High Sierra Topix

Our family embarks on an extended backpack (nearly) every summer – since 2006 - in the southern Sierra. Typically these are 9-day trips – time enough to get to a beautiful and isolated place, enjoy lay-over days to explore via dayhikes, and get back out.
Our committed group on these trips is my sisters Megan and Julia (in their 60s), daughter Trekker9 and her husband Slabwalker (early-mid 30s) and self (now 72). On occasion other family members or friends join us. This August Slabwalker & Trekker9’s friend JP came with us to make a party of six.
[Last year – 2023 – our backpack didn’t happen. I had ankle replacement surgery and Slabwalker had ACL surgery, both in June of 2023 - neither of us could hike that summer.]

Our target this year was to reach Kaweah Basin. In 2017 we attempted to get to Kaweah from the Cottonwood Pass trailhead. Our 2017 schedule called for us to get to the basin in three days. This turned out to overly ambitious for our group… at the end of 3 days we were in Junction Meadow (Kern River version) and – because of a landslide during the previous heavy winter – were facing a difficult crossing of the Kern to proceed. So that year we aborted our plan and went north to Milestone Basin instead.

This year – to increase our chances of reaching Kaweah – we extended our trip to 11 days in the backcountry. In addition we looked at other routes to get there, and some of us settled on crossing Russell-Carillon Pass from the Whitney Portal trailhead as a relatively direct route to Kaweah.

As this trip report describes, the six of us were apart for major portions of the trip – in fact we only all camped together for one night out of the ten. Some of these separations were planned, others not. Between the 6 of us we had 3 Garmin Inreach units and so could (laboriously) text one another to communicate locations and plans.
This Trip Report is primarily mine, but also including inserts from Trekker9, Slabwalker and Megan to report on events/routes for which I wasn’t present.

Overall the weather was great. There was a cold front that came through on days 9 & 10. Mosquitos were not to be seen. There was smoke/haze that came in every afternoon in the western (Kaweah/Colby) region of our trek – photos were best taken in the mornings for sharpness.


DAY 1 (August 15th)
All six of us entered the mountains on this day, but in two groups from two different trailheads. Megan and Julia began from the Cottonwood Pass trailhead. They had a packer bring in their packs to Rock Creek on that first day – thus they enjoyed hiking their first 12 miles with daypacks only, knowing that their food and gear would be waiting for them. That went well!

Trekker9, Slabwalker, JP and I began from the Whitney Portal trailhead, heading up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek towards Russell-Carillon Pass. Our first night’s goal was Upper Boy Scout Lake – less than 3 miles of horizonal hiking, but a 3000’ climb. We four were fairly leisurely about our start – camping at Convict Lake the night before, stopping in Bishop on the drive, and beginning the hike around noon. All went well enough. 3000’ vertical feet is a tough slog with full packs. The ‘ledges’ at about 10,000’ feet elevation were a challenge – part of that challenge just to discern what was intended to be the ‘trail’ in this area. The Ledges

Then we were up out of the steep gorge, past Lower Boy Scout Lake, across the talus, up the granite slabs to Upper BSL. Looking East to Owens Valley
I was knackered by Lower BSL, and Slabwalker helped me transport my pack on and off up the last 1000’. I have an awesome SiL!

DAY 2
On this day Megan and Julia shouldered their packs and headed north on the PCT. They reached the Crabtree Meadow camping area, then decided to push on a little farther north to avoid the crowds and achieve a little more distance. They filled up with water and continued another ½-mile before dry camping near the trail.

Trekker9, Slabwalker, JP and I had the goal of crossing Russell-Carillon Pass and reaching Wallace Lake for this day’s hike.
In recent years Slabwalker has taken to climbing non-technical peaks near our hiking route as we proceed – he can generally do this and still easily keep up with my pace. This was a day for this strategy. After breakfast I started up the long sandy slog directly from Upper BSL. Upper Boy Scout Lake

Trekker9 gave me a head start and then followed. Slabwalker and JP headed up the alternate route to the NW – continuing up the Upper BSL canyon and then swinging around to the N and NE under Mt Russell. Trekker9 and I made it up through the sand, then across the ‘flat’ on the top and arrived at R-C Pass just as Slabwalker and JP arrived there after Slabwalker summited Mt Russell. Sandy slope to R-C Pass
Tulainyo Lake from R-C Pass

We snacked on top. Trekker9 and I started down the north side; Slabwalker and JP went over and summitted Mt Carillon first. I’m painfully slow on my reconstructed ankle, particularly going down on talus – I don’t have the balance/confidence to step down heavily on it yet. So T, A and J had plenty of time at the bottom waiting for me. Then off to the NW past Tulainyo Lake, over a snowbank and down to the west through the meadows, over a rim and down to Wallace Lake. Slabwalker put down his pack to summit Tunnabora Peak, JP went with him partway and then also headed west to Wallace Lake. Our goal was to camp near the mouth of the lake. JP arrived first, then Trekker9 and I staggered in, with Slabwalker following. Headaches and nausea were generally shared among us this night – elevation, and maybe having to look into the setting sun for the last hours of our hike contributed. Our appetites for dinner were minimal.

(Slabwalker addition) The route up to the high shoulder of Russell above RC has a name: "Rockwell Variation". It is a very non-dangerous but physically demanding slog, involving repeated short series of "power" steps through steepish scree to get from one stable area to another for rests.


DAY 3
On this day the six of us planned to meet at Junction Meadow (Kern River). Megan and Julia accomplished this on-trail – continuing north on the PCT/JMT, turning west at Wallace Creek and down to the Kern River.
Trekker9, Slabwalker, JP and I walked down through the Wallace Creek canyon. It’s a beautiful place for a morning stroll – over ridges with sparse forest, along the creek, across various meadows. Wallace Creek Canyon, Kaweah Peaks
Meadow/Stream in Wallace Creek Canyon

Downhill, but not steeply. The map shows a use trail up through the canyon. In fact there are multiple use trails appearing and disappearing– it’s easiest if one doesn’t get hung up on trying to follow one trail in particular. Stream Over Slab, Kaweah Peaks

At some point Slabwalker and JP pushed on ahead. Trekker9 and I reached the PCT/JMT, snacked, and continued west. After the Wright Creek crossing Trekker9 also stepped up her pace, and I eventually also reached our Junction Meadow campsite with (a little) daylight to spare.
We spend a lot of our Sierra time above treeline, so the tall pines and forested feel of this area is a nice change. Plus being low enough to have a campfire.

Trekker9: One interesting thing we saw this day, in the lightly timbered areas not far below Wallace Lake, was an obsidian arrowhead. Just a few feet away was a bit of modern human trash. A contrast of what humans leave behind them, several hundred years apart.

DAY 4
Today our hope was to all get to Kaweah Basin. This involved hiking west on the Colby Pass trail, then at an opportune time crossing the creek and angling up the slope into the Pickett Creek basin from where Kaweah Basin was accessible.
The lower section of the Colby Pass trail is not trivial. It’s a brushfield, and hasn’t been maintained as a trail for some time. Thus one is often walking through the brush while peering down into it looking for the direction of the trail. Trail/Brush Out of Junction Meadow

Then up alongside and past the knoll that sits in the middle of the canyon, back down to the creek (where we had lunch) and on to the west on the trail – out of the brush now and easy enough to follow.
When we judged that we were opposite the (relatively) spaced contours on the S side of the creek we crossed the creek and started up. As per the contour map and online suggestions, we angled to the SE as we climbed, generally moving in the direction towards the lowest Pickett Basin lake.
But we got ‘stuck’ at a certain point. In retrospect we were trying ascend too early when we needed to continue SE towards the nose of the ridge there. It was 5pm, and the lure of the attractive creek back below was enticing. In the end the other five headed back down to a campsite along the Colby Pass trail, whereas I – loathe to give up the elevation that had been climbed and confident that I could reach at least Pickett Basin – continued on up.
And in fact I did get there - though I did it in a round-about way, eventually arriving at the lowest Pickett Lake from its SE as dusk was setting in. An attractive little lake with a rim holding it in from spilling into the Colby Pass trail valley below. With nice camping areas on either side of the lake inflow.

Communication via our Garmins confirmed that Megan & Julia would stay by the creek along the Colby Pass trail, that I would spend the next two days in the Kaweah Basin area, and Trekker9/Slabwalker/JP would choose their next move when inspiration hit.

DAY 5
In our various locations we all needed a layover day – it had been a hard first 4 days for most of us. I in particular had arrived at campsites at or near dusk on each of those days.

Megan, Julia, Trekker9, Slabwalker and JP stayed in the Colby Pass trail valley this day and enjoyed the creek running over slabs through the valley. They moved camp upstream a mile or so to a more attractive campsite.

I spent the morning at the lowest Pickett lake exploring a bit and washing up. Lowest Pickett Lake

In the afternoon I packed up to make the easy trek over Pickett Creek Pass to the lowest Kaweah Basin lake. It was not as fun as I expected. First, the ridge between the Pickett and Kaweah basins is a slightly different type of rock than your standard granite – a little more reddish/brown. I experienced it as more broken up rock such that even though it wasn’t particularly steep it took me time to pick my way along through the pieces of rock. SW View from Pickett Creek Pass

In addition there were a series of gullies running parallel to the Kaweah watercourse that had to be climbed in and out of as I proceeded down the SE side of the pass. Finally even though the map suggests that the terrain is flattish around the lowest Kaweah lake, it’s not particularly level. I found a shelf suitable for one person near the lake inflow and camped there for the night.

Trekker9: We awoke at the campsite we had made our way down to, on tired legs, the previous evening. It was lightly forested, with a campfire ring and good creek access. Around breakfast we all agreed that a layover day was desired, and messaged my dad on the inReach to let him know. Our camp was beneath the Class 1-2 slope we had attempted to go up the prior evening. It was the natural thing to look at and discuss while breakfasting, trying to draw lines to determine the route. In the end it wasn’t that complicated, but it is just hard to tell from the bottom, where there is a warped perspective of slope angles.

Shortly after breakfast, we all resumed resting. Some went to wash up in the creek. I slept for a couple more hours. Our bodies were tired after four long hiking days!

Meanwhile, Slabwalker scouted about a mile up the canyon and reported back on a good campsite. Early-afternoon, we all leisurely moved camp. It was as-advertised. Wide open with big slabs, good creek access, and another excellent fire ring (still below 10k ft). It was a warm day. Slabwalker tried to decide the exact premium he would pay for a chocolate milkshake heli-dropped at his feet, while JP thought about Huevos Rancheros. The boys played chess, and we all rested and wandered around camp.

The evening ended with another campfire, and cookies. There was a big moon that night. When I got up in the middle of the night, I didn’t need a headlamp to navigate, because the moon lit up the granite walls around us.

{continued}

{continued TR}

DAY 6
On this day Megan and Julia continued to enjoy laying over at the camp on the Colby Pass trail.
Megan: Julia and I took a hike farther up the trail (toward Colby Pass), passing some beautiful light-green pools and waterfalls on Kaweah-Kern creek. Julia had to turn back after a mile because of a blister on her heel, and I hiked approximately another mile to an enormous meadow - still fairly green - with an ox-bow bend in the creek. I met a group of backpackers, six hikers and their guide, who had come over Colby Pass. The hikers were from the Midwest and East Coast; they had started on the west side and were going to climb Mt. Whitney before ending their trip a few days later.
In the large meadow, I saw a single stalk of Shooting Star with two blossoms on it - my favorite Sierra wildflower and the only one I saw during the trip. Hiked back to camp, where Julia and I had a leisurely afternoon, and enjoyed a campfire that night (being camped at about 9800 feet).

Trekker9, Slabwalker and JP packed up and climbed toward Pickett/Kaweah basins so as to experience the Promised Land at least briefly on the trip.

I woke up with the resolve to explore Kaweah Basin as best I could with the one day that I had there. Before breakfast I went down to the mouth of the (lowest) Kaweah Lake and found that there were nicer campsites in that area. Returned to my campspot near in the lake inflow, had breakfast, packed my pack and left it there while preparing for a dayhike into the upper Kaweah basin.
I was concerned that hiking up through the basin would be a continuation of the inconvenient hiking conditions that I had experienced coming down from Pickett Creek Pass. But not so. It was beautiful, with easy walking on slabs and ridges. I passed by the small lake shown on the map and continued to the SW. Small Lake Mid-Kaweah Basin

Here the walking got very fun – the creek is braided, and I could ascend on flattish rocks with the stream running through those rocks. Stream in Kaweah Basin, Peaks

There were brush patches to avoid, also grassy areas and wildflowers to enjoy. For aways there was a sparse forest impressively high up to ~10,900’. I reached the small lake just below the 11,400 line – relatively close under the Kaweah peaks though afternoon smoke obscured them somewhat. Kaweah Basin Lake Close to the Peaks

The NW side of Kaweah Pass was in view – apparently a long talus/scree slope.
Heading back down Kaweah Basin I stopped at the small lake south of Pickett Creek Pass and bathed at the head of the lake. While sunning myself on an adjacent rock movement behind me caught my eye – it was a marten climbing through the lakeside rocks in a stop-and-go manner. Further examination in that direction revealed a pika maybe 25 feet away, keeping an eye on me and chewing on lakeside grass. Pika at Lakeside

Perhaps my presence (temporarily) spared the pika from the marten?
I returned to my pack, carried it down to the nicer spots at the mouth of the lower Kaweah Lake and set up camp. Trekker9/Slabwalker/JP had visited the lake in my absence, found and left a note on my pack, then decided to return to the lowest Pickett Lake to camp. I would’ve joined them but it was late and I was settled.

Trekker9: Trekker9, Slabwalker, and JP packed up this morning and headed up the Class 1-2 slope towards Pickett/Kaweah. With fresh legs and clear heads, it was not difficult to navigate up and around the slope to the first Pickett Lake. It was still steep terrain though, and I was out of breath trying to keep up with the boys, who waited at each viewpoint.

The first Pickett Lake was one of the prettiest we had seen, and reminded me of the “eagle’s nest” lake we stayed at near Arrow Peak in 2018. There was a granite ring around the east rim, and above that views of all the Big Mountains of the Crest - we could see Williamson, Tyndall, Barnard, and a cluster of peaks around Whitney. On the other side of the lake were flat camp spots next to the inlet, a series of low waterfalls. I supposed this was where my dad camped two nights previously.

We moved on towards Pickett Creek Pass and Kaweah Basin. The pass looked pleasant from the map, but was rather annoying to cross. We expected slabby rock to stroll on, and instead got “broken dishes” of shattered rock to pick through. My dad described this above; we encountered the exact same conditions and annoyances, so I won’t repeat them further.

Making our way along the main Kaweah Lake, we came upon a familiar pack! It was where my dad had camped, but he was off on a day hike. We left a note and moved on to the outlet of the lake. My dad had suggested this location via the inreach, and it was a much nicer area with good granite slabs. We lunched and played Road to Mordor, a dice game in which hobbits race the Nazgul to Mt Doom, which I had spent precious ounces lugging all the way to Kaweah Basin. As the afternoon wore on, heavy smoke moved into the basin from wildfires in western Sequoia. We were starting to think about the distance we had to travel the next day, and decided to return to the pretty Pickett Lake we admired that morning for camp.

We returned via the ridge my dad took on Day 7, described below. Like him the following morning, we were tempted by the shortcut. It worked out well enough for us, but there were some short downclimbs and steep slabs. I was glad to be able to pass my pack down to Slabwalker in one spot.

The sunset from Pickett Creek Lake was lovely. We got to watch the alpenglow on all the peaks to the east. Big flat Barnard was full rosy pink, while craggy Williamson was pink braided with the navy shadows of all its ridges and crevices.

DAY 7
I had agreed with Megan and Julia to meet at Junction Meadow on the evening of this day.
Trekker9/Slabwalker/JP were now on a different schedule. They had to leave the wilderness a day before the other 3 of us in order to get back to work in a timely fashion. And they had exit permits to go out on the Whitney trail – were willing to put up with the crowds on that trail in order to include Mt Whitney on their List of Things Done. So we didn’t see them again. Morning at the Lowest Kaweah Lake

From the lowest Kaweah Lake, I looked at the map and thought that I could go around the nose of the ridge between Kaweah and Pickett Creeks in order to avoid Pickett Creek Pass. This turned out to be rather difficult – there’s a reason folks use P.C. Pass. Trying to keep my elevation on the way to Pickett Creek Lake I had to cross in and out of a set of steep granite gullies… this involved a few moves that were sketchy for an Old Guy hiking alone. Made it though. Looking back at that route from P.C. Lake it appears that to take that route effectively one would have to go over the top of the knoll on that ridge, which makes Pickett Creek Pass the better route after all.

Then down the steep hillside to the creek along Colby Pass trail. Lunch by the creek. Back down the trail, through the brush, and back to our Junction Meadow camp with daylight to spare.

Megan: Julia and I made it to Junction Meadow in the mid-afternoon. The trail was brushy (as Eric mentioned on day 4) and it was hot, so it was nice to cool off by the Kern River (really more of a gentle creek this year) before making it to camp.
In camp, Julia heard from Natalia via the Garmin that her first grandchild is a girl. I had brought pink and blue balloons, so the pink ones were blown up and enjoyed at the campsite.

Trekker9: We (Trekker9, Slabwalker, JP) packed up, and headed down. Instead of angling down the Class 1-2 slope into Colby Canyon the way we had come up, we headed straight down to the Kern-Kaweah River. Luckily we didn’t get cliffed out, and so this ended up being a very direct and efficient route down. Within 5 minutes on the trail, we came across Megan and Julia on their way to Junction Meadow. Quick reports of the previous day and goodbye hugs - then we didn’t see them again.

We made it to Junction Meadow by lunch. Afterwards we headed up Wallace Creek Trail. It was hot, and we moved at a quick pace. Topped off with cold water at Wright’s Creek, and made it to the Wallace Creek / JMT junction by mid afternoon, where we weighed the options of early camp versus hiking further.

Despite being relatively early in the afternoon, many JMTers had already posted up at the Junction camp area. This surprised me, as I thought they commonly hiked all the way to evening in order to maximize daily miles.

Anyway, we were tired, so we set up camp too. Throughout the afternoon JMTers wandered around doing yoga and basking in the sun. Some of them were loud, too. I found the area troublesome to find bathroom privacy. We played another round of Journey to Mordor and had dinner. We were hungry at this point in the trip, and yet picky about eating the remnants of our food. Slabwalker was tired of mango. I had sadly left a bag of gorp in my pack overnight by accident, and lost it to a critter. JP emptied a bag of mashed potatoes into his cheesy broccoli and rice dinner.

The JMTers quieted down, and we slept well.

DAY 8
Megan, Julia and I now had 4 days to exit. M & J were up for crossing Russell-Carillon Pass now that it had been scoped out and I was there to guide. And the longer trail miles to Cottonwood trailhead weren’t appealing to any of us.
So back up the ‘High Sierra Trail’. We helped out a woman who was on the H.S.T. and was a little confused – she had never been in the area and was navigating purely via GPS and had no physical map. I’m a little old-school that way – I like a good hard-copy map.
We three had thought we might camp around the junction with the JMT/PCT, but we were doing well when we got there and decided to continue up into the Wallace Creek basin. Pleasant walking through forest, along the creek and past green meadows. We picked a campsite maybe a mile+ into the basin – up on a flat overlooking one of those meadows. Great spot!

Trekker9: This morning we started promptly, and were happy to be out of the Wallace Creek Junction camp area. Our destination was Guitar Lake, a hike of about 7 mi and 1800 ft. The morning was uneventful and we moved quickly, reaching Guitar Lake by early afternoon.

Guitar Lake is above treeline, with harsh sun exposure and (at least while we were there) a constant wind. The lake was shallow and full of algae. It was a busy area too - JMTers were already quickly claiming campsites. We tucked up in a fairly private space near the neck of the guitar, with a lovely view towards the Kaweahs.

We all lunched on our remaining bits of food, and Slabwalker helped me set up the tent. I spent the afternoon reading and resting, out of the sun and wind. Meanwhile, the boys grabbed daypacks and set out to summit Mt Hale (elevation 13,494) and Mt Young (13,176). There is a broad slope between the two, so they were able to summit both while descending only a short ways between them. It still looked like a monumental endeavor to me, but they were successful and back at camp within about 3 hours.

Dinner, and bed.

DAY 9
Our goal for the day was to reach the meadows above Wallace Lake, elevation 12,500’. This would be our jumping off point for crossing R-C Pass the next day.
It was a typical sunny morning – we continued our ascent through the fine forests & ridges of the basin. As the morning progressed a cold wind picked up behind us. Pool Below Wallace Lake

When we reached Wallace Lake the wind was rather uncomfortable, and we lunched in the shelter of a low ridge there.
Coming down from the meadows to Wallace Lake on Day 3 we had identified the break in the ‘rim’ between those features that allowed hiking over it, and now we three headed that way. Hiking up to this rim I randomly found – partly under a rock but visible to someone ascending – my reading glasses that apparently had fallen out of my pack 6 days prior.
We reached the meadows late in the day. The wind was quite nasty now – cold and strong. Clouds were blowing in as well. There was no shelter in this area – we set up camp west of the meadows, slightly behind a low ridge and with our sleeping bags down in swales in a futile effort to avoid the wind. And went to bed early-ish to stay warm.

Trekker9: I woke up at about 4am, and looking out of the tent mesh could see little headlamps winding up the Mt Whitney trail. These were people planning to reach the summit to watch the sun rise. I vaguely wondered if we should be getting up early that well, but there was a cold whipping wind outside, so I snuggled back into my sleeping bag.

In fact, we did not get on the trail until nearly 9am. It was still cold, but the wind died down. I didn’t expect the sun to hit that morning at all due to the massive wall of Mt Whitney to our east, but the sun angled in from north of Whitney by the time we left camp.

The Whitney trail wound up and over several hillocks, past some tiny pond-tarns, and eventually into view of Hitchcock Lakes. Rivulets of water on the trail had frozen into ice patches. The trail then started up the “wall” switchbacks. The higher we ascended, the more the wind whipped and the colder it became. I was the opposite of the boiling frog - I was the freezing frog as I got colder and colder, little by little. Whenever I considered stopping to pull out layers, the wind died temporarily so I pushed on in hopes that hiking uphill would warm me up. Not so.

At Trail Crest, where the trail split off to Whitney Summit, the fierce wind was colder than ever. We desperately threw on the most convenient layers we had. I was wearing my puffy and a rain shell, but still in shorts. We all carried our packs to Whitney Summit instead of leaving them at Trail Crest, as many do. The 2 miles to the summit were uncomfortable. I recall stopping once, trying to figure out how to warm my hands. The wind was like cold sandpaper on the face. Fortunately it was blowing into the mountain, so we were in no danger of stumbling off. The wind did slam Slabwalker into a rocky wall.

But, all was well at the summit. The wind eased and the sun was warm. I changed into all my warmest base layers. We took a few pictures, signed the register, and poked our heads inside the hut. With the wind chill, we were very glad we slept in that morning instead of joining the “sunrisers”.

We spent the next several hours getting down as quickly as we could. The wind didn’t die until we were well down below the east side of the crest. We reached Trail Camp early afternoon, where we originally had planned to camp. We were not impressed. It was already crowded, and an unpleasant location. Is anyone who knows us surprised that we decided to end the trip that day, and stay the night in Bishop with a hot dinner? Probably not. So we continued on, and reached the Whitney Portal Trailhead about 5pm.

We had gone 15 miles that day, ascended about 3.3k ft and descended about 6.5k ft.

We called ahead to the Wayfinder** in Bishop (formerly the Creekside) and booked their last open room on a Friday night in August. In independence we stopped at the ice cream shop across from the courthouse where we were married last October. We ended the day with showers, pizza and pasta at Upper Crust, and jacuzzi soak for our sore legs.

**Note: the Wayfinder removed all Galen Rowell photos from the main lobby, and replaced them with abhorrently meaningless trendy mountain decor and a gift shop. However, Galen Rowell thankfully remains in the hallways.

DAY 10
When we got up the wind was strong and cold, and there were hard ‘snowflakes’ hitting us from the west. We ate a hurried breakfast, stayed bundled in our warmest clothes and headed east. Morning Across the Meadows

Across the meadows and up to the saddle overlooking Tulainyo Lake. Turned SE, across the snowbank that extends into the lake and to the base of R-C Pass. Across the Snowbank

The ‘precipitation’ ceased, but the cold wind continued.

From the north side R-C Pass is about a 400’ climb – first on steep talus, then the last 100’ on rock. Final Climb to R-C Pass

We successfully negotiated this, then lunched in the windbreak of rocks on the south side of the pass. The wind was still strong and cold, but it was now mostly blue sky around us. We had now a 5000’ drop to the Whitney trailhead to accomplish in the next day and a half. We walked across the slightly down-sloping sandy plateau, then over the rim onto the steep scree. It was a long and tedious descent on the scree. At the bottom we wanted to get a little farther down than Upper Boy Scout Lake, but didn’t have the energy to go much farther. In the end we found enough level spots to camp next to the granite slabs east of Upper BSL. It turned out to be a great spot – somewhat sheltered from the wind, views over Lone Pine & Owens Valley, and beautiful water nearby rushing over the slabs.

DAY 11
The wind died down during the night. We awoke to an early sunrise with the sun coming up over the mountain ranges out in Nevada. Packed up, across the lower slabs and talus slope down to Lower Boy Scout Lake. Then on the well-defined trail down the major gorge that NF Lone Pine Creek follows. The Ledges were a challenge – in 3-4 places we took off our packs and handed them down before downclimbing short descents. Lunch at the creek crossing below the ledges. Then down the trail to the junction with the main Whitney Trail and out to our car.

We drove up to the Cottonwood trailhead to pick our other car, then to Bishop for showers, a dinner at our favorite restaurant there, and to sleep in real beds.

wonderful report, thank you!

Excellent report! Thanks for posting. I'm also 72, with all joints intact, and am in awe of how much you did on a reconstructed ankle!
-Phil

Fantastic trip. Thanks for putting this together for us, with a lot of fine photos too. Too Cool to see the Pine Marten-- did it appear to be stalking the Pika? You made it into a really remote mountain basin, Congratulations to you all.

p.s. Did you think to hide rocks in the packs of the youths? That could've evened things out a bit.

Hi @bulaklakan, thanks for sharing this, and congrats on reaching Kaweah Basin. I am impressed that you tackled R-C Pass with (presumably heavy) packs with 11 days of food.

Too bad everyone did not reach Keweah Basin. But they seemed to have fun anyway. I have gone to Keweah Basin from Whitney Portal and Cedar Grove on the west over Avalanche and Colby Passes. I had never thought of going in via Boy Scout Lakes. Glad to hear that although rigorous the pass options to Wallace Lake are not too technical. I also camped at the lower Picket Lake and caught nice fish for dinner. Day-hiking the upper Keweah Basin is the way to go. So much more enjoyable with a day-pack. I had a lot of trouble getting good photos because it was a bit hazy. I have thought of going there earlier in the season when there is less haze and wildflowers. Thanks for the detailed trip report.

I have a photo in my office of Lower Picket Lake, I was just looking at it yesterday and thinking of that view. I'd love to get back to Kaweah Basin again.

thanks for the great report

(right Mouse select "Open image in New Tab")

Enjoyed the tour, thanks. A quite ambitious challenge. The idyllic noname lake at 3220 meters (~10,580) is one of the most spectacular in the range.

In 2019 I did an Epic base semi camping trip over Shepherd Pass but stayed east of the Kern River Canyon. To help you folks see where you went from a different perspective...
The downsized for web 5 column stitch blended image above is 16300 by 6000 pixels full size. The 3 below images are 90% pixels crops from that full image. View at the Postimages.com page for more detail.

https://www.davidsenesac.com/2019_Trip_ ... 019-7.html

The below are three 90% crops from the above:

(right Mouse select "Open image in New Tab" then +)

I've been to Kaweah Basin several times and it has always been rewarding.
Thanks for sharing your epic adventure.
My last trip there was a three day trip from Crescent Meadow.
See: http://www.sierrahiker.com/KaweahBasin/index.html