TR: Kearsarge Pass to Upper Kern 7/28-8/5/19
Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 6:52 am
I can't figure out how to copy and paste photos from my blog, so this is going to be somewhat abbreviated and you can read the full story on my blog.
In 2018 I visited SEKI for the first time and fell in love viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19052
In December of 2018 I asked asked for and received a lot of very helpful advice viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19057
If you read the 2nd link, you will see that permit issues scrambled my plans. In short, I was hoping to enter/exit via Kearsarge Pass. I ended up with a permit for Shepherd Pass which made me nervous given the heavy snow this year. About a week before my trip, I randomly got on recreation.gov to see if people were canceling Shepherd permits and I found 10 Kearsarge permits for my day were available (I assume a large group canceled). So I ended up with a Kearsarge permit after all.
Caltopo says 76 miles and +/- 16500'
Day 0 (Lexington KY to Whitney Portal)
Day 1 (Onion Valley to Upper Vidette)
Day 2 (Vidette to Upper Kern area)
Day 3 (Day Hike to Milestone Basin and Lake South America)
Day 4 (Upper Kern Area to Shepherd Pass)
Day 5 (Shepherd Pass to Meadow on north side of Forester Pass)
Day 6 (Forester Pass to Kearsarge Lakes w/ side trip to Center Basin)
Day 7 (Day hike Kearsarge Lakes Basin)
Day 8 (Kearsarge Lakes to Onion Valley)
A couple highlight photos with lots more here https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/20 ... -2019.html
Bullfrog Lake
East Viddette and Bubbs Creek
Sky Pilot and Forester Pass
Sunset
Milestone Basin was buggy but beautiful
Upper Kern
Milky Way and Foxtail Pine
Mt Tyndall and Milky Way
Lupine and Milestone Mountain in the background
Sunset below Forester Pass
Lake 11276 below Forester Pass (north side)
Center Basin
Sunset over Kearsarge Lake
Wandering around between Kearsarge and Bullfrog
Kearsarge Pinnacles and Crescent Moon
One last look at the High Sierra
Summary/lessons learned: I thought that I wanted solitude and I still do. But, I don't mind interacting with people on the trail. In fact, with some people I enjoy it. It is interesting to hear what people are doing/where they are heading. And it is useful to get a little information about things like snow covered passes. It turns out that I don't need/want solitude while hiking, but I really like it once I setup camp. Kearsarge Lakes made this obvious and made me think of Charlotte Lake and Rae Lakes last summer. The crowded/noisy camping is what annoys me, not fellow hikers on something like the JMT. I figure it is a valuable trip if I learn something about myself and on this trip I did.
lots more detail/photos here https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/20 ... -2019.html
In 2018 I visited SEKI for the first time and fell in love viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19052
In December of 2018 I asked asked for and received a lot of very helpful advice viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19057
If you read the 2nd link, you will see that permit issues scrambled my plans. In short, I was hoping to enter/exit via Kearsarge Pass. I ended up with a permit for Shepherd Pass which made me nervous given the heavy snow this year. About a week before my trip, I randomly got on recreation.gov to see if people were canceling Shepherd permits and I found 10 Kearsarge permits for my day were available (I assume a large group canceled). So I ended up with a Kearsarge permit after all.
Caltopo says 76 miles and +/- 16500'
Day 0 (Lexington KY to Whitney Portal)
Day 1 (Onion Valley to Upper Vidette)
Day 2 (Vidette to Upper Kern area)
Day 3 (Day Hike to Milestone Basin and Lake South America)
Day 4 (Upper Kern Area to Shepherd Pass)
Day 5 (Shepherd Pass to Meadow on north side of Forester Pass)
Day 6 (Forester Pass to Kearsarge Lakes w/ side trip to Center Basin)
Day 7 (Day hike Kearsarge Lakes Basin)
Day 8 (Kearsarge Lakes to Onion Valley)
A couple highlight photos with lots more here https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/20 ... -2019.html
Bullfrog Lake
East Viddette and Bubbs Creek
Sky Pilot and Forester Pass
Sunset
Milestone Basin was buggy but beautiful
Upper Kern
Milky Way and Foxtail Pine
Mt Tyndall and Milky Way
Lupine and Milestone Mountain in the background
Sunset below Forester Pass
Lake 11276 below Forester Pass (north side)
Center Basin
Sunset over Kearsarge Lake
Wandering around between Kearsarge and Bullfrog
Kearsarge Pinnacles and Crescent Moon
One last look at the High Sierra
Summary/lessons learned: I thought that I wanted solitude and I still do. But, I don't mind interacting with people on the trail. In fact, with some people I enjoy it. It is interesting to hear what people are doing/where they are heading. And it is useful to get a little information about things like snow covered passes. It turns out that I don't need/want solitude while hiking, but I really like it once I setup camp. Kearsarge Lakes made this obvious and made me think of Charlotte Lake and Rae Lakes last summer. The crowded/noisy camping is what annoys me, not fellow hikers on something like the JMT. I figure it is a valuable trip if I learn something about myself and on this trip I did.
lots more detail/photos here https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/20 ... -2019.html