High Sierra Topix

With this subject popping up again, i went searching the vast internet and found this amazing video of a helicopter flight up the middle fork with stunning views of the canyon and side canyon waterfalls (filmed in a high water year) including nice views of the gorge of despair midway through the video. I don't think this has been posted before. Be warned, cheesy music....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhMEkfCfbY4&lr=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

While watching the video, i started thinking this would be a great low water year to walk up the river in the Fall from kings canyon to tehipite. My mind then kept going to include the gorge of despair. Talk about the ultimate Sierra adventure, linking the two in either direction...Got me thinking about other possible new adventures and routes.

Anyone got any wild routes they have mapped out and wondered if they have been done, could be connected, etc? Could be a fun thread, dream on....

For years, I've dreamed of traveling up from Yucca Pt. to TV, but I think I will leave it as a dream. I'm getting too old for all of the bushwhacking, fording and boulder hopping it would require on the same trip.

Jimr wrote:
For years, I've dreamed of traveling up from Yucca Pt. to TV, but I think I will leave it
as a dream.

This would be a good year for that Jimr, either late Sept or early October, especially if
things continue to stay dry as there have been up this point.

Dan,
Great video; Tehipite is on my wish list partly thanks to all the discussions here. If I'm lucky next week, I'll make it down to Blue Canyon/Tunemah Peaks and that provides a nice overview of Tehipite to the south. As for other low water year targets: Muro Blanco, Enchanted Gorge come to mind. Or, harking back to some "fun" crawls from the good old days: maybe follow Gardiner creek or Turret Creek to their source. There are plenty of options in that later category!
cg

maverick wrote:

Jimr wrote:
For years, I've dreamed of traveling up from Yucca Pt. to TV, but I think I will leave it
as a dream.

This would be a good year for that Jimr, either late Sept or early October, especially if
things continue to stay dry as there have been up this point.

My wife would kill me first, just to save herself the worry

great video, thanks for posting! I hope to make it to tehipite someday soon!

Another option:
The 1905 map shows a trail starting at Deer Cove on the SF of Kings and going up to Happy Gap then down to TV downstream of Gorge of Despair. See link:
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/mrsid2.2/mr ... e_1905.sid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I've read reports of the trail up to Happy Gap...wonder if any remains of it down to TV.

Thought I would pull this thread back up as myself and two others are looking at an off trail trek into Tehipite in about ten days. Our plan is to head up the MF kings from Yucca into Tehipite, then attempt to find the old trail shown on this map: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourputt/2 ... 577891678/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Our theory is, if there was once a trail, that means there is at least a passable grade. If we cant find the trail, we can always retreat back down to Yucca. According to google earth, it looks like the most difficult part will be negotiating Silver Spur. Once that is accomplished, the stream grade looks manageable.

Curious if anyone has any beta on this. I've found a few accounts of the trek up the MF Kings, so that seems doable, this year more than ever with the drought. But no beta on the old Silver Spur to Monarch trail (other than a 1957 reference). Makes it all the more intriguing.

Thanks in advance for any input you may have

David, what trail? I see no trail on the jpg from Yucca Point. I see a contour line.

You may be interested in this:
http://www.climber.org/TripReports/1999/477.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A waterproof pack and some canyoneering experience seem to be the best combo for such a venture.

The trail appears to parallel Silver Creek, then jogs north across the spur as it drops to the valley. There is also this quote from the Climbers Guide to the High Sierra 1954: The Tehipite Valley may be reached from Cedar Grove by crossing the Monarch Divide at Happy Gap and following down the east bank of Silver Creek. This is a dangerous route, unfit for pack animals, and is further complicated by the fact that it is often impossible to cross the Middle Fork of the Kings in the valley. In the spring, at high water, this river may present an impassable barrier at many points, as the only bridge is a suspension bridge at Simpson Meadow

Another quote from the "American Forestry: Volume 24" states that the silver creek trail is "the best of the three trails to the valley". I'll try and pull up that link.