On August 24-September 10, 1978 myself, Gil Beilke, Stan Haye (11), Robbie Haye (11), Bill Caipen (11), Gordon Lee (11), Scott Morton (9) and John Moulton (9) backpacked 108 miles in the Kern Plateau area of the John Muir/Golden Trout Wildernesses and Sequoia National Park.
On August 24, 1978 myself, Gil, Stan, Robbie, Bill and Gordon assembled at the Mouse House in Lone Pine and at 6 a.m. Joe Crimi ferried us all to the roadhead at Horseshoe Meadows. In the pleasant early morning coolness we soon made Cottonwood Pass and turned onto the Pacific Crest Trail.
The party spread out with Don, Gordon and Bill stopping for lunch near the Sequoia National Park boundary. We all gathered near Siberian Pass on a sandy flat at the head of Siberian Outpost around 3 p.m. and made camp.
Beginning of day one on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Day one on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Day one and two on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Gil got us off to an early start down the Outpost. Views improved as we traveled. At a point where the creek made the beginnings of a sharp drop we headed cross country toward Forgotten Canyon. Turned out we started a little sooner than we should and got into some steep rocks so dropped down and followed the edge of the steep stuff on a sort of plateau to the end of the ridge where we crossed - again getting into some boulder hoping that Stan didn't like.
Ate lunch in a nice meadow on Forgotten Canyon, then hiked up the pleasant valley to a lake at the upper end that would have been a good campsite. We climbed over the ridge and camped at Funston Lake - poor campsite.
Saturday we headed onto the Boreal Plateau and got up on a ridge with fine views of the Kaweah's and Great Western Divide. Nice hike over to Johnson Lake. Gil, Bill, Rob and I climbed Johnson Peak for better than expected views. On returning to the lake we decided to camp there rather than go to Rocky Basin Lakes.
Sunday we followed the Johnson Creek (mostly dry) down to the trail with few problems. Ate lunch above Salt Lick Meadow on the trail, then continued to Little Whitney Meadow where the horses and number of people encouraged us to go on to the Natural Bridge where we found a fair campsite and beautiful stream.
Day two, three and four on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Day four and five on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Monday we continued down to the Kern River - viewing hard to see Volcano Falls (deserves more time to explore the various parts of the falls). Crossed the Kern on a good bridge. Found the Soda Springs not too inviting. Left the Kern River Ranger Station about 10 a.m. and had a steep steady climb to a crossing of Coyote Creek where we ate lunch. We moved on up a mile or so to the next creek crossing (side creek) and found a campsite.
Day five and six on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Tuesday we moved on up the creek, almost missed the Coyote Lakes trail junction, and hiked some nice country to the Coyote Lakes "Pass". From the pass Gil, Bill and I climbed easy Coyote Peaks for again good views. Since we had to backtrack the next day and his leg was bothering him, Stan and Rob decided to stay below nearer the trail junction so we slit up the cooking gear and food. Gil, Bill, Gordon and I went on to Coyote Lakes to camp. Nice Lakes but with all the fooling around we arrived a little late to really enjoy them.
Day six and seven on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Wednesday we climbed back over the "Pass" and backtracked to the Coyote Pass trail, over Coyote Pass, across Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun Creeks, steep climb up Shotgun to Silver Lake, arriving between 4 and 7 after a long day.
Thursday Gil did a 10 mile, six peak day hike while the rest of us enjoyed a layover day. The packer arrived up Shotgun Creek via Farewell Gap about 6 p.m. Stan and Rob had decided to go out over Franklin Pass to Mineral King in two days so we juggled the food around and repacked some to send out with the Packer.
Friday we all headed up the sandy Shotgun Pass and down the ducked route to Rattlesnake Creek. On the main trail we headed to Foerster Lake, then Little Claire - arriving around noon. Gil went climbing while the rest of us relaxed. After supper it started to cloud up so we put up tents. Didn't need them but it was a forewarning of the future.
Day seven, eight and nine on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek (traveling from lower left to upper right)
Saturday, Stan, and Rob returned to the Franklin Pass trail and camped at Franklin Lake, going on to Mineral King on Sunday. Gil, Bill, Gordon and I headed into Soda Creek, then across into Lost Canyon and up to tree line below Columbine Lake. It was cloudy as Gil and I did some sightseeing to Columbine Lake.
Day ten on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Day ten on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Sunday morning Bill and Gordon headed over Sawtooth Pass to Mineral King and Scott's car which, with Stan and Rob, they used to return to Lone Pine and home. Meanwhile Scott and John hiked to Monarch Lake from Mineral King on Saturday, then came over Sawtooth Pass and cross-country to Little Five Lakes on Sunday.
Gil and I on Sunday took the trail down Lost Canyon, then an old trail over to Big Five Lakes. As I was leaving the lower lake the sky opened up and we had a good rain. Due to the weather I missed seeing the upper Big Five Lakes as we continued on to the Little Five Lakes and a good trail. After wandering around a bit, Gil came back to locate me and we moved on to the northerly Little Five lakes where we had a neat campsite. Gil hiked back up toward Blackrock Pass and made contact with Scott and John who planned to meet us on Monday at the old cabin in the Big Arroyo.
Day eleven, twelve, thirteem, fourteen and fifteen on 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Monday morning, under threatening skies and showers Gil and I descended the trail to the old patrol cabin. The cabin had a reasonably tight roof and we, along with others, enjoyed it as a sanctuary as the rain continued all afternoon. around 5 or 6 p.m. Scott and John showed up. By then the creek was up quite a bit and they had to wade. It seems John had taken a fall late Sunday and was having some headaches and dizzy spells.
We all camped near the cabin, using it for cooking and fellowship. Others had to sleep in it as their shelter tents were leaking, etc. We found out from radio that it was hurricane Norman causing the rain so holed up all day Tuesday.
Wednesday morning it started to clear. Gil and two newly met Sierra Clubbers set out about noon to climb Eagle Scout Peak (returned about 6 p.m.). Scott and John decided to pack up and move to Moraine Lake about 3:15 p.m. after drying their gear.
Day fifteen and sixteen 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Thursday Gil and I started out early and headed up the High Sierra Trail toward Moraine Lake. At the little pond we headed cross-country on the flanks of Kaweah Peak and eventually crossed "Kaweah Pass" and dropped into the Kaweah Basin, making camp about 5 p.m. Beautiful views - we could see heavy fresh snow on Darwin to the north.
I was suffering from diarrhea so Friday took it pretty easy as we followed down the creek to some lakes, then over a ridge into Picket Guard Creek and down into the Kern-Kaweah drainage. We crossed the river on a large log jam - would have been a real problem during the high water earlier in the week. The Colby Pass trail was in very bad shape - many washouts. Make it down to the Kern River crossing which we were able to cross on logs with a bit of trouble. Made camp at Junction Meadow about 4 p.m. after some nice scenery.
Day sixteen and seventeen 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Meanwhile Scott and John had camped Wednesday near the Moraine Lake Trail Junction (instead of the lake), then Thursday moved to Kern Hot Spring and joined us at Junction Meadow Friday about dark. John was still having problems but seemed to be improving.
Saturday we headed up the Wallace Creek Trail. 1 took a two hour rest at the Muir Trail junction as I was still not up to par. I arrived at Wallace Lake about 4 p.m. Gil had arrived just after noon and set up camp. We were joined by Scott and John about 4:30. It had clouded up, cooled off and gotten windy. We hit the sack early.
During the night we had some light rain and awoke to threatening weather Sunday morning. We decided to eat a cold breakfast and get on our way before the weather got worse. It sprinkled some and the wind was cold as we hiked up the easy but exposed slopes near Wallace Lake and Wales Lake.
Day seventeen 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Day seventeen and eighteen 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
Gil had scouted the route the day before which made it easier going. The wind literally pushed us along which was great since I still wasn't really feeling great. As we arrived at Tulianyo Lake the weather began to show signs of clearing but the wind remained cold.
Gil picked the Cleaver/Carillon Pass rather than Carillon/Russell pass so we all followed him. Getting to the top of the pass turned out to be relatively easy. The light fresh snow on the rocks was not icy which helped. The drop down the other side was steep and a little hard to follow. The weather was clearing but the wind was still strong and gusty.
Gill got down quickly and took the direct most northerly route down to the trail and Whitney Portal arriving just after noon. I stopped for snacks and then took the same route - but, I missed a turn and got involved in some bushes and cliffs that used up an hour or so to get out of. I finally made Whitney Portal about 3.p.m. Stan was there to meet us. Scott and John had trouble finding the route down from the pass and took three hours there - plus not knowing the shortcut came down via Lower Boy Scout Lake and made the parking lot about 7 p.m. We retreated to my place at Lone Pine and cleaned up. Scott, John and Gil stayed over and drove home Monday. It was a challenging trip - weather both added and detracted - my diarrhea sort of dampened the last four days. Potentially a great trip.
Day eighteen 1978 Kern Area Deck Trek
