Crescent Meadows to Road's End via Kaweah Basin and Reflection Lake

[zakios]

I had this zany idea coalesce after trawling around CalTopo and prior TRs of a through-hike between Crescent Meadow's and Roads End over 7 days. I'm wondering if anyone has done a similar itinerary, or could advise on the potentially dicier parts of XC portions: Pants Pass/Pyra-Queen, and Harrison Pass/Little Joe's Pass

For context I'm young, pretty fit, experienced in on-trail travel and getting more comfortable with XC, but am not particularly seasoned at it. I've done Alta Meadows > Pear Lake via the Tablelands, smaller jaunts wayfinding between established trails in Emigrant and Ansel Adams, and - most germane to convincing myself I can do this - North Lake-South Lake loop via Lamarck Col. I will be going with friends of equal-, and one slightly-lesser-experience (yet greater enthusiasm). Both of them managed Lamarck last season just fine.

The sketch of the itinerary is as follows:
(see CalTopo here --> https://caltopo.com/m/TEVS1)

Crescent Meadows > Bearpaw
Bearpaw > Nine Lakes Basin
Nine Lakes Basin > Kern Kaweah/Picket Creek -- either over Pyra-Queen or Pants Pass
Kern Kaweah/Picket Creek > Lake South America
Lake South America > Reflection Lake -- either over Little Joe's Pass or Harrison Pass
Reflection Lake > Bubbs > Road's End

My questions:

1) Which direction? South to North (as I've laid out) strikes me as slightly easier, landing at a lower final elevation, and more beta available for passes into Kaweah basin from West-East. on the other hand, North to South may make wayfinding over to Lake South America easier, and I've never hiked down from Kaweah Gap which sounds magical.

2) Pyra-Queen or Pants Pass? While Pants Pass joins the trail below Colby sooner, I'm beginning to lean towards Pyra-Queen because it's more documented, seems less sketchy, and gets us into Kaweah Basin.

3) Harrison Pass or Little Joe's Pass? This seems like the crux of the issue with the whole trip. Neither sounds pleasant or enticing. Little Joe's sounds slightly less terrifying from what I can find. Has anyone done this route from South-North? What's the better option here? Will youth and zeal stand to suffice for more extensive experience?

4) Logistics: is spotting a car the only way, or is there any summer shuttle between Road's End and Sequoia?

Many many thanks if you've made it this far, and I'm looking forward to stories and pointers

[grampy]

I’ll answer the easy part first;
No, there is no intra-Park shuttle between Roads End (or even Grant Grove) and the Lodgepole/Crescent Meadow area.

Here is one discussion thread (of many) on travel between the upper Kern / LSA and the Lake Reflection drainage:
viewtopic.php?t=15629

and the writeup for Little Joe’s (in the Topix Cross-Country Passes subforum):
viewtopic.php?t=15485

A key bit you failed to mention was when you plan to do this trip. A heavy snow year (as this one seems to have turned into) will make any of these passes more challenging, perhaps even well into August.

I’m looking forward to seeing our more-experienced folks weigh in on your plan.

[stevet]

It's been 45 years since I last crossed Harrison Pass (S to N). Even then it was a crumbly mess. Recollection says to pick your way down the crumbly stuff on the right hand side descending 50-100ft being careful not to dislodge anything big. Then move left into the scree flow. Not too many difficulties from there.

With that memory I almost routed a 2019 trip over Harrison, but it was a big snow year and Harrison and Lucy's Foot Pass were still snowfilled in late August. So I chose Little Joe's. Coming from the south you cross east to west and the west face was snow free. It is an easy ascent and easy to locate coming from the east. I made a track to the top of Lucy's and then followed the crest to Little Joe's marked at the time with 2 cairns. It is steep but as long as you keep your speed under control no major issues. About 1/2 down it gets slabby and you work your way down a 50ft, maybe 100ft ledge system. Between easy sections I ooched my way down a crack on the right hand side. It eventually dumps into talus. At this point you are still a few hundred feet above Lake Reflection.

There is likely an easier path through it than I took but upon reaching the talus I headed north and every time I saw what looked to be an easy descent took it and then headed north again. Eventually you get to lake level and a use trail that leads to East Lake. Just below Lake Reflection outlet I crossed the outlet creek (knee deep) and camped up on the slabs. There are nicer sites if you walk up the west side of the outlet creek and follow the Lake Reflection shore for a short ways. At the time it was occupied by 8 people on a Sierra Club outing.

All told I'd say Little Joe's is hard because it is 2000ft of steep downhill. Nothing particularly frightening about it. I crossed it at the end of a day that started in the Wright Lakes Basin, so being tired was also part of the challenge.

This year is shaping up as a big snow year so keep that in mind. If Harrison had been snow-free I would have taken it, but now, having crossed Little Joe's I'd likely route over it because you get to see Lake Reflection. The other thing to keep in mind if it is a big snow year is the Bubbs Creek crossing at Junction Meadow. It was above my knees and fast. I am 6'2" 185lbs with 30lbs of pack and had difficulty keeping my feet planted while crossing. Be sure to keep track of reports on it.

[thegib]

Yeah the car shuttle thing is problematic. Bearpaw sucks as a destination. Buck creek is ok if there's room. I think Pants is considerably less sketch than Pyra, and lower. There's no difficulty getting to LSA, it's a trail. (Not a very clear trail, but, as of last year, with ducks.) I've never done Harrison but if you've gone that far east you might as well just do Forrester. (Yes Lake Reflection is worthwhile...) Crossing the KK divide is always the issue. Little Joe's looks (from reports) trivial but quite tedious.

If the reverse - making it to East lake is trial enough for me day one. Getting over the KK divide on day two is ambitious. LSA is pretty barren. Much prettier to camp at Gaspard's inlet stream or Milestone creek or along the KK river. PQ col is a tough pass for most, not just newbies, I can see it discouraging everyone from trying cross country again. Try to find time to explore 9 lakes basin.

[Wandering Daisy]

I went down Pants Pass south side as well as down Pyra Queen west side. I would not want to go UP either from the south or west! This is a case for looping the opposite direction. I used an alternative to go up the north side of Pants Pass- hit the ridge to the east of the pass and traverse the ridge to the pass itself. The scree-ski down the south side.

However, if you really want to see the upper part of Keweah Basin, Pyra Queen gets you directly there. Again easier to get into Keweah Basin from the north and go out over Pyra Queen. And yes, going down from Keweah Gap is great.

I also have gone up Harrison from the north. I had an ice axe because it was a big snow year, but I mainly used it on Harrison to stick in the scree for an anchor and pull up on. Although it was miserable steep loose stuff it was fairly short. From the East Lake-Reflection main trail, the "trail" to the base of Harrison really is not much of a trail- overgrown, rockfall littering the trail, and more talus than trail as you near the lake below Harrison Pass. Seriously I rather go up Harrison than down. One could seriously fall and get hurt going down. Never done Little Joe, so cannot compare.

I have made it to Hamilton Lake in one day, several times. ( I do not like Bearpaw.) Just get an early start. Drive down, stay in the campground, get your permit day before if you can. It really is not that much more work to go in from Wolverton. Fewer streams to wade across, if it is a wet year and early season. May also be easier to get permit from Wolverton. Vs. Crescent Meadow start is NOT flat- LOTS of little ups and downs.

[grampy]

… May also be easier to get permit from Wolverton. Vs. Crescent Meadow start is NOT flat- LOTS of little ups and downs.

Agree that it may be easier from Wolverton (especially if you need to take shuttle to Crescent Meadow rather than drive there to park). The SEKI trail descriptions page states that it’s okay to start the High Sierra Trail from Wolverton, but just to be clear, you can’t legally do it on an Alta permit.

[wildhiker]

Agree that it may be easier from Wolverton (especially if you need to take shuttle to Crescent Meadow rather than drive there to park). The SEKI trail descriptions page states that it’s okay to start the High Sierra Trail from Wolverton, but just to be clear, you can’t legally do it on an Alta permit.

Yes, this is a change made a couple of years ago. In 2018, I was issued a permit to start at Wolverton and then join the HST heading to Hamilton Lake. Now they won't do that, apparently to reduce use on the HST. From Wolverton, you can legally only head to Emerald/Pear Lakes, the Tablelands, or Alta Meadow. Of course. you can loop around through the Tablelands and eventually end up at Hamilton Lake, but that is a long way around and mostly cross-country.

-Phil

[zwoij]

I am not super experienced, but I have been to all the areas on your route except the upper Kern, which I hope to see someday. The good news is that whichever way you go, it's beautiful. I have done Pants Pass and Piss Your Pants Pass (inadvertently). Both made me nervous, but were okay. But if you want to see Kaweah or Picket Creek basins, Pyra Queen is more direct. I have not taken that one, but I would. However, the Kern Kaweah river is well worth exploring, and you get to follow it in its entirety if you take Pants Pass.

I did Mineral King to Road's End with Picket Creek basin as the main destination. That time we adjusted our route from Lake South America and one of the passes to Lake Reflection (as you plan to do) to Colby Pass and Cloud Canyon to save time. I loved Colby and Cloud Canyon, though Lake Reflection and East Lake are also incredible.

The real problem is that there is just is too much to see.

[giantbrookie]

I haven't done this route but I've gone off trail over each of the key divides which gives me insight into one of your questions: which way? However you surmount the Kings-Kern Divide, one thing is clear: the harder side, by far, is on the north. Route finding is more difficult going down on steep stuff (vanishing points) and, of course, descending rough terrain is more difficult than ascending it. The passes over the Kaweahs are more symmetrical in the sense that they're fairly difficult on both sides, so this leaves the KK Divide as the key. Accordingly I'd do this route "clockwise" by going Road's End to Crescent Meadow.

In addition, with the issues with heavy snowfall this winter, if a pass is blocked by cornices or impassably steep snowfields it will be on the east and north-facing sides be it in the crossing of the KK Divide or the Kaweahs, so you can size that up much better from below than you can looking over the vanishing point from above. So it is much easier to improvise to a Plan B looking up at an issue than looking down on something you can't see.

[Wandering Daisy]

Another variation if you start at Roads End you could also do; Day1 Sphinx Lakes, Day2 Reflection Lake, Day3 upper Kern via Little Joe Pass. It would be harder but is very spectacular. Also, going clockwise you can easily walk out from as far as Nine Lakes Basin from Hamilton Lake. Camping at Precipice Lake is very scenic and totally feasible to walk out in a day. I have walked out from Nine Lakes Basin in 11 hours. My pack was very light being the last day of the trip. And Giantbrookie's reasoning for clockwise is a deal clincher as far as I am concerned. The only drawback may be permit availability.