Kern River Near Rattlesnake Creek

[maxr22]

I am in the early stages of planning a trip for next year out of Mineral King. I want to explore the kern canyon area, but it looks like there might be a lot of fire damage. Could anyone confirm or comment on how severe the fire damage is and if the areas I have circled in the picture look about right? Pictures would be great too! I hiked through little yosemite valley by Sugarloaf dome and if the fire damage is comparable then I probably will look at other options for this trip.

Capture.JPG

I have looked at few trip reports, but what I could find was along the High Sierra Trail.

If you want to revise or circle in CalTopo https://caltopo.com/m/B3VQ4/75SL6LPNTMKRR6MU feel free!

[c9h13no3]

Turn on the fire history layer in Caltopo. You'll get an idea of how recent the burn was.

[Jim F]

max22,

The top circled area should be expanded south to where the High Sierra Trail (descending from the Chagoopa Plateau) hits the bottom of the Kern Canyon and expanded north to the top of the map. I have gone through that section several times in the last three summers since the fire. Initially, it was very unpleasant. It reeked of death and everything was covered in soot. Camping in this beloved area (including at Kern Hot Springs) became a hassle. Progressively, there has been a turn for the better. Low lying vegetation (such as ferns) is bouncing back resiliently. Trail crews have done some great work there.

A couple of additional observations:

In this area I am very wary of camping near destroyed/severely compromised trees that are still standing. A couple of large falling branches landed far too close.

Last winter's storms left the bridge over the Kern (near Chagoopa Falls) damaged, but still useable. The upstream side of the bridge looks like a giant beaver dam built with debris that washed downstream. Hopefully, this valuable bridge can remain strong.

Heading north up the Kern this summer, I was unable to cross Whitney Creek. I had to follow Whitney Creek up and out of the Kern Canyon to meet the PCT at Crabtree Meadow. Fires aside, when one plans on crossing creeks with the names Rattlesnake, Big Arroyo, Kern, Rock, Whitney, Wallace,.. it might be advisable to have a plan B already formulated. Immediate assistance in the Kern Trench is unlikely. (BTW, the rattlesnakes are still there!)

Enjoy your 2024 trip planning. I am doing that now, too.

Jim

[rayfound]

Well, I thought I was going to be able to share some insights from my recent Little Kern/Kern Flat loop which featured landscapes dominated by fire effect - but I looked over your map and discovered that there is TWO Rattlesnake Creeks that flow into the Upper Kern. One at about 6600ft (the one you mentioned) and one at around 4800ft just upstream of the forks.

[gtw_smooth_ambler]

Here's a couple pics from July '22. First shot is in the canyon south of the hot springs, chagoopa falls on the left. Was pretty nice out there.

Next shot is from one of the camps on the river looking north at red spur. These didn't burn much presumably since there wasn't much under-story. One had a kinda sketchy widowmaker that we couldn't find a 100% safe tent site from. The area south of rattlesnake burned the hardest and was the most oppressive but somebody we met on the way out said it got better down by the ranger station.

[maxr22]

Thanks @gtw_smooth_ambler this is exactly what I am looking for!! Hopefully someone else can chime in with photos near the ranger station to fill in the gaps.

[richlong8]

I have been in the areas you are talking about, and I do not remember any areas that were heavily damaged by fire. The further south you go on the Kern, the more likely you will be in areas that were devastated by the 1975 Flat Fire, and other more recent fires. From Kern Lake north, from what I remember, it is not bad compared to the area from Painters Camp on south. The trail from Jordan Hot Spring down to the river by Painters has been devastated by fire, but if you go north from Painters(trail is primitive and disappearing), there is some fire damage. The river "cliffs" out a few miles north of the painters cabin. The other side of the cliffed out area is Hole in the Ground, which is a day's hike at most from the ranger station, and it is not badly fire damaged. It is hard to find any area in the Southern Sierras that has not been touched by fire at one time or the other.