R03/R01 TR: Upper Kern & Bubbs Creek, 8/30-9/8, 2024

[moonburn]

After scheming for months and gathering lots of good idea and intel here at HST, my friend Alex and I spent 8 days getting into, around, and out of the Upper Kern Basin in Kings Canyon NP. We've been taking weeklong trips together around Labor Day since 2020, and this may have been our most successful one. Last year we visited the Ansel Adams Wilderness and got caught in a monsoon, had to sit tight in our tents for 36 hours. Trip report and photos here if you care to read. That was some solid Type 2 fun, and valuable in its own way. But this time around we were hoping for fairer weather.

After a drive from the Bay Area and a night at Onion Valley campground, we hiked over Kearsarge Pass, south to the JMT along Bubbs Creek, over Forester Pass, then west into the Upper Kern Basin. There we explored some nooks and crannies before heading north to cross the Kings-Kern Divide using Little Joe's Scramble, which brought us to Lake Reflection. Then we continued north to Junction Meadow and east along Bubbs Creek to rejoin our connection to Kearsarge Pass. A full map of our travels is here: https://caltopo.com/m/U017GRJ

Because I've found it difficult to nest photos within paragraphs on the HST platform, I'm just going to link to my photo album from this trip, which has text throughout and serves as a good report:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JMWAvMqU8Y8FA99R8

Thanks for reading, and thanks again for all the intel and encouragement that the HST community has provided!

[frozenintime]

a place i've been meaning to get to for many years. thanks for the report.

[balzaccom]

What a great trip report, and really gorgeous photos. Thanks. I needed an adventure in the mountains today, and you gave me a wonderful one!

[sekihiker]

Your photos are so well composed and the views well chosen.
Happy to see you used Little Joe with success.
Thanks for posting this report.

[Flamingo]

Hi @moonburn, I enjoyed reading your TR. I especially appreciated following-along with your Caltop map. Congrats on crossing Little Joe!