TR: Kern Headwaters basin exploration

[robertseeburger]

I really enjoyed reading this trip report.
And I enjoyed reading all the comments as well.
This area is a special area for just wandering around, and it looks like you tailored your itinerary to do just that..hit all the basins.
Great photos..

And I read Ian's Lucy's Foot pass with interest. I have never been over. I researched extensively for a 2018 trip and chose Little Joe's, which was uneventful. I went over Harrison Pass many years ago also without incident.. I saw someone say doesnt anyone go over Harrison Pass anymore?
Sure the north side can be difficult, especially with snow, but also the view across to Mount Brewer is magnificent. I would plug Harrison as a worthy pass to go over if crossing the Kings Kern divide..
But perhaps just defer to sekihiker as it looks like he has done them all!

[sukhoi_584th]

Nice report! What's the Kern trail like from around the Milestone turn-off down to the Tyndall junction? I'm going to be coming up the Kern from Colby in a couple weeks and am curious what to expect and how hard the travel is going to be.

Do you mean the cutoff that runs straight east-west from near Milestone straight over to Tyndall, or the one that loops up via LSA?

The cutoff is really good, obvious with excellent tread. There is one spot where I always lose it, where it skirts the north shore of a small lake/meadow, but otherwise it's in great shape. Just look for it to cut across a little finger of meadow and then pick it up as it climbs away from the lake.

The Lake South America trail is SUPER faint, especially as it climbs away from the junction with the cutoff trail. It's still broadly follow-able, but it takes a bit of hunting around. Luckily the area is flat and non-technical enough that you can generally make your own way until you pick it up further up.

Ahh I was a bit confused about the "cutoff". Map for discussion:
map.PNG
I now understand you were talking about Trail 4, and it's good to hear that has good tread. For some reason I thought you had gone south and come up Route/Trail 3. My original question was to try to learn how rough/hard to follow/bushwhacky Trail 2 is. I'm suspicious of the Kern trail north of the HST turnoff to Wallace as there's so little traffic.

Do you recall what the camping options are like along Trail 4? We'll be getting to the 1/2/4 junction toward the end of the day so I'm guessing we may want to camp at the lake at the junction, or the one just a bit east along Trail 4. It sounds like Trail 1 may be difficult to try to take all the way to LSA at the end of the day.

Finally, I presume Trail 5 to LSA is also good tread (in case we actually make it there the prior day)? On Strava Heat Map it looks to have similar traffic levels as Trail 4. Thanks!

Camping is real good on trail 4 right at that Junction lake. From there, there won't really be much until the next lake, and I don't remember seeing much in the way of flat spots in even that area. If you're leading a large ish group you might need to continue up to near the high point of the trail where the terrain flattens out. I would probably just camp at the Junction.

Trail 5 is in good shape and easy to follow, much better than Trail 1. I did Trail 2 a long time ago but I remember it being well built and easy to follow.

Appreciate the info! We ended up changing our route due to the heat wave last weekend, and then cut things short because of the incessant rain and thunderstorms Sun-Tue. So we only made it up Bubbs to East Lake and Lake Reflection, which were great! Now we're hoping in a year or two to get into the Upper Kern via Cottonwood Lakes.

[Fviolich]

Loved your post and timely. Headed for the Upper Kern 8/23 from East Lake over Milly’s Foot Pass and dropping in from there. Great description, your route map helped, and pro photos for an “amateur”! Really curious if you saw any trout activity, water-bound insects in the lakes and streams. Was the water cold? How were mosquitoes? Many thanks!

[shtinkypuppie]

Loved your post and timely. Headed for the Upper Kern 8/23 from East Lake over Milly’s Foot Pass and dropping in from there. Great description, your route map helped, and pro photos for an “amateur”! Really curious if you saw any trout activity, water-bound insects in the lakes and streams. Was the water cold? How were mosquitoes? Many thanks!

There were tons of trout in Lake South America. Practically had to chase them off to get water. I'd bet good money on everything downstream from there being pretty well stocked. Otherwise, I didn't actually notice any more trout in Checkmark or the Milestone lakes. I'm pretty sure Casper lake had fish but I didn't notice an abundance. My apologies, I'm not a fisherman and didn't pay that much attention.

[Fviolich]

Encouraging report about Lake a South America. I had read reports from a couple of years ago that the lake wasn’t aerated enough resulting in low nutrients and fish counts. Perhaps it’s stocked? Many thanks!

[Fviolich]

Thanks Jay sounds amazing. Curious to hear your experience fishing the lakes and streams and how effective wet and dry flies are in each. Will tread lightly!

[Noahz]

What’s the name of the miners camp lake high on the great western divide ?

[shtinkypuppie]

What’s the name of the miners camp lake high on the great western divide ?

Sorry, I'm not sure to what you're referring.