R03/R01 TR: Upper Kern from Onion Valley 8/15-22, 2024

[Wandering Daisy]

Upper Kern
August 15-22, 2024 (8 days, 56.7 miles)

Doubling up on my last two trips worked well to save gas costs, so this time I went one step farther combining two loops from Onion Valley in one permit with a quick in-and-out same day resupply, similar to what JMT hikers do. The one permit for two trips also eliminated car-camping. I basically packed two sets of clothing, one for each trip, but ended up only changing my hiking shirt. Unfortunately I had no way to recharge my camera batteries so I would have to reign in my usual practice of taking too many photos. There also was concern about the second trip’s food left in a bear can on the ground next to my car’s front wheel. Would the food get too hot? Would someone steal it? Fortunately the food was fine when I picked it up. The second trip will be presented in a separate trip report.

Day1. 8/15: Onion Valley to Matlock Lake plus drive
(2.2 miles, 2.1 hours, 1410 feet elevation gain, 85 feet loss)

I left town at 7:30 and was fortunate to have little traffic and even slipped through the road construction stops with little delay. I left the parking lot at Onion Valley about 2:30. It was hot! I was not up the trail more than five minutes when a ranger asked for my permit. He looked at the 16-day schedule with some doubt but just said “quite a trip”. The trail was packed with hikers going up and down.

When I arrived at Glibert Lake, a horse packer was coming down the trail after a resupply so I asked him if this was Flower Lake or Gilbert. He had no idea; at least his horses probably did! Once to Flower Lake the signage was confusing so I asked several people if this was Flower Lake. Seemed like nobody reads maps anymore or even care to know where they are! I finally found the little log bridge across the outlet and checked out the established campsites, deciding to continue to Matlock Lake. Someone was camped at the end of the trail so I moved down to the lower lake and found a nice campsite. Matlock Lake is so stunningly beautiful although it has no fishing. I really needed to eat up some food anyway, so I just relaxed and poked around.

Camp at Matlock Lake

Matlock Lake in the evening

Matlock Lake reflections

near outlet of Matlock Lake

Day2. 8/16: Matlock Lake to timberline north of Forrester Pass
(9.5 miles, 8.5 hours, 3065 feet elevation gain/ 2435 feet loss)

My must-reach destination for the day was the Center Basin junction at Bubbs Creek. Although all on well-maintained trails, it would be a roller coaster; up to Kearsarge Pass, down to Lower Vidette Meadow and up to the trail junction. Turns out I was able to continue to the beautiful timberline campsites below Forrester Pass.

I left Matlock Lake about 7AM and was at Flower Lake in 20 minutes. Seems like a ton of JMT hikers were coming down from Kearsarge Pass to resupply. As I was walking down towards Bullfrog Lake, I kept an eye out for where I would leave the trail to go to Kersarge Lakes when I returned. Everyone I spoke to assumed I also was doing the JMT. I took my first long break at 11:30AM when I reached the Bubbs Creek-JMT trail junction. On the way up Bubbs Creek I met a father and son who were fishing the little pools under waterfalls, and catching nice fish. They were headed to Center Basin. I am not sure they knew that the lakes were being gill-netted. I only found this out when I camped there on my return. The 2.5 miles up Bubbs Creek seemed to go on forever. Nothing is particularly steep but you gain 1000 feet! I did not take photos because I was coming back and could take photos then.

The Center Basin trail junction was not marked, but there was an established campsite with bear boxes. Several fellows did not know where they were and thought they were at the Vidette Meadow. I continued up the trail, crossed the creek from Center Basin, and was very tempted to camp at a nice nearby campsite. I decided to continue remembering there was an intermediate campsite by a small stream where I could stop if needed. Once there, the stream was barely flowing with insufficient water, so I continued. I sure lost my energy the last half mile, arriving at the bench camps about 3:45PM.

I found a great site across the creek, set up and took a quick bucket bath just as other hikers were arriving. They camped on the trail side. By evening there were about five tents set up. The weather was perfect except for a bit of smoke drifting in later. The meadow with the meandering stream was not as lush and green as I had remembered. Things were on the verge of becoming quite dry. Wind gusts really picked up during the night. I worried about getting over Forrester Pass with such wind.

Timberline bench, camped in trees

View east from Timberline bench

Day3. 8/17: Timberline north of Forrester to Kern River Lake at 10820
(9.2 miles, 8.3 hours, 2285 feet gain/ 2670 feet loss)

I was now ahead of schedule leaving enough time to loop counter-clockwise to Lake South America or clockwise via the Cross Trail. I got an early start to avoid afternoon winds. Last time I was over Forrester Pass the north side was full of large snowfields; this time it was bone dry and apparently recently maintained. I was the only person on the pass at 9:45AM. When I rounded the corner and started to drop on the very exposed ledges a moderate wind hit me. I sure was glad it was not a strong wind or gusts. Although the trail is a fairly smooth granite ledge it definitely is a “fall you die” situation. Thankfully it eases up fairly quickly. Nevertheless, you do not run down this trail, rather carefully place your feet. Fortunately I did not meet any opposing hikers until near the bottom. I would hate to be on that trail when crowded.

I filled my water bottle at the first lake, and then quickly descended to about 11,600 feet elevation where I left the trail and bee-lined to the unnamed lake at 11,400, arriving at 12:30PM. This was where I had planned to camp. I sat at a good established camp on the north shores contemplating to camp or go. My priority this trip was to spend more time at Casper Lake with the lake under Mt. Jordan a secondary goal. I decided to go clockwise and continue on the Cross Trail, where I knew there were a few water sources if I pooped out. I connected with the trail on the south side of the lake at 11400. The trails are not quite as shown on the USGS map so I was happy when I was sure I was actually on the Cross Trail. I had remembered the drop to the Kern River as shorter than it was! It seemed I went down forever.

I should have camped at the Kern River Trail junction and fish a nearby lake. For some reason I remembered the west side of the next lake (at 10,820) as a meadow; it was choked with willows! After much searching and bushwhacking I found fair campsites above the north end of the lake, which I reached at 4PM. I tried to squeeze in some fishing after dinner only to realize that the shore was not very friendly for fly-fishing and the prevailing wind was right into my face. I soon gave up. At least I would quickly reach Casper Lake the next day. Just a little smoke drifted in.. I had not met a single person since I left the JMT/PCT; nor would I meet anyone until I returned to that trail. I had the upper Kern all to myself! It froze hard (28-degrees according to my little thermometer) and my water bottles had ice the next morning.

Lunch at Lake at 11400

On the Cross trail

View from camp (taken next morning)

[Wandering Daisy]

Day4. 8/18: Kern River Lake 10820 to bench above Casper Lake inlet + day-hike and fishing
(3.5 miles, 4.8 hours, 1265 feet gain, 1105 feet loss)

It was cold in the morning and I did not want to get out of my sleeping bag. After early starts and long days I did not get up until the sun hit, leaving at a late 8:30AM. It only took half an hour to reach Casper Lake, taking a route I had used before. I looked for campsites walking to the inlet, checked out the peninsula and decided to go up onto the bench above where I found a great campsite with trees on a clean grassy flat. I would have to walk a short distance to see the upper valley and get water from the inlet stream. I set up, gathered water to solar heat and took a rest.

I then took a leisurely four-hour day-hike up the drainage towards the cirque headed by Table and Thunder Mountains. The long east shoulder of Table Mountain separates what some call “Rainbow Valley” from Milestone drainage. Beyond the ridge on the north lies the lake under Mt. Jordan. I ate lunch under the cliffs of Table Mountain East Shoulder on the south end of the uppermost meadow, which by now was a bit dried out. I reluctantly meandered back to camp. Had I been more energetic I could have gone all the way up to the lake under Thunder Mountain, where I had been before but did not get any photos.

Back at camp I put together my fishing gear and headed for the outlet of Casper Lake. Fishing my way back I caught three fat fish for dinner, two on the southeast shore north of the outlet and one on the peninsula, mid north shore. After cleaning the fish I took a bucket bath so I did not smell like a fish too. This was the most enjoyable day of the entire trip.

Casper Lake from near the outlet

Casper Lake

Above Casper Lake

Day-hike to upper valley

Day-hike to upper valley

Day-hike to upper valley

Getting close to the head of the valley

View north side of upper valley

Fish from Casper Lake

Camp above Casper Lake

[Wandering Daisy]

Day5. 8/19: Casper Lake to Lake 11400 near Cross Trail junction
(7.1 miles, 6.4 hours, 1720 feet gain/ 1334 feet loss)

I was blessed with a wonderful sunrise, running back and forth from my tent to up-valley viewpoints. I packed up and left at 8:15 trying a new route directly from the bench where I camped to the lake below Mt. Jordan. I over-shot a bit and had to loose elevation down to the lower outlet lakes before going back up to the outlet. I stopped and considered fishing, but decided to continue to the northeast arm to camp and fish from there. I took off my pack and wandered on the north shores deciding if I would camp. It was very early and decided that I had camped at this lake many times before and would rather camp at one of the lakes to the east, below Lake South America. I saw a few fish while returning to my pack. The only problem with this plan is that this would place me logistically awkward to return, preferring to go over Forrester Pass in the morning. In retrospect I do regret not fishing the lake below Mt. Jorden. I had never caught a fish, but saw many large fish in this lake.

Sunrise

sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise

Lake below Mt. Jordan from outlet

Lake below Mt. Jordan from ne arm

Lake below Mt. Jordan from NE arm

Leaving the lake below Mt. Jordan

[Wandering Daisy]

Day 5 continued

The terrain is more complex than it appears on the map. I easily dropped down north of the series of small lakes below the outlet of the lake below Mt. Jordan. When into timber I was a bit lost until I came to the small lakes in a steep north-south canyon just short of the larger lake at 10260, next to the Kern River Trail. There was a cliff between me and this lake. Well, so be it; up the drainage I went to the northern lake at 11380 where the terrain steeply goes up to Lake South America. I thought about camp at this lake which had fish, but it was early and I may as well go to Lake South America where there were bigger fish. It was very cliffy getting up to a broad valley with a shallow pond. I headed up the stream which I assumed came from Lake South America arriving to a vicious and cold wind about noon.

Lake below Mt Jordan

Small lake below Lake at 11380

Lake at 11380

View while ascending to Lake S. America

Lake South America

View back to Table Mountain east arm

I decided to continue over a small pass and drop to the lake at 11400 where there was a nice established campsite sheltered by large trees. This lake supposedly had good fishing for golden trout. It was a long but quick slog through a long undesirable swamp which undoubtedly had mosquitoes but I was saved by the wind. I left the trail and dropped to the lake reaching the campsite about 2PM. It took a while to set up my tent as it barely fit in the one space with shade and shelter. Then I went fishing on the opposite shore catching a few nice little golden trout. After dinner I wandered north scoping out a better off-trail route than what I took a few days before. The sun was brutal but my campsite was well shaded by a few large trees. It was only moderately windy. I went into the tent early so I could get up at dawn, assuring a less windy ascent of Forrester Pass. I completely forgot to take a photo of this lake. I did take one on Day3 when I stopped for lunch.

[Wandering Daisy]

Day6. 8/20: Lake at 11400 to Golden Bear Lake in Center Basin
(9.5 miles, 7.4 hours, 2510 feet gain/ 2580 feet loss)

I awoke well past dawn and did not get going until 8AM. After about an hour I reached the JMT-PCT and made it to the lake below Forrester Pass by 10:30AM. I met a nice fellow doing the JMT who asked me numerous questions, him being fairly new to backpacking. A ranger passed us, talked to two people who were camped right on the trail, and continued up Forrester Pass. One large group of bearded men came down- I think they were Mennonites. Half way up I found out why the ranger was there- a trail crew were struggling with ropes while working on the trail; a big rock drill lay on a rock. Evidently they were trying to stabilize a loose section. Thankfully I met no more people until on the pass, where two groups were resting. I did not even stop but continued down out of the wind on the north side, where I stopped, while a steady stream of people were coming up. By the time I reached the timberline bench the crowds had thinned.

I decided I had time to go to Center Basin, but did not want to drop all the way down to the trail and back up. I set off cross-country at about 10,850 feet elevation. It went well until I reached the creek where it was very cliffy. A bit of scrambling and I was near Golden Bear Lake but wanted to find the trail so continued northeast until I connected. After much hunting I found a great campsite above the northeast shores at about 3PM. When I dropped to the lake to take a bucket bath I found all the gill nets. I knew this was scheduled but a bit disappointed to see it had been done. I had some good fishing here in the past

Having been here in the past, I knew sunset would be rewarding. The late afternoon was spent walking around nearly a mile and half while photographing. I went to the other side of the lake, then twice up the hills towards the Center Basin Crags to photograph at sunset. I was alone again. There’s a limit to crowded trails I can tolerate before cringing.

Lake below Forrester Pass

Timberline bench on the north side of Forrester Pass

Center Peak from the trail

Ponds below Golden Bear Lake

Center Basin Crags

Up-valley view at Center Basin

Center Basin Crags from south side of lake

Inlet to Golden Bear Lake

View from south side of lake

Golden Bear Lake

[Wandering Daisy]

More photos of Center Basin

Back to camp for dinner

Back up the hill for sunset photos

Sunset

Sunset

Day7. 8/21: Golden Bear Lake to Kearsarge Lakes
(9.1 miles, 6.3 hours, 1615 feet gain/ 1860 feet loss)

After a spectacular sunrise I left at 8:30 and it took about an hour to walk down the trail to the JMT-Center Basin junction. The junction is not marked and now I knew why I had missed it on the way in. I am not sure if SEKI simply does not want to encourage people to go into Center Basin. I vaguely remember a sign being at the junction at one time. Back to the crowds! I made good time going down to the trail. I spaced out and thought I may have missed the Bubbs Creek trail junction. I asked some backpackers who were resting at a creek crossing. They pulled out their phones and said it was perhaps a mile downstream. Well, in less than a few minutes I came to the junction. I do not think they knew the concept of map scale. After a rest I went up the 1000 feet in an hour, steadily doing the “rest step” all the way. I filled up with fresh water and continued, leaving the trail where I had noticed when coming in, and soon was on a faint use-trail to the outlet of the lower Kearsarge Lake (3321) and set up on the established campsite at 2:20PM. Although easy to set up, established sites are so dirty and it is not long before everything is dusty.

By 3PM I was ready to day-hike to the upper lake. I ran into a nice couple camped near the outlet to the upper lake. Since they had just come in we chatted about the weather report. There is a faint use-trail to the upper lake but it is easy to miss. A half-naked gray-haired fellow was sitting on the shore reading a book. I averted eyes and continued past him and took a few photos of the cirque before returning. When I got back an older pair (sister and brother) were looking for a campsite and set up a bit farther from the lake than my site. I cannot believe the number of well-worn campsites on the adjacent hillside. I then fished for about an hour, catching one small fish that went into the pot. Even though crowded, everyone was polite and quiet. I had a lengthy chat with the sister in her 60’s and new to backpacking; her brother had “backpacked forever” she said.

Center Peak at sunrise

Leaving Center Basin

Kearsarge Lakes

Day8. 8/22: Kearsarge Lakes to Flower Lake + resupply at Onion Valley
(6.7 miles, 6.1 hours, 2190 feet gain/ 2570 feet loss)

I left at 7:15, walked around the northeast shoreline, past many more tents, and found the trail up to Kersarge Pass. By 10:30 I had set up at Flower Lake and dropped to Onion Valley in about an hour. I drove over to the campground paved circle where there was an outhouse and garbage can. I parked in shade while re-packing the bear can. Next chore was a bath and hair washing I brought four large jugs (cleaned out cat litter containers) full of water and hoped they would get warmed in the trunk of my car. I washed my hair and bathed in a bucket, but the water was still chilly. Then I washed hiking pants and T-shirt in the water with shampoo, hanging them on a bush while I ate lunch. With great discipline I drank fizzy water instead of a beer. It all took about two hours and I re-parked the car and headed back, reaching Flower Lake a bit after 4PM. I did not try to fish, but relaxed, knowing I would have a long next day. I was the only person camped at Flower Lake.

Unfortunately unless I drove into town, I could not recharge my camera battery, since my little battery pack only and a USG connection. I would need to be conservative on the number of photos I took. I did recharge my In-Reach. No sense in recharging the phone since there was no cell coverage.

Sunrise at Kearsarge Lakes

Kearsarge Lakes on way to the pass

The initial plan that I permitted was to go down Harrison Pass, a side trip to Reflection Lake and down the East Fork. By the time I reached Lake South America I chose the certainty of going back over Forrester Pass. This left time to go to Center Basin. I do regret not staying at the lake below Mt. Jordan and spend the afternoon fishing, although I really did enjoy Center Basin. I was very thankful that except for a few afternoons when a light haze came in from smoke, the days were for the most part very clear. I went from crowds on the trail, to complete solitude the minute I left the trail, and back to crowds. Kearsarge Pass has become a major resupply route and gets very crowded. I am not sure the two-for-one from the same trailhead is worth the savings given the redundancy- going in and out twice.

Plans for the second trip went wildly off kilter: I was so far off that my permit no longer was valid. Well, that’s another story.

[windknot]

Thanks for the report! I've been through some of this area (LSA and the lakes to the south) but not the rest, so I appreciated following along on your trip. Looking forward to reading about the second one.

[giantbrookie]

Ah, yet another great report of one of the highlights of the High Sierra. The last month of reports, including this one have inspired me to brainstorm about future trips. My September this year is booked (beyond the little 3-day trip I'm heading out on this week) and I don't do long trips beyond September, so the inspired daydreams will be for 2025 and beyond, but. I have been to the upper Kern only once and it was on a 9-day trip from New Army to Shepherd Pass in 1996. In those days Judy and I always considered those recon trips to be followed up on but we have not visited even segments of those trips. Just before you posted this I had been recalling the 1996 trip and thinking that I'd like to do the southern part of that route as one trip and then the northern part (including upper Kern) as another but hung up on the Shepherd Pass part. Then I thought it would be more pleasant to hit the northern part from Onion Valley and within a few hours I looked at the Forum and you'd posted this. Pretty fish from Casper, too. I'd forgotten that some of those rainbows show traces of golden in them. I remember dayhiking there on an anticlockwise loop that began and ended where we were camped at the lake then known (by elevation) as 11440. We started at the most downstream of the lakes of the upper Kern, fished our way upstream to the Casper Lake which we called by the less interesting name of the "three-lobed" lake, then the long lake below Mt Jordan, then the lake W of LSA, then LSA but had to take cover at the latter when a heavy thunderstorm swept in.

I look forward to the report of your second trip. Two "double headers" in a season. Outstanding.

[freestone]

Thank you for your on this area WD, as always, a great read with wonderful pictures.

Your comment on the terrain being under represented on the Topo map is spot on! It looks like you can wander endlessly and effortlessly through the Kern Trench but that's not the case, timber and cliffy terrain is what it actually is.

[Fviolich]

What an enjoyable trip report. Loved your one-stop resupply strategy. It brought memories back from two trips S and I planned in 2021 and 2022 from Lake Reflection over Little Joe's Pass to the Kern headlands. The first trip was a complete disaster! We hadn't prepared enough for the 2,600' climb, the multiple chutes, and tricky traverses and, after giving in only 200 feet from an adjacent pass, decided to go over Forrester enjoying 4 lovely days discovering this jewel of small creeks and lakes that all cascade toward the mighty Kern River. Not to be denied, we tried Little Joe’s again the next year and this time made it, generally following your route through the Upper Kern. Loved your photos of "Long Lake", the remote one at 11,550' below Mt Jordan. The lake was alive and the fishing terrific and wild. I remember the sound of my reel whirring as a big rainbow took off with my line before I could pull it in. We followed the headland creeks down and decided to avoid the descent to Casper, which I now regret after reading your TR. Loose plans are in the works to return but this time from Reflection over Thunder Pass which would be a direct route to Casper. Later we looped our way east and then north including a two-night stay stayed at Lake 11,380' which we loved, perfect as a base to explore the web of small little gulches filled with literally schools of 6" goldens, birds, and even the little mountain yellow-legged frogs, all coexisting. No need for SEKI's restoration project here, seems as though the indigenous goldens and frogs have an understanding that dates back a few hundred years. We wandered back over Little Joe's not having seen a soul for 8 days which made this trip one of our all-time Sierra favorites.

Had a question about fly patterns. Do you stay with dry flies for both lakes and creeks? Over the past 6 years, dry flies have been my go-to, I've had some luck with beaded nymphs, but nothing with streamers like Wholly Buggers. Didn't even bother to bring this past trip to Lake Basin.

Thank you and can't wait to read Part 2!