Nine Days in Sequoia/Kings Canyon - Dialup Beware!

[lambertiana]

A few years ago my niece, who lives in Tennessee and likes backpacking, saw a picture of the lowest lake on Picket Creek in Sequoia NP, and said that she wanted to go there. I have been holding on to plans for the trip for a while, and decided to make it happen this year. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for her, she had other plans and got married this month. The trip went on as planned as a nine day loop from the Crescent Meadow trailhead in Sequoia NP, so she will have to convince me to do it again.

I'll have to apologize for burning bandwidth with all of the pictures, but I took 1400 pictures on this trip and there are too many good shots that I want to share. This is a truly spectacular area.

We started at the High Sierra Trail at Crescent Meadow. Here I am, looking all clean and rested

The first 11 miles are spent gradually working higher on the north wall of canyon of the Middle Fork Kaweah river. Here are some shots of the typical trail and forest there - mostly white fir with some ponderosa, jeffrey, and sugar pine mixed in.

And a few views from the first day

After camping that night at Bearpaw Meadow, we started to head up toward Elizabeth Pass. Early in the day we could look across toward Hamilton Lake, where we would descend at the end of the trip

And looking toward Tamarack Lake

The creek from Tamarack Lake, looking down the canyon

 

[lambertiana]

As we got higher we could look straight up the Tamarack Lake drainage

Soon we could see Elizabeth Pass - it is the talus-filled saddle a little right of center

Getting higher, looking back down

The pass is getting closer

And closer

The canyon from which we came

I liked this granite outcrop immediately west of the pass

At the base of the pass itself

And finally views from the top, first looking south

And east up the ridge

Northeast toward Glacier Divide, the eastern wall of Deadman Canyon

And finally, down Deadman Canyon, where we would be going

 

[87Burban]

Outstanding Photos.


Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

[lambertiana]

I liked this rock so much I took pictures from a couple angles

And then began the long walk down to where we could camp in Deadman Canyon. There is a nice stream draining the headwall

When we got to the upper part of the canyon proper, we started going by meadows with great views

And plenty of rock gardens, I liked this one especially

Continuing down

We stopped to camp by this spot on the creek, and discovered that DEET is an absolute necessity there

Evening light in Deadman Canyon

 

[lambertiana]

The next day a humid subtropical system moved over us, and the lighting was not good for pictures for much of the day. We continued down Deadman Canyon, here are some views along the way, starting with Ranger Meadow

Then as we got to Roaring River and turned to go up Cloud Canyon, the weather turned for the worst. I kept my camera in my pack most of the way to keep it dry, but took it out for a few pictures at Big Wet Meadow

One thing that caught my eye was the bear claw marks on the trees. There were a fair number of trees in Deadman Canyon that had it, but literally hundreds of trees in Cloud Canyon bore their marks. Here is a typical example

We eventually camped for the night on the shoulder of the Whaleback. Just before it got dark it cleared up a little and I got this shot looking up the canyon

 

[lambertiana]

The next morning we started just as it got light in order to make it over Colby Pass before the thunderstorms came in. It was overcast with off an on rain most of the day. Here is Colby Lake, with Colby Pass at the very left edge

Getting closer to Colby Pass

At the bottom of the pass, looking up

The weather held out, and we made it to the top with only a little sleet. Views from the top, looking north

And south; the center of this picture, with all of the clouds, was our destination the next day, so I was concerned

But, as we descended, the clouds slowly broke up

 

[lambertiana]

That night we camped at Gallats Lake, which is really a marshy area with a meandering stream and a few spots of open water. But when we got up the next morning, the skies were clear again.

At this point we went a short distance down the canyon, and then left all trails behind for then next few days. The lowest lake on Picket Creek (which I will call Sarah's Lake, for my niece) is just behind the top of this granite slope. We went up the boulder/talus ramp in the center

Here is a closer view

Looking back up the canyon from partway up the face, can you spot my friend in this one?

This is part of our route on the upper part

After going around the first bend on that face, we got to a nice little draw that we crossed. My friend is somewhere in this picture of that draw

From that point looking across the Kern Canyon toward the Whitney Group

Then we got to the interesting part. We ended up on a ledge about five feet wide and fifty yards long, with a thousand foot cliff on one side, this is looking down

A little more scrambling at the top (I had to put my camera in my pack so I could use both of my hands) and we were at our destination...To be continued...

 

[lambertiana]

This is Sarah's Lake, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. They do not come remotely close to actually conveying the beauty of the place.

 

[lambertiana]

We camped that night on the shore of Sarah's Lake. I explored a little ways up Picket Creek, and found it to be very picturesque

Here is at the inlet to Sarah's Lake, there is a pool in the stream and then it falls over a five foot waterfall directly into the lake

And looking up the inlet stream at Sarah's Lake

And, as the sun went down, we could still see the Whitney Group bathed in light across the canyon. Remember that beyond the little wall on the far side of the lake is a thousand foot drop into the initial canyon, and then another 1500 feet to the Kern Canyon that is between the lake and the Whitney Group.

The next morning we headed up Picket Creek and crossed this divide to get to Kaweah Basin

From the divide, looking up the Picket Creek drainage

And toward Kaweah Basin

 

[lambertiana]

Then we continued the trek up Kaweah Basin, it involved a lot of boulder hopping and talus

Finally we crossed the main stream and headed up to more gentle granite slabs on the south side of the basin. In order to get through the band of brush, we took the easy route up a creekbed

More views as we ascended Kaweah Basin

We finally stopped for the day at this lake at 11,400'

 

[lambertiana]

A few shots from our campsite

I went a little higher to scout our route over Pyra-Queen Col that we would take the next day, this is looking toward the col (just to the left of the rust-colored smudge on the far wall)

Looking east toward Mt Williamson (center, second highest peak in California at 14,375') as the sun went down

The next morning had good lighting for pictures of the east face of the Kaweahs

Reflected in the lake where we camped

 

[lambertiana]

Then the fun day began. Our goal was to cross Pyra-Queen Col (12,800') in the wall of the Kaweah Ridgeline. First we passed a few small lakes

Getting higher, and it turned into 1400' vertical of boulder hopping and scrambling

See my friend, at the edge of the nearest band of snow?

Almost there. The talus chute near center leads up to the col

Views from the col, first looking south down the ridge

Across Kaweah Basin

Through the gap toward Kaweah Queen

North along the Kaweah ridgeline

And leaning out over a gap to look west through the col

 

[Don M]

Will there be a CD from this?

The view from Colby Pass looks drier than the last time you were there.

The night you were camped at Pickett Guard Lake I told Sarah you were spending the night at her lake. Perhaps if she had not just gotten married she might have gone.

 

[lambertiana]

Here is my friend making the final approach to the col, see if you can spot him among the rocks

The col itself is nothing more than a window in the cliff wall about five feet wide. To make things more interesting, there is an eight degree variation of compass readings on the col. On the west side it drops down a 60 degree talus chute that is very unstable.

I went first and I have no pictures from that section. I needed both hands to hang onto the rock on the right side of the chute; otherwise I would have ridden a rockslide to the bottom. When I got to more sane grades (45 degree slopes) I took my camera out again to take a picture of my friend coming out of the bottom of the chute

Some views from that spot; first, toward the north face of Black Kaweah

Toward Kaweah Queen

And down to the first lake

After what seemed like an interminable talus slope (and I only went down once) we reached the lake

And the smaller lake just below

 

[lambertiana]

Will there be a CD from this?

The view from Colby Pass looks drier than the last time you were there.

The night you were camped at Pickett Guard Lake I told Sarah you were spending the night at her lake. Perhaps if she had not just gotten married she might have gone.

I may just send you a flash drive, it would take too many CDs. Tell Sarah that I'd do this trip again if she comes out for it. It was a hard one, but worth it.

This year we received only 40% of average snowfall; the last time I went over Colby Pass we received 200% of average snowfall.

Anyway, we continued down to our final stop that day, in Nine Lake Basin. A few pictures along the way

Here is the view looking down Big Arroyo from camp

And the next morning

From there we got back onto a real trail for the first time in days and went over Kaweah Gap and started the long descent back towards Crescent Meadow. Near the gap are nice views of Eagle Scout Peak

And the buttress of Mt Stewart

Precipice Lake; we got there at the wrong time of the day for proper lighting, but if you are an Ansel Adams fan you will recognize it

Looking down toward Hamilton Lake

 

[TheGame]

Wow. That is a ton of pics

Thank you for putting them all up, they are fantastic pics. :thumbup:

 

[lambertiana]

We continued down to Hamilton Lake

And from there past Angel Wing

This is Hamilton Creek going over a drop

Hamilton Domes

Looking back up toward Hamilton Lake

Looking down the canyon to the valley where I live

After the time in the high country, some shade under the middle elevation forest was nice on a hot day

We stopped that night at Bearpaw Meadow, which is where we camped on the first night. From the trail on the way out yesterday, a few parting shots looking back toward the high country

And no trip report would be complete without one picture of the namesake meadow at the trailhead, Crescent Meadow, which is at the edge of Giant Forest. Normally the 175-200' tall firs and sugar pines you can see in this picture would be considered towering, but then you look at the sequoias (with the more rounded crowns) and see which trees have dominance there.

All in all it was quite an adventure. Pyra-Queen Col was pretty much at the limit of my tolerance for exposure. It was very strenuous, and I lost seven pounds in nine days. My wife commented that I am too skinny now, and I had to remind her that I am now at the same weight I was when we got married. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone who is comfortable with off trail backpacking. And to Sarah, the invite is still open.

 

[Thomas Linton]

Wow! Amazing place.

 

[omniviking]

Very nice, thanks for posting.

 

[Joezilla]

Amazing shots. Did you get a chance to do any fishing in that huge lake?