new kind of fast, based on the consumption of just coffee in the AM, and a whiskey-brandy mix at night.

These were the available foodstuffs, Bear had some cheese too, but I left his food alone. Mind, I didn't take both full bottles- I swear I had only 8 oz or so of the two mixed.


Nice and light, and I experienced no trouble with it at all, but I suppose it's not for everyone. I also can't really recommend that bushwhacking mileage up Woodchuck Creek. It wasn't horrendous, but it was bad enough. Due to that lost day, and the assumption of the same difficulty on the way back, ie, having to wait for a morning crossing, I decided to save the longer adventure to Finger Peak, and the crossing in and out of Blue Canyon Basin for another day. I did manage a nice circle from the ridge near Crown Pass, down Crown, over Scepter Pass, down to colorful Scepter Lake, and across the low hill west, and back to Crown Lake, which had looked so beautiful from my 2nd camp on the ridge above it. I stayed there awhile, walked all around the lake, admiring the turquoise melt zones; I first heard, and then saw a mature Bald eagle!

The eagle.


With a lot of day left, I decided to climb back up onto the same ridge, but a mile or so to the south where there are great views from the open, snowy domes. I had to deal with snow for about 90% of this trip after reaching the 8,500' level (*trip dates were 6/13 - 6/16). The sun-cups were a lot bigger than cups, so I called them "sun-pitchers" to give them a more happy association. I might have benefitted from using the crampons in the early mornings, but I didn't, and kicking steps in my good climbing boots did well enough. I had the Whippet tool in case of a slip on the passes.

These were the tools: La Sportiva boots, full gaiters, crampons and Whippet.


On the way back, I decided to again avoid the balls-clenching fear of being bashed to death in the riverbed- or, worse yet, seeing it happen to Bearzy. So I adapted my route back to remain on the west side of that same darn Woodchuck Creek, after first crossing Chuck Pass. It worked, but it was almost worse thrashing down the slopes above Woodchuck Creek, as I went too far left, above the creek, and so, up and down a lot of tangled forest slopes. Saw a few beautiful deer, Bear saw some squirrels- all of whom he would love to meet, and we hopped across all of the lesser torrents without incident. A bit over 30 miles of travel- a very pleasant trip, unburdened by food.

The view from the ridge above Crown Lake- Mt Goddard and Reinstein.

Frozen Crown Lake below. We were always able to find small melted out areas for camps.

Water source here was water dripping off rock faces.

Finger Peak in the distance. Watching clouds form was the best entertainment.

I was also lucky to have a nearly full moon.

[Harlen]

Margin of Crown Lake, and beyond is the ridge I spent 2 nights on.

Due to the high water, this became a forest trip. My favorite tree is the Red fir.

Larger version of the Red fir, or Abies magnifica.

Bear seems to prefer the Western white pine.

... or, any tree with a chicaree in it!

Scepter Lake- what is this rusty color made of?

No mountain climbs, but I did cross the top of these domes. They were corniced, and interesting for the views into the Tehipite Dome country, where I have yet to travel. It looks tremendous! [you can just make out the Kaweah Peaks too].

Tehipite. This short route of mine moved between the North and Middle Forks of the Kings River. Crossing Chuck Pass puts you back into the North Fork. Heading south, and deeply down into the Tehipite area would put you in the main branch of the Middle Fork.

Nearly back to the trailhead, we finally got to see some flowers.

Cat paws.

Snow plant, Sarcodes sanguinea.

[wildhiker]

Sounds like a great adventure! And nice photos. Did you walk the ridge from Crown Pass to Scepter Pass? I did the ridge between Chuck Pass and Crown Pass last year - it was a nice easy walk on granite with good views.
-Phil

[Harlen]

wildhiker writes:

Did you walk the ridge from Crown Pass to Scepter Pass? I did the ridge between Chuck Pass and Crown Pass last year - it was a nice easy walk on granite with good views.

Hey Phil,
Nope, I went down and around the shore of Halfmoon Lake, then up to Scepter Pass. I did reverse your Chuck Pass to Crown, or most of it, on the way back. No granite though- all snow in mid-June. I agree with you about the views; I feel that I have never before had a good look into that Tehipite country- wow but there's some huge vertical relief in there! Doesn't look like a ski route though??? In via Rancheria, down Rodgers Creek, and then humping across? Looks hot down there- lets go in September.

[Jimr]

Are you using a different camera or different settings? No offense, but the shots seem to be over saturated, unlike your other photos.

[Harlen]

Jimr wrote:

Are you using a different camera or different settings? No offense, but the shots seem to be over saturated, unlike your other photos.

I see this too, especially in the shot of Goddard and Reinstein with the tree in the middle. I gave up on the Nikon coolpix ~$90.00 point and shoot, and now am using a $50.00 ... here it is: KodakPixproFZ43. But I have used the latter on the past 3-4 trips?? Of course these sort of cameras leave a lot to be desired, but they also fit in my pocket, and pocketbook.

I am switching from the now unsupported Picasa editing service to the Google Photos version. There is a very tempting edit called "Pop," which I like because it adds a lot of definiton to distant peaks, snow, tree bark and rocks, but I think I often overuse it, and get this grainy, and oversaturated result. (See also the shot of Bear in the snow on the way up the domes- 5th from the bottom. "Pop" really gives definition to snowfields, but seems to over-saturate the blue skies. What is happening in "pixel-land" with this pop edit?

I never use the "saturation" or the various, named color choices, but go right to "basic adjustments" to improve washed out, or otherwise lousy images. I generally mess with contrast, exposure/shadow, and the troublesome "pop." I know that there is no substitute for shooting in the right light- used to be a very serious SLR film guy... what did they say? "Only fools and amateurs shoot in the middle of the day." I have been shamelessly editing, and need to learn the right balance between saving a lousy but useful image, and creating a monster. Thanks for your tolerance, and any sage advice Jim. Ian.

[windknot]

Thanks for the great report! I'm interested to hear more about why you decided to try the coffee/whiskey/brandy fast. Do you fast on a regular basis? How much weight did you lose on this trip?

[commonloon]

Thanks for the awesome trip report. Whenever I see an Eagle in the backcountry, it's always very spiritual.

Whiskey does have a great kcal to weight ratio. ;-)

[sekihiker]

Great report in an area I visit every year. It's interesting to see it covered in snow. I loved your photos. I have been blessed with eyes and ears that aren't very critical so I enjoy almost everything I choose to see and hear. BTW, your "cat paw" has the common name pussypaws and its other name is Calyptridium monospermum. I doubt that I'll ever be able to take a trip fueled exclusively by liquids. You must be in phenomenal shape.
Did you trust Bear to carry the liquids?

[tlsharb]

Great TR. I've never thought about leaving the freeze drieds behind and just taking a couple bottles of Fireball....could be a whole new approach to backpacking .
ts