I got to Corona bright and early to carpool up to Onion Valley. While pulling out, the driver didn’t see a planter in the parking lot with a huge rock in the middle of it. He drove directly over it, and what ensued was the most gut wrenching ear piercing screeching sound as the rock scraped and gouged the under makings of the car.
Stop to assess the damage. Everything appears to still be attached and in working order. Oh man this a bad omen to start the trip.Get on the road and come to a dead stop right before Kramer Junction for road construction. At this point we notice that the entire inside of the truck tastes like exhaust. We take a look at the muffler and see to our demise that is has been pushed up into the body of the truck, and the exhaust is basically being distributed back into the vehicle. So we have to get out some tools and bend the crap out of it to get free again. Easier said than done. Always delays with trips it seems.
Grabbed the permit got to the trailhead and off we go. Plan was to get to East Lake or Lake Reflection. So the group was my 3 cousins who I have hiked with before (who are strong hikers) and then my cousin’s fiancé who was supposedly a strong hiker as well. I confirmed with the fiancé before that 14 mile days were good, and he said no problem. Well it was apparent right from the get go that no way in hell he was doing 14 miles. He was struggling major and Kearsarge Pass is relatively easy compared with what was to come… So this had me real worried.
So after Kearsarge Pass we are moving at a steady clip but by the time we get to Vidette Meadow he is spent and ready to call it a day. I am dumbfounded as we’ve only gone 8.3 miles! No way we are doing the loop at this rate. We try to motivate him and pump him up to hike some more, take some of the load from his pack but as we are descending Bubbs Creek it is obvious we have to stop. Guy looks like he is literally going to pass out. So we find a place to camp and regroup. He throws out the idea that the next day we split up and he and my cousin will do a smaller trip while me and my other 2 cousins do our original loop plan. Hmmmmm Sleep on it. We do have an extra stove to take but not an additional water filter….
Day 2
Wake up, consult with my other 2 cousins and decide we want to push on. We will just go without a filter. Say our goodbyes and agree to meet at the truck in 4 days. So now it was off to Lake Reflection and Little Joes. I had wanted to see Lake Reflection so badly in person and it did not disappoint. I only wished I could have camped here to enjoy it longer. Little Joe’s was super gnarly. I mean I knew we had our work cut out for us but didn’t really calculate that it was 2,400 feet straight up a mountain! The footing was stable so that made the going easier (as opposed to Harrison Pass which the same can’t be said apparently) Took us over 3 hours to get to the top of the pass only for clouds to roll in almost instantly and obstruct all the views. I was able to get a couple pics before thankfully. Then the storm came in and out came the rain gear. So as we traveled through the Upper Kern it was wet and miserable. Major bummer as this was the area I was most interested in seeing. Night 2 we stayed near Kern River and Milestone Creek.
When we hit the HST the views looking back towards the Colby Pass Trail, Kern Point and Picket Guard Peak were insane. I swear I stopped and took a zillion pictures but my camera roll only has one. I don’t know how this is possible as I was completely mesmerized by the vista. On the way, while we were crossing a stream my cousin asked for an antiseptic wipe out of the First Aid Kit. So I took off my pack and rummaged through my sack trying to find it somewhere near the bottom. When I finally find the thing, I hand it to him and he says, “oh, I didn’t mean right now, I meant I wanted it later”. I gasp are you kidding, while my other cousin starts cracking up as he seen me digging thru my pack trying to find this damn wipe! 
So inside joke rest of the trip, to ask for things we don’t need til later. We then booked it all the way to Wright Lakes to do some fishing and camped for the night.
After lunch I was trying to push fast enough where we could get to Center Basin and camp at Golden Bear Lake. After going over Forester, I wasn’t sure if the gang would want to hike up another 1,000ft to get into Center Basin. Well we were at the turnoff for Center Basin at 3:30PM so no reason we shouldn’t. I promised the boys it would be worth the detour and boy was I right. Center Peak and the Center Basin Crags are EXACTLY where we need to be camped tonight. Another GEM in the backcountry. Thank you High Sierra Topix again
