High Sierra Topix

I'm going up Shepherd on Tues 7/21. I will be cutting across Tyndall and dropping down Wallace crk on my way to the Kern river in order to rendezvous with Jim and his buddy John & friend Randy. All four of us will be heading to "3-bay lake" in the Kern basin on Friday 7/24 after the Thurs meet-up. We will all be exiting Shepherd on Sat, 7/25.

Is there anybody else coming/going in the general direction I should keep an eye out for?

I am definitely going, with a permit for Thursday, 7/16 for Cottonwood Pass. The intent was to go into Miter Basin, over Crabtree Pass, then down and over to Kaweah, and back to same trailhead by Sunday, July 26. I am slightly considering a change to a west side entry, if I can get the permit, because I have heard the water levels in Rock Creek are very low, but one way or the other, I will be there. Looking forward to the meetup.

I wouldn't let the water levels in Rock creek deter you. I've been back in Miter basin a few times, and to be honest, never thought about the creek. Rather, the focus was on the lakes (no, this isn't SBL):



As an aside, I have a special dislike for CW pass & (lower) Soldier lake. IMO, hot, dry, sandy & boring; much prefer the Army passes. There's a nice backdoor entry from either one down the lower shoulder of Langley to get to upper Soldier, and then through the keyhole to Miter. Jim & Schmalz did it last year on their way over Crabtree pass to the meet-up. Jim has a detailed route map that I'm sure he'd be happy to share with you or post up on this thread.

Rather than exit out the same way, you might consider exiting Whitney or Shepherd. The cost of a shuttle would be around $60-100 - cheap considering an epic hike of this nature.

Schmalz has our route and description on Calitrails. I wouldn't let low water deter me from Miter either. while the outlet waterfall from Sky Blue Lk, would be nothing to look at as opposed to higher water years, the lakes are spectacular. I was very impressed with the lakes above SBL. And the awesome sandy beach on middle Crabtree Lk.

When we went over Crabtree Pass, we had expert route advice by both the Rock Creek and Crabtree Meadow rangers. I originally researched this route as a camp at SBL, then a long dayhike to Whitney and back, therefore, I had the right side of the pass outlined, but the Rangers pointed us down the left side of the slope. It looked death defying, but it turned out to be an easy stairstep descent to the upper lake.

I'm in! Heading out after work Friday the 17th up Shepherds with a tour around the Upper Kern, over Milestone Pass, and into the Kaweah Basin on or before the 22nd. Post meet-up, I might take a side trip to Wallace or tag along with someone else exiting to the east. I can get back as late as Sunday the 26th.

Last Labor Day I had the week off to do a Shepherds Pass - Kings-Kern Divide - HST trip with a key swap with another party going from Crescent Meadow and out Shepherds. Before I even made it to the first climb into the Shepherd Creek drainage, the boots I had just worn for a overnight Mt. Ritter trip (Las Sportiva Hyper Mid GTX) gave me the worst foot pain I've ever experienced. I had to bail before reaching Anvil Camp and learned, fortunately without too severe of consequences, that the bone spurs in my ankles have grown enough to act up in tight fitting footwear. I was able to work the key swap out with a mountain bike and ESTA buses, but I wish I had brought even a pair of flip flops that might've made the the trip work out.

I've gawked at the Kaweahs from the east the last 3 years from side trips off the JMT and the summits of Whitney and Mt. Newcomb, and I'm psyched to have a wonderful excuse to give another shot at seeing the legends up close and personal - and some HST folks too. I'd love to give Black Kaweah a shot and will bring in a light rack if need be, but I'm just as excited to explore the basins and check out Pyra-Queen Col, Pants, and/or Triple Divide Pass for views and scouting for future trips.

Jimr wrote:I wouldn't let low water deter me from Miter either. while the outlet waterfall from Sky Blue Lk, would be nothing to look at as opposed to higher water years, the lakes are spectacular. I was very impressed with the lakes above SBL. And the awesome sandy beach on middle Crabtree Lk.

I did a loop at the end of last June over Cottonwood Pass, up to SBL, bagged Mt. Newcomb, and exited over New Army. I wasn't disappointed with the conditions, although mosquitoes were unbearable on the way out without DEET and the fish were in spring/spawn mode and I got skunked. Unless I missed something, everything up high was fishless but a joy to wander around. On the way back, I got to see my first herd of Sierra bighorns in the meadows beneath Langley - they frequent that area according to the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation. I still have Crabtree on my todo and seeing that beach from 2000' only makes it harder to resist!


Herd is dead center across the creek


Looking west atop Mt. Newcomb with Mt. Chamberlin in the foreground

Great, to bad about last year, but this will be just as fun, and even more members attending!

Also another member, Cgunderson and his wife may be able to make the Meet-up!!

Here's a brief recap of what I expect my final itinerary to look like. Since I haven't had any luck glomming onto someone else's permit for Shepherd, I'm going to have to go into the IAVC @ 8am and pick-one up myself. (And for added amusement, which AlmostThere should really enjoy my eating crow, I actually broke down and reserved a permit. ) All told, I figure if I really haul ass, I can hopefully be on the trail by 9am.

D1 Tues 7/21 Shepherd -> Junction meadow [22 miles]. This will be my 4th trip on Shepherd. It doesn't matter if it's 9.5 miles, 10.5 miles or whatever, I can basically do it in 6+ hours. So that will put me on the top around 3pm. I like to hike until after 7pm, so I figure I can go another 10 miles - mostly downhill except for the rise @ Bighorn plateau - before it's time to pull in before 8pm. (I generally go stoveless and cowboy camp, so it takes me a matter of minutes to add cold water to my instant refried beans, eat, brush & jump under my quilt and crash.)

D2 Wed 7/22 Junction mdw -> Funston Creek -> Kern Hot Springs -> Whitney creek [16.5 miles] Did I mention I like to start hiking @ morning twilight? This day will be devoted to fishing the Kern river, and since I should be up & away before 6am, I should be able to reach my target with plenty of time to get back to Whitney creek by 7pm.

Jim, his buddy John & Randy will be hiking north along the Kern river towards Whitney creek on this day as well, so I'm planning on hooking up with them at some point during the day and then again that evening.

D3 Thurs 7/23 Whitney creek -> Meet-up [6 miles] I'm going to fish the Kern in the morning and try and catch my limit to bring up to the group in the afternoon. I know Jim is thinking the same thing, so if all goes well, we should have around 10 good sized fish to share for a communal fish fry.

D4 Fri 7/24 Meet-up -> 3 bay lake aka Kern basin [10.5 miles] I'm planning on leaving with Jim, John & Randy around noon to head up to the Kern basin for more fishing & general hanging out. Anyone planning/thinking of going in that direction is invited to come along with us if you can still stand our company.

D5 Sat 7/25 Kern basin -> Shepherd [16.5 miles] I'll probably get going before 6am to try and reach to my car before 3pm. I can get home in 5 hrs from Shepherd, so should be walking through the doors by 8pm.

If anyone else is going to be in the general vicinity, and you see someone with a distinctive, entirely green dyneema 210 backpack* (aka "the Green Goblin") with gatorade water bottles hanging off the front shoulder straps, that's me (Jim has the el monstro sunhat):





*This is my fourth DIY backpack - I'm really happy with the way it's turned out. It's really strong, but only weighs 18oz. My expected total baseweight should be around 8lbs, with 7+lbs of food, fishing gear, etc. Once my food is gone, I expect to walk out with a pack weighing less than 10lbs.

All told, I figure if I really haul ass, I can hopefully be on the trail by 9pm

Good luck on that Hobbes, and it will be a nice hot ascent with that late start, stay hydrated.

How I'd love to get started before 6am like last year.

ToothlessMountaineer wrote:Shepherd->Kern->Wallace

I'll keep my eyes posted for you. In fact, if you reversed your hike, you could check out this path to WLB/Wallace (viewtopic.php?f=36&t=9783&p=86737#p86737), hike down Kern cyn & over to the meet-up, and then head up to the Kern basin/out with our motley crew.

ToothlessMountaineer wrote:Unless I missed something, everything up high was fishless but a joy to wander around.

You can see this lake from Newcomb - the GT were hitting like brookies: