TR: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

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oleander
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Traverse to Picket Lake

Post by oleander »

Why all the wordiness about the traverse to Picket Lake from the Colby Pass trail? Maybe we were lucky, but we found it simple:

1. Leave Colby Pass trail at 9650.
2. Cross the Kern-Kaweah at the easy rock hop. (This is not Gallats Meadow, but a small widening of the Kern-Kaweah one mile east of Gallats, that has a meadowy area around it.)
3. Walk due south. Coincidentally, this will be up the "tree escalator" mentioned by Hobbes - an upward contouring, diagonal line of trees. Stay between the upper trees and the lower trees. This is not a bench or a ramp exactly, but the ascent here is lower-angled than the rest of the ridge.
4. Arrive at lip of lake, and walk around it to the campsite.

In reverse:

1. Leave Picket Lake at the lip opposite the campsite.
2. Walk due north. Coincidentally, this will mostly be following a diagonal line of trees downhill, that is easy to walk.
3. When you're two-thirds down, aim for the east end of a meadowy area of the Kern-Kaweah.
4. That is the crossing. Rock-hop across.
5. Trail is one minute walk further north.

All Class 1 with a bit of easy/medium Class 2 thrown in.

- Elizabeth
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by richlong8 »

Awesome. Good and rocky, but no weather worries going back.
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by Rockyroad »

I'm still going through work emails so won't be able to review my photos and write a trip report right away but hopefully soon. I also took some GoPro videos but haven’t reviewed any of the clips yet. Hopefully, I got some good footage so stay tuned.

As a cross-country novice, I appreciated the opportunity to hike with and learn from Oleander, Richlong8, and Bluewater. The meetup was a great experience for me: seeing new places, making new friends, sharing trail experiences, getting ideas on gear and food... And the Picket Creek and Kaweah basins are so gorgeous!
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by oleander »

Rich approaching the inlet to Island Lake, after we crossed the saddle from Picket Lake.
Kaweah Basin 2015 1176.JPG
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by Hobbes »

Here's a brief photo-logue of the hike from Shepherd/PCT/HST on Wed, 7/22:

Looking SE from Bighorn Plateau on the PCT/JMT. Trace snow is visible on Russell & Whitney from the Tues storm event that had me under my tarp right below Shepherd pass for 15 hrs (3pm-6am):
Image

Same location looking SW towards Kaweahs & basin:
Image

Heading west down the HST from the PCT/JMT junction looking across Kern canyon to the Kaweahs & basin:
Image
Last edited by Hobbes on Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by Hobbes »

Looking south down the Kern canyon from the HST above the point where it connects to the Kern river trail:
Image

Same point looking west across Kern canyon towards the Kern-Kaweah canyon. The Colby pass trail heads up under Kern point to the right. The pyramid is Picket Guard peak that Gazelle climbed Thurs am wondering if anyone was going to show after spending Wed night alone @ the meet-up location:
Image

The reason it's called "Junction Meadow" - sitting @ 8k, it's a 2-3k climb out to the east, west or north:
Image
Last edited by Hobbes on Tue Jul 28, 2015 5:40 am, edited 4 times in total.
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maverick
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by maverick »

Hobbes wrote:
While Island lake was also awesome, I think many were wondering why this wasn't the meet-up spot. Probably because of limited camping;
Exactly Karl, wilderness impact.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by Hobbes »

Thurs 7/23 approx 11am - Picket lake looking north towards Kern point. A classic hanging bench lake that creates an 'infinity pool' effect. While Island lake was also awesome, I think many were wondering why this wasn't the meet-up spot. Probably because of limited camping; still, it's like choosing between a Ferrari or Lamborghini. PS That's Mt Williamson enveloped in clouds way to the NE:
Image

A few hours after I took this photo, Gazelle cruised by on her way back to Island lake. I think I was the first person she saw; she was doubtful whether others would show. (To be honest, I had my doubts as well - this year's location was much tougher to reach than last year's.) Regardless, with full confidence I practically guaranteed that 3 people would make it: Oleander, Richard & BlueWater.

As we neared Island lake, Oleander - per usual - was doing her Lady Godiva thing while swimming peacefully in the middle of the lake. (She did the same thing the year before @ Wales while Jim was cooking up the trout.) She waved to us and told us that Richard and RockyRoad were also there - I think that really cheered Gazelle up. While we were having dinner, BlueWater strolled in, delivering my perfect prediction.

Lastly, while we were breaking up for bedtime in the semi-dark, MN2 & Andrey cruised up - they had heard our voices. They had just walked all the way from the Hamilton lakes over Pyra Queen col in one day. You can imagine the group reaction as the magnitude of this achievement registered - I think it's called a "pregnant pause" - LOL. Still, they're young & strong, so we didn't have to feel too badly about ourselves. They went about setting up their tent in the dark as we all went to bed.
Last edited by Hobbes on Wed Jul 29, 2015 2:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by Hobbes »

The next morning, everyone conferred together on their chosen exit routes. The boys were worked from the day before, so were opting for Colby pass. Richard & I had to make it back to our eastern THs, so the four of us headed out for Picket lake and down to the Colby pass trail. We said our goodbyes as they took a cliffy high-line straight NW towards Gallats lake, while Richard & I (prudently) dropped down the standard route towards the trail @ 9,645'. (Standing with them above before we split up, it looked like the Whitney east buttress. This is what Gazelle came down the day before after summitting Picket Guard peak. They seemed pretty non-plussed, while Richard & I agreed we wanted none of that. :whistle: )

Oleander, RockyRoad & BlueWater were heading out via Pyra Queen col, with a planned layover in upper Piket/Kaweah basin. Both Gazelle & the dos amigos had come in that way, so more information was exchanged.

Lastly, Gazelle was leaving via Kaweah pass, with the intention of also summitting Mt Kaweah for good measure. I'm sure we'll soon get to hear about her "exciting" solo adventure. Crazy stuff.
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Re: Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

Post by MN2CAPisco »

Andrey and I made it back to the comforting land of triple degree heat and air so thick you can see it Sunday afternoon. After a burger and a shower I found myself wondering why we ever left the mountains at all.

Since then I've been doing a bit of sifting through photos (1142 in all!), which will take some time for certain. I'll hope to get a trip report up sometime relatively soon, perhaps as ERIC mentions the Backpacking forum is the appropriate place for that?

Meanwhile I'd like to echo the comments that it was an absolute pleasure to meet everyone out in Kaweah Basin. The long way up from Hamilton after being socked in by rain Wednesday was well worth it, just wish we had more time to hang around and talk all things High Sierra...like Hobbes mentioned on our trip over to Picket Creek, anyone willing and capable of making it to a place like Kaweah Basin must be my kind of people!

Wanted to give a sincere thank you to Maverick for putting together this event, the location was absolutely one of my favorite places I've wandered into, every step on the way down was pure bliss. Also a big thank you for steering me away from Kaweah Pass on the entry, from what "Gazelle" had to say about it I'm not certain I'd have made it at all.

Finally, here's the photo of everyone at the basin on Friday morning:

Image
Left to Right: richlong8, Myself, Andrey, Rockyroad, YubeRiver/Gazelle, oleander, Hobbes, Bluewater
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