SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

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jsbrown14
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by jsbrown14 »

Hi guys, sorry for the late reply. I've been working on assembling my photos, and I hope to have them online within a week or two. Will send a link once they're online. There were some magnificent vistas, especially when Chagoopa Falls came into view.
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richlong8
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by richlong8 »

That is some very impressive hiking, jsbrown, and merlynnman. I was in the Kern Canyon a month ago at the HST junction area looking up at that canyon wall, and wondering what it would be like coming down. Sounds like quite an E ticket ride! From Siberian Outpost, which route do you take into Funston Lake to get there in a day? Do you stay high and follow the ridge line, or follow the water flow, or go up Forgotten Canyon?
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jsbrown14
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by jsbrown14 »

Rich, it depends on where you're starting in Siberian Outpost. For one starting point, here's a rough sketch of how to go. The lines I've drawn are way too straight to be practical, and you shouldn't use them for GPS waypoints or anything, but it gives you the general idea:

(sorry, I couldn't figure out how to embed the image, so you need to click through)
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5158385" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alternatively, if you're starting close to the confluence of Siberian Pass creek and Rock Creek, you should probably go west down Rock Creek until the Forgotten Canyon confluence, then turn southwest, staying at roughly constant altitude until you intersect the final line I'm showing on the descent into Kern. I haven't hiked this route, but I suspect the SW traverse is fine. Avoid lower Rock Creek -- it looks gnarly on the topos and I think it requires technical climbing.

I'm still working on the photos. Hopefully (!) this week.
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richlong8
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by richlong8 »

Thanks for taking the time to put that together. I have never been to Funston Lake, and was always hesitant because I assumed I would go the long way around thru the fishless Rocky Basin Lakes. But coming in from Cottonwood, following that branch of Siberian Creek Ck makes sense- . Maybe next year I will try a little 3-4 day trip. Cottonwood Pass to PCT, Siberian Pass, then it looks like easy crosscountry. Those little lakes/tarns before you cross over the ridge into Funston might even have some fish. Thanks again. Jensen's old Kern Peak/Olancha Wilderness Press hiking guide talks about Forgotten Canyon- supposed to be nice in there, and rarely visited. Might be interesting to leave that way and loop back to Cottonwood.
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jsbrown14
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by jsbrown14 »

You're welcome. The routes you describe are all good options. We entered Cottonwood pass and spent the first night in Big Whitney Meadow. Second day we hiked toward Rocky Basin lakes, but went on past them to camp at Johnson Lake. The third day, two of us went down into Kern Canyon and back (my earlier long post). The fourth day we hiked through Siberian Outpost and even stopped to fish those small lakes east of Funston (sadly, no fish, no bites, and no clear explanation; one Inyo ranger said something about removing the trout due to an endangered frog (?), but who knows). The last night we camped on the far eastern end of Siberian Outpost, and the final morning we hiked out the PCT to Cottonwood pass.

The off-trail travel across Siberian between the PCT and Funston lake is really pleasant. We didn't have time to poke around Forgotten Canyon, but it also looked inviting and untraveled.
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jsbrown14
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by jsbrown14 »

Finally uploaded some photos.

Our first view of the lower section of canyon, looking down the stream that drains Funston Lake:
Image

Getting down toward the shoulder of the valley, where it starts to get steep:
Image

Continuing down:
Image

Chagoopa falls, getting lower:
Image

The river, at last!
Image

Emerging from the swamp (see previous post about crossing the valley floor):
Image

I was too tired to take photos on the way up...
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by Cross Country »

I believe the easiest way to KHS is over Franklin Pass from MK. I've never been this way but plan to return to the Kern in 2012 with GKaz and anyone else interested in going in early August. We plan to fish the Kern for several days to just below Kern Lake(s). Ahhh, warm days and cool nights and low enough elevation to do on a beta blocker at 69. Here's hoping that everything goes well enough with my health to do it. I believe it will, but then I've always been an optimums.
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richlong8
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by richlong8 »

Catching those Kern river rainbows is worth the effort. I have been down to the Kern via Trail Pass and Little Whitney, and also come up from the south via the Little Kern River bridge trail. Personally, I might choose the southern route over Franklin Pass and Rattlesnake Ck. The mileage is not that much different, and it is a lot flatter and easier to come in from the south. Almost no elevation gain in or out. That is the way most of the packer traffic goes. Good luck jcarter. Sounds like you deserve a return trip!
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richlong8
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by richlong8 »

Great pictures of a tough route. you got some huevos, my friend!
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Re: SHORTEST WAY TO KERN HOT SPRING

Post by AvFan »

I hiked the High Sierra Trail the past two summers and wondered if the route described even existed. This August I skipped the throngs at Whitney and exited at the Cottonwood Lakes trailhead via Rock Creek and Army Pass. As I came down into the Kern from the Moraine Lake/Sky Parlor Meadow area the Rock Creek drainage, Mt. Guyot and the Kern trench were laid out in front of me. I too wondered if there was a way to go immediately east and avoid the slog up the Kern to Junction Meadow and up Wallace Creek to the PCT. Where I was going to cross Rock Creek in a couple of days couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 steep miles from Kern Hot Springs. I took a very brief look up Rock Creek and it is vertical almost from the HST crossing. This was also my first decent length solo trip so cross country adventures were not in the plan so I continued north. From the earlier posts it looks like it might be possible for those in very good shape and decent navigation skills supported by a GPS to climb east. Thanks to those who posted an easterly route is possible. Would you come out of the Kern via this easterly route with a full pack?

Also, I agree the swamp at the bottom of the route described is really nasty. The main trail squishes through a portion of it and I wouldn't like to cross it. IMO that 1+ mile portion of the HST is probably the worst. Either you are slogging along through a humid mosquito filled bog or though a really hot rock debris field before crossing the bridge over the Kern. The hot springs are a welcome reward at the end of the day.
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