Kern river valley

[hsv]

Can anyone tell me if the upper kern river valley, along the river, North of Junction meadow/wallace creek/kern kaweah is entirely bushwhacking or is there an established but unmaintained residual trail? The 5ish mile valley segment between Junction meadow and before the actual basin to the North is what I am curious about. Thank you in advance.

[gregw822]

Yes, the trail goes all the way to Lake South America.

[hsv]

Thank you!

[Mike M.]

hsv, the trail is in decent shape but isn't heavily used until you get into the upper basin. There are several creek crossings that might be problematic early in the hiking season. I saw some broken-down sheepherder cabins near Tyndall Creek. Never thought of it as a valley walk; more like a canyon in this section, especially higher up.

Enjoy!

Mike M.

[hsv]

Yes, canyon i guess is more appropriate. In the SE not many canyons. A few valleys.

[Wandering Daisy]

I came down the trail two years ago after talking to a back-country ranger I met in Milestone Basin. It is in timber a lot so few sweeping views, but is quite beautiful. It is sort of the "anti-PCT"; little used, more wild, more woodsy with a nice waterfall too. The crossing of Tyndal Creek is a wade through swift water, rocky bottom, probably not safe early season, but was fine late August. You have to pay attention as it is overgrown in a few places. It was pretty quick, I think I made at least almost 3 mph going down. You can miss the trail and do some bushwhacking, but you really cannot get lost because you are in a tight canyon.

[Jimr]

I did the whole thing from Soda Spring, all the way up the Kern and out Shepherd in Tevas. There was only one little section where trail was difficult to stay on, but not too bad if you don't mind hunting around a bit to find the trail again.

[Wandering Daisy]

You are wearing Tevas and carrying those heavy boots on your back? Years ago I ran across a PCT hiker who was doing the entire PCT in Tevas- he was on a snowfield with plastic bags over his socks. He was NOT carrying any other shoes or boots.

[commonloon]

I've been thru there several times (last time maybe 2019/2020, need to find some photos to verify). The trail can be hard to follow near Milestone Creek, then again after the 2nd small lake past the Milestone Creek junction (traveling North) -- as @Mike M. has mentioned it isn';t too busy. Other than those two sections it is fairly easy to follow. The Tyndall Creek crossing can be difficult early season. The last time I was there during runoff, there was a large blow down than you could walk across easily. The broken down cabins (think they were Ranger cabins at one time) are just past the junction with the HST on the river side.

Hope this helps. It is a beautiful trail IMHO. If you're thru there and the creeks aren't too high then a nice side trip is an out and back up Milestone Creek (old trail).

[Jimr]

You are wearing Tevas and carrying those heavy boots on your back? Years ago I ran across a PCT hiker who was doing the entire PCT in Tevas- he was on a snowfield with plastic bags over his socks. He was NOT carrying any other shoes or boots.

This was the trip that you, I and my friend John met up at Junction Meadow for a mini-meetup. I brought the Tevas for stream crossing and evening wear and the boots for hiking. Good thing too because we started our first day to Cottonwood Pass in a rain storm. The hiking was just so gentle, I decided to give the Tevas a go. I did Campo to Scissor's Crossing in Tevas, so why not? The only "adventurous" part was exiting Shephard Pass; that little traverse at the beginning of the trail down is quite steep and slippery.