8.2 miles, about 6 hours, 1930 feet gain
We had driven down the day before and camped at Moraine Campground. Before hiking up to the confluence of Woods Creek with the South Fork of the Kings River, we got up early and walked down to the SF of the Kings River at 7:30AM to photograph the raging water. Then we ate breakfast at the Cedar Grove Café and drove to the trailhead, parked and stood in line to get our permit. A bit after 9AM we were on the trail. By noon we reached Mist Falls after 3.8 miles and 800 feet of gain. We stopped for lunch, took photos and sat on the rock slabs, mesmerized by the tumbling water.
It was another beautiful 4.4 miles with 1130 feet elevation gain to the large established camping area at the confluence with Woods Creek. We were early enough to scout for a river crossing needed for the next day. We found a log crossing downstream with the afternoon high water running over the logs; we hoped it would lower for our day-hike to Castle Dome Meadow the next day.
- King River near Cedar Grove
- Kings River
- Mist Falls
Day2. 5/25/03: Day hike to Castle Dome Meadow
10.0 miles, about 8 hours, 2375 feet gain/loss
We brought crampons just in case we would need them. Looking upstream there was plenty of snow on the slopes up to Arrow Ridge. Although there was no snow on the south facing Castle Domes, the crampons came in very handy when crossing the wet log crossing we had found downstream the previous day. The river flow had receded more than a foot. Our 8:40 AM start was late and we wondered if we would still be able to cross on our return. We took some extra food and sleeping bags in our day packs, just in case.
The amazing cliffs first came into view at 10:20 and we were in the meadow by 11AM. We hiked to the Woods Creek Bridge just to see this marvel, and then hiked up the north hillside about 400 feet to get a close look at the rock faces and scope possible future climbs. We headed back around 2PM. The side creek fed by melt from snow west of Window and Pyramid Peaks had swollen so much that the wading was a real challenge. When we reached our log crossing it was covered with a thin film of water. We carefully crossed the maze of logs with our crampons on; it was a bit nerve-wracking. We were back in time for an evening meal before dusk.
- Castle Dome Meadow
- Waterfall on Castle Domes
- Castle Domes
- Castle Domes
