TR: Kern Headwaters basin exploration
Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2021 1:09 am
Some people like peaks. I like basins. The Kern Headwaters has some of the best and most accessible basins in the Sierra, so that's where I went.
Day 1 was the usual slog up Shepherd to The Pothole. Do not start Shepherd in the afternoon. Bring twice as much water as you think you need. Remember that there is no water from Symmes Creek to just before Mahogany Flat. So far as I can tell, there is only one really good camp spot at The Pothole, unless you like sleeping on REALLY uneven ground (I don't).
Day 2 I came over Shepherd Pass. The snowfield that lingers at the top was big and steep, so I decided to try scrambling straight up the chute to the crest. Don't do that. It's loose and steep and it goes way higher than it looks before you finally top out. After that, I took the Tyndall Creek Trail, but I veered off the actual trail onto a little use trail that heads almost due west to meet the JMT sooner and a little higher, saving maybe half a mile and ~150 ft of elevation. Then it was up and over the little saddle to Lake South America. Day 3 I went west from the north shore of Lake South America. I descended an easy slope to the unnamed lake with the tiny island, which has a stunning view of the Kern-Kaweah Divide. I traversed its north shore, then contoured up toward Lucy's Foot Pass.
There were three notches that I suppose could be Lucy's Foot. If anyone knows which is the real one I'd be much obliged. Not that I'd ever try them, as they all look suicidal from above. From there I climbed over to Little Joe's Scramble. That descent actually looks halfway doable. The top has two good cairns. The view from the very top of the ridge just north of Little Joe's is out of this world. After getting my fill of the East Creek drainage, I started down the west edge of the drainage, passing right below Millie's Foot Pass before descending to that big flat multi-lake basin due east of Genevra. From there I contoured around to the lake south of Genevra, which I'll call Checkmark Lake. The view across Checkmark was astounding. From the east edge of Checkmark, it was easy going over the little mound on the south shore, then following the outlet stream down to around 11,300', then contouring south->southwest-> west into the drainage that feeds Casper (Three-Bay?) Lake. After an easy walk up the meadow, I climbed a steep but not technical slope to the large lake around 11,900'. This is a gorgeous spot, but I could find no decent places to throw a tent, so I passed an uncomfortable night on some uneven granite. Worth it, though. Day 4 I came back down the steep slope to the meadow and cruised down the meadow. As I approached a small willow bush, a bird darted out. I looked into the willow to find the newest citizen of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness: After a laborious contour along Casper Lake's north shore, I attempted to contour straight across to the Lake South America Trail. This was difficult, as the slope here is riven with granite gullies which force constant ascents and descents. The Kern itself is in a pretty deep ravine and I had to hunt around for a viable crossing. If there's a better way to connect Casper Lake to the trail, I'd be very interested to hear about it.
I followed the ""trail"" down to the Milestone Creek junction. That segment of trail was so faint, I could only follow it half the time. I don't remember having any trouble the previous two times I'd traversed it. An easy crossing of the Kern quickly took me to the Milestone Basin trail, which, paradoxically, is in remarkably good shape for a trail that doesn't officially exist. It was clearly built with a lot of love back in the day, with good tread and well-built switchbacks. Shame it's now fading into obscurity.
Once the Milestone trail faded out, I climbed up to a lake referred to in another TR as Manta Lake, then west to the small lake at 11,600. What an astounding view from this lake. The broad, flat sand patches on its northwest shore could host a dozen tents. After narrowly resisting the urge to camp here, I walked up some clean granite slopes to the high lake due west of Midway Mountain. Although I couldn't see Milestone's distinctive peak anymore, the view here was the finest of the whole trip. My amateurish pictures don't even begin to do it justice. There are abundant flat, sandy spots here, making it one of my favorite campsites in the world. Day 5 I backtracked out of Milestone and took the Kern-Tyndall Cutoff to Tyndall, where I saw humans for the first time since leaving Tyndall three days prior. I took a short detour to peer into Williamson Bowl and was not disappointed. Then back to The Pothole for the night, then Erick Schat's for pastrami on Day 6 (does anyone else plan their trips so they can make the sandwich bar before it closes??).
Two final notes:
- Shoutout to Wrightsocks and their excellent two-layer socks for preventing even the slightest hotspot on this trip. With my feet all tender from a winter indoors and all the uneven terrain, those sock were worth their weight in gold.
- Unfriendly reminder that releasing helium-filled balloons is just long-range littering. Stop it. Thanks for reading! Below is a rough sketch of my route, in case my descriptions don't make sense:
Day 1 was the usual slog up Shepherd to The Pothole. Do not start Shepherd in the afternoon. Bring twice as much water as you think you need. Remember that there is no water from Symmes Creek to just before Mahogany Flat. So far as I can tell, there is only one really good camp spot at The Pothole, unless you like sleeping on REALLY uneven ground (I don't).
Day 2 I came over Shepherd Pass. The snowfield that lingers at the top was big and steep, so I decided to try scrambling straight up the chute to the crest. Don't do that. It's loose and steep and it goes way higher than it looks before you finally top out. After that, I took the Tyndall Creek Trail, but I veered off the actual trail onto a little use trail that heads almost due west to meet the JMT sooner and a little higher, saving maybe half a mile and ~150 ft of elevation. Then it was up and over the little saddle to Lake South America. Day 3 I went west from the north shore of Lake South America. I descended an easy slope to the unnamed lake with the tiny island, which has a stunning view of the Kern-Kaweah Divide. I traversed its north shore, then contoured up toward Lucy's Foot Pass.
There were three notches that I suppose could be Lucy's Foot. If anyone knows which is the real one I'd be much obliged. Not that I'd ever try them, as they all look suicidal from above. From there I climbed over to Little Joe's Scramble. That descent actually looks halfway doable. The top has two good cairns. The view from the very top of the ridge just north of Little Joe's is out of this world. After getting my fill of the East Creek drainage, I started down the west edge of the drainage, passing right below Millie's Foot Pass before descending to that big flat multi-lake basin due east of Genevra. From there I contoured around to the lake south of Genevra, which I'll call Checkmark Lake. The view across Checkmark was astounding. From the east edge of Checkmark, it was easy going over the little mound on the south shore, then following the outlet stream down to around 11,300', then contouring south->southwest-> west into the drainage that feeds Casper (Three-Bay?) Lake. After an easy walk up the meadow, I climbed a steep but not technical slope to the large lake around 11,900'. This is a gorgeous spot, but I could find no decent places to throw a tent, so I passed an uncomfortable night on some uneven granite. Worth it, though. Day 4 I came back down the steep slope to the meadow and cruised down the meadow. As I approached a small willow bush, a bird darted out. I looked into the willow to find the newest citizen of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness: After a laborious contour along Casper Lake's north shore, I attempted to contour straight across to the Lake South America Trail. This was difficult, as the slope here is riven with granite gullies which force constant ascents and descents. The Kern itself is in a pretty deep ravine and I had to hunt around for a viable crossing. If there's a better way to connect Casper Lake to the trail, I'd be very interested to hear about it.
I followed the ""trail"" down to the Milestone Creek junction. That segment of trail was so faint, I could only follow it half the time. I don't remember having any trouble the previous two times I'd traversed it. An easy crossing of the Kern quickly took me to the Milestone Basin trail, which, paradoxically, is in remarkably good shape for a trail that doesn't officially exist. It was clearly built with a lot of love back in the day, with good tread and well-built switchbacks. Shame it's now fading into obscurity.
Once the Milestone trail faded out, I climbed up to a lake referred to in another TR as Manta Lake, then west to the small lake at 11,600. What an astounding view from this lake. The broad, flat sand patches on its northwest shore could host a dozen tents. After narrowly resisting the urge to camp here, I walked up some clean granite slopes to the high lake due west of Midway Mountain. Although I couldn't see Milestone's distinctive peak anymore, the view here was the finest of the whole trip. My amateurish pictures don't even begin to do it justice. There are abundant flat, sandy spots here, making it one of my favorite campsites in the world. Day 5 I backtracked out of Milestone and took the Kern-Tyndall Cutoff to Tyndall, where I saw humans for the first time since leaving Tyndall three days prior. I took a short detour to peer into Williamson Bowl and was not disappointed. Then back to The Pothole for the night, then Erick Schat's for pastrami on Day 6 (does anyone else plan their trips so they can make the sandwich bar before it closes??).
Two final notes:
- Shoutout to Wrightsocks and their excellent two-layer socks for preventing even the slightest hotspot on this trip. With my feet all tender from a winter indoors and all the uneven terrain, those sock were worth their weight in gold.
- Unfriendly reminder that releasing helium-filled balloons is just long-range littering. Stop it. Thanks for reading! Below is a rough sketch of my route, in case my descriptions don't make sense:
