On August 17-September 1, 1974 myself, Gil Beilke, Pat Lieb and Scott Morton took a sixteen day 70 mile round trip backpack in the Ionian Basin/Blackcap area and climbed Tehipiti Dome 7708' (me almost), Peak 12,472, Mount Reinstein 12,604' and Blackcap Mountain 11,559 in the John Muir Wilderness and Kings Canyon National Park.
Gil, Scott and I left San Diego Friday afternoon and drove to KOA campsite at Goshen (near Visalia) where we arrived around 11 p.m. After a good night's sleep we drove on to the Dean and Dave Pack Station at Dinkey Creek on Saturday where Pat Lieb met us, having driven up from Modesto (in 4 hours).
We gave our second week's food to the packer and drove across the dam at Wishon Lake to the end of the road at Little Rancheria Creek. We followed a use trail in an attempt to find the planned route. It seems the road went further than I thought and we almost completely missed the route - but we found some other hikers who knew the area and straightened us out.
We then headed cross-country to find the trail - which was successful and we continued through woods to Crown Valley. A jeep trail to Chain Lake intersects the trail in two places and I ran into two jeeps. The Crown Valley Ranger Station is a log cabin in good repair which was in use but not occupied when we passed. We reached Crown Valley about 4 p.m. or so after a noon start. Nearby was an old log cabin resort which appeared to be in operation. There is private land in the Valley.
When we left the next morning we found the old waterwheel which used to drive a generator for electricity. It appeared they were going to put it back in operation since they had hauled in irrigation pipe to rebuild the flume.
We continued to Crown Creek - a substantial stream - and on into Kings Canyon National Park to a pretty stream below Kettle Dome. After lunch and a short climb on the trail we headed cross-country for Tehipite Dome. Gil set off on his own route and got turned around - ending up going in the wrong direction and doing a lot of up and down.
The rest of us contoured around the valley per the guide book instructions until we reached the ridge leading out to the Dome. We stashed our packs and headed out the ridge - arriving at the Dome about the same time as Gil (with pack). Everyone went out to the top of Tehipite Dome except me - I chickened out on the third class pitch which needed a rope.
Tehipite (t? hip’ i tê) Dome holds the distinction of being the largest dome in the Sierra Nevada, though the nearly continuous forest and low profile when viewed from the north often mean it is unseen by climbing parties until they are almost immediately upon it. It remains a daunting site from Tehipite Valley below, and the views from the summit are stunning in all directions.
The Dome is situated at the southern end of Kettle Ridge, 1.7 miles inside the western boundary of Kings Canyon National Park. It rises over 3,500 feet directly above impressive, glacially carved Tehipite Valley and the Middle Fork of the Kings River.
Tehipite Dome sees relatively few visitors due to its lower elevation, its remote location, and the long approach almost entirely through the forest requiring elevation gain in both directions. Those that come, however, often enjoy greater solitude than can be obtained elsewhere in the Sierra. As of late 2009, the previous 10 years saw fewer than 30 parties log their accomplishment in the register.
Tehipite Dome is listed among the 35 peaks of the Sierra Peaks Section’s Mountaineer's List, and this is the motivation of several of its ascents. Nearby Spanish Mountain is also on the SPS List, so some parties climb these two peaks together (usually, but not always, as an overnight trip).
The easiest and by far most commonly used route to the summit is the exposed, class 3 North Ridge. Technical ascents from the south ranging from 5.9 and up have been climbed, but with much less frequency.
There was also a register at the saddle with papers going back to 1929. I had most of the good views anyway. My camera had broken that morning - the Topcon which I was using for color - so I had to use my Olympus which I had planned to use for black and white - all of which limited me to wide angle shots.
We were all beat so we decided to make camp at some water we found in a side valley off the ridge a short way from the Dome. We gathered everything there and it turned out to be a fine campsite.
The next morning we climbed up the ridge in the direction of the trail and Kettle Dome. We reached a high lookout point (8369) where we enjoyed the views before following a bench northerly to the trail. We arrived at the originally planned campsite for lunch - then down into Blue Canyon on a fairly steep trail.
August 2016 Trip to Backcap Basin and Blue Canyon by another party
We met a seven (about) person Scout Troop and a man and wife with two young children. The family had come into Blue Canyon from Blackcap Basin. We hiked up Blue Canyon to the "cabin site" where we made camp about 3 p.m. and had a layover day. It was a fine campsite.
On Tuesday, the layover day, Gil set out via the old Tunemah trail to climb Burnt Mountain, Tunemah Peak, and Peak 11448. Scott and Pat stayed around camp (Scott took a short hike), and I fixed my Topcon before taking a moderate hike up the stream - through a rocky gorge - and located the trail for the next day.
The turnoff onto the main trail was just across from camp but was obscure and we could have easily missed it if I hadn't done some exploring - the obvious route dead ended in the rock debris at the outlet of the gorge and would have been very tiring to cross with packs.
Wednesday morning was a nice hike. We all followed the trail to a pair of lakes NE of Peak 10801, then up the slope north where it petered out. Gil and Scott charged off and left there packs at the pass next to Finger Peak before climbing the peak. Pat and I stayed together as far as the pair of lakes - where we ate lunch - then after climbing the ridge we separated - since he was faster than I.
I quickly lost sight of him and proceeded to climb the wrong pass. On top I realized my possible error and was wandering where everyone else was - I couldn't find anyone anywhere in the whole valley. I then started exploring the ridge and looking for the right pass. In the meantime Gil and Scott reached the top of Finger Peak and hollered - but where was Pat.
I arrived, without my pack, at the correct pass just as Gil and Scott arrived from the peak. We began worrying about Pat and gave a yell - and there he was, coming up the slope toward the pass. It turned out that he had stopped off to climb Finger Peak from the lakes below - as I had indicated he would have to since the guides indicated you couldn't go along the ridge - which you essentially could.
Anyway, Pat climbed the ridge to a false peak and got a headache which slowed him down. So we were finally all together again (Gil went over and got my pack for me to save time since I was sort of beat) and it was 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
We proceeded down the slopes toward Goddard Creek. The slab system was good but slow and we were beat so we made camp at a lake just below 10400. It turned out to be a nice camp and we had great views of Finger Peak with the moon setting over it.
The next day we contoured along easy slabs into Goddard Creek valley. We skipped the planned lake campsite and later heard the fishing was very good there. The Goddard Creek valley leading up to lake 10212 is beautiful and we took many pictures. We reached the lake around 10 a.m. and Gil suggested camping there instead of climbing into the Ionian Basin - which I accepted since I was not feeling too great.
The layover cured most of what was apparently an allergy problem. Pat was glad to stop also. Pat and I laid around and explored the lake shore while Gil and Scott climbed Scylla and Peak 12855 which is known as Hansen. They came back a route different than going up and made it to camp about 6 p.m. just in time for supper.
The next morning we climbed the steep slope to the Ionian Basin. It turned out not to be so bad and I was feeling better. The scenery was fantastic as we went. We reached the little pond just below lake 11804 around noon and ate lunch. We met a party of 4 day hiking from over near Martha Lake.
Following the stream toward lake 11804 where we planned to camp, we ran into a snow field leading down into the lake. It was icy and too dangerous to cross without ice axes while carrying packs - soooo, we climbed several hundred feet up the mountain to go over the snow field - sort of made the 1/4 mile a little difficult - - - but, the pictures from this high point were great.
We made camp in a rocky isthmus - we met another party of two who had the only good campsite. Gil set out to climb Mount Solomons but ran into route problems and returned via peak 12472. The rest of us rested until supper.
The next morning, Saturday, Gil climbed Mount Solomons and came back along the Goddard Ridge climbing several other peaks. Scott and Pat climbed Mt. Goddard and did some sightseeing. I still wasn't up to par so took it easy.
I started along the route toward Mount Solomons and ran into the same route problem Gil had had the day before - a snow field again. So, I climbed to a peak about 12250 which actually gave me outstanding views of the whole Ionian Basin. After taking a bunch of pictures I climbed Peak 12472 and returned to camp.
The rest of the gang soon arrived and we had supper. The next day we headed for Martha Lake where we were to meet the packer with new supplies. The route around the West end of Mount Goddard was easy and very scenic. We dropped down to one lake at 12,000 feet which still had a snow field on one shore. Pat went ahead while the rest of us took our time - and pictures.
As we approached the final drop to Martha Lake we spied the packer unloading our food at a rock on the shore. We found out later that he had arrived a day early. Originally we had thought he might meet us at the meadow a mile below Martha Lake.
Pat was not aware the packer had dropped off the food - and through a series of communication failures he headed down the valley looking for the packer. Gil, Scott and I made camp near the lake - then Gil headed out to climb a peak, Scott took a siesta, and I hiked down the valley to find Pat and to go to the Hell-for-Sure Pass trail junction to close the loop with a trip in 1968.
Pat had gone about 3 miles down the valley and I met him as he was coming back up the trail. We had a gourmet feast for supper with freeze dried steaks (2 1/2 each), potatoes and gravy, green beans (which we didn't fix), canned pineapple. We ate so much we groaned.
Monday we shouldered our reloaded and heavy packs for the climb over LeConte Divide next to Mount Reinstein. We made slow progress across the boulders on the west shore of Martha Lake and then climbed mostly easy slabs and benches - with some easy third class - to the pass. Then we all climbed Mount Reinstein which turned out to have outstanding views of the major portion of our trip.
Mount Reinstein is a remote peak in Kings Canyon National Park along the White Divide. The peak is difficult to distinguish from its unnamed neighbors and is overshadowed by its massive neighbor, Mount Goddard. It may have been singled out for a name as it overlooks the pass (Reinstein Pass) that divides the headwaters of the South Fork of the San Joaquin River (Goddard Canyon) from Goddard Creek, which ultimately flows into the Middle Fork of the Kings River.
The trick to ascending Mount Reinstein is not the actual scrambling route, but in the approach. Mount Reinstein is one of the 248 peaks listed by the Sierra Peaks Section of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter. According to Francis P. Farquhar’s Place Names of the High Sierra (1926), the peak was “named by R. B. Marshall, U.S.G.S., for Jacob Bert Reinstein, a regent of the University of California from 1897 to 1912. (R. B. Marshall.) A.B., University of California, 1873; a charter member of the Sierra Club; died, 1911.”
Gil picked up a couple other peaks along the ridge. After lunch back at the pass we dropped over easy terrain past Valor Lake to Ambition Lake. The water was warm and for the first time in history, Gil Beilke went swimming in a Sierra Lake - as we all did.
The next day we dropped down into upper Blackcap Basin - then across its wide open expanse to the saddle northeast of Blackcap Mountain. We climbed the mountain - Class 1 - and enjoyed the view. Just remembered that on top of Mount Reinstein we found a round rock with Paul Robotta and friends names on it from the previous year when they climbed it. We later found out the rock came from the North Fork of the Kings River.
Leaving Blackcap Mountain we descended from the pass (a bit tricky in spots) and proceeded to Horsehead Lake. Pat and Gil dropped down the pass and contoured over to the lake. I continued on down to Guest Lake and followed the trail down to the next lower lakes (in error) and then backtracked on the trail to Horsehead.
Scott tried another route going higher on the ridge northeast of the pass - turned out to be extra work. We all gathered in a deluxe packer's campsite where we spent two days.
Gil used the layover day to climb nearby peaks, Pat and Scott lazed around and read, and I spent all morning lazing around and reading, then scouted out the next day's trail as far as Twin Buck Lakes. This was a very pleasant camp - no one else around. After supper we made "darn-goods" (deep fried doughnuts without holes) and stuffed ourselves sick. We even had a bunch leftover for the next day.
Thursday we followed a use trail along the bench above Bench Valley, around the upper end at Crabtree Lake, past several meadows to a saddle leading over a ridge to Devil's Punchbowl. We dropped down past some very pretty upper lakes to the Punchbowl and made camp - one of the few nights where other people were in the area.
The next day we hit the trail down Meadow Brook toward the North Fork of the Kings River. This was Pat's birthday - his 21st - and we ran into some cattle grazing the many beautiful meadows along the stream. We continued to Big Maxson Meadow which we reached about noon. We found a big camp across the river on the trail to Halfmoon Lake - two log tables.
I took a six mile roundtrip hike up the river to a trail junction while others laid around camp or went sightseeing. Met a 75 or 78 year old man (he looked 55) from Courtright who was packing with a backpack and horse - with his wife, daughter and son-in-law.
The next day we headed up the relatively new trail to Halfmoon Lake and beyond to "Crown Pass" and then to Woodchuck Lake. The lake was low and the water not go great - plus there were a number of people - and later we met many more on their way - so we decided to go on down the trail to a better campsite - which turned out to be a good decision since we were close enough to the road that Labor Day weekender's were headed there in mass.
There was no water on the trail for a long time. We passed a spring at a meadow with an old collapsed cabin and found a spring fed stream near the Woodchuck Creek trail junction - where we made a very nice camp.
We were all getting "going home fever" so got off to an early start Sunday morning. We stopped at Finger Rock to take pictures of each other and the group, and then charged down toward the cars. We found markers Gil had left along the trail that steered us to the end of the road.
It turns out the trail crosses the road only a short distance back from the end. We made the cars around 10 a.m. and said farewell to Pat as he returned to Modesto. We headed for Visalia for lunch and got back to San Diego around supper time. This was a great trip - we spent over a week away from trails on cross-country routes - the longest ever - and saw some great and challenging scenery.
Ionian Basin/Blackcap 1974 Deck Trek Route Map
