Author Topic: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond  (Read 41963 times)

Gavin

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Hey gang, back for the second half of the report of my 14-day backpacking trip in Sequoia National Park, up into and over the Kaweah Basin and peaks. I'll post somewhat smaller images in the hopes that the thread will open more quickly for viewers!

I began the 8th day much as I had the other days up to this point; I woke up before dawn and considered photo options at the lower lakes of the Kaweah Basin. In preparing for the trip, I had the brilliant idea of bringing a portable power pack I could use to charge camera batteries during the days of backpacking. Unfortunately, the battery charger that connected to the power pack crapped out at day 6... So I was stuck with the weight of the power pack but no way to charge my dwindling supply of working batteries! I tried to focus on maximizing use of the batteries, but that is hard to do when you are surrounding by the beauty of the High Sierra. I was hoping to at least make it to day 10 or 11 before the camera batteries died completely!

Here is an image from our campsite on the narrow channel between the lower lakes, looking southwest up canyon to the Kaweah Peaks:



Here is a photo of the campsite itself, still looking up canyon, with Alacia huddled out of sight in here sleeping bag:



To simply keep our pack weight down to 70 pounds for me and 45-50 pounds for Alacia, we had to plan pretty carefully, especially in the realm of food. It ended up being a good process of researching lightweight foods, though... We discovered some dehydrated and freeze-dried options that worked quite well. Below is a goofball photo of me having just finished cooking home fries (from cubed, dehydrated potatoes) and scrambled eggs (from dehydrated eggs), with garlic powder, cajun seasoning, and cheese thrown in. Pretty damn good for being in the middle of nowhere in the backcountry!



After finishing breakfast and packing up, we continued hiking up through the Kaweah Basin. We ran into a pair of folks hiking cross-country in the other direction, much as Alacia and I were, saw a third guy hiking solo in the distance, but otherwise were alone, walking up canyon over granite slabs and scree. The upper canyon was as stunning as the lower basin, with Kaweah Creek cascading noisily, willow and pine in along the creek flow and the jagged Kaweah ridge in the background... Quite an idyllic area. Here are some photos of the hike up canyon, beginning with a look up canyon.:



Here is a photo of Alacia two-thirds of the way up Kaweah Basin... We particularly liked this area, and would have camped in the area if it had been a little closer to the col we planned to ascend over the next day.



A couple more photos two-thirds of the way up the basin, looking back towards the eastern crags of the High Sierra, then back towards the Kaweah Peaks:





More rock and water detail as we continued hiking, with the granite and metamorphic rock beginning to mix more prominently as we approached the Kaweah ridge:



After some further navigating and scouting ahead, we approached the 3 largest lakes near the head of the Kaweah Basin, our destination for the night. Most of the glacial snow and ice had melted from the flanks of the peaks, but clearly served as the source for the brilliant, turquoise waters of the lakes. Here are a few images of the lakes as we approached, with clouds gathering  on the horizon more substantially than during any other day of the trip:







At around 11,700 feet, the air was cold and the plant life was reduced mostly to occasional swaths of grass. However, there were a few lines of wildflowers blooming in spectacular displays along the lake shores:





The approach to the lakes was slow and over scree piles; here is Alacia on the final approach:



We set up camp just west of the smallest of the 3 lakes, and the light changed into the golden and orange hues of evening. Mt. Kaweah is in the photo below, the more gradual-looking, sunlit peak in the background to the left:



As the light faded, the clouds that seemed to be threatening a storm began to disperse, but stayed around long enough for some beautiful alpenglow effects. Here is a final image for the day that I quite liked:



More to come soon... Day 9 would mark our ascent over Pyra-Queen Col, and down in the upper Nine Lakes Basin!


squiddo

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2013, 12:33:22 PM »
WOW- looks like a great trip Gavin. Beautiful pictures and I bet even THEY don't do the colors justice.
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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2013, 03:26:31 PM »
Nice Gavin! How goes the rehab?
I've been told that when the water is that beautiful green it is because the lake bottom is rich in clay minerals - that would make sense considering there are substantial amounts of weathering feldspar in the granitic rocks. Great shadows, light and reflections. The thread loaded without any delays this time - thanks :)
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Gavin

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2013, 05:32:02 PM »
Squiddo: yeah, the sunrise and sunset colors were pretty stunning. I was really glad that we got some clouds near dusk... Often they seem to disappear in the Sierras just as the alpenglow is really kicking in.

JC: that makes sense about the green of the water due to clay minerals. Rehab goes well... I'm officially able walk (with a reinforced boot) without any crutches or other supports, now that I'm 5 weeks post surgery. (By walking of course, I mean slow hobbling!)

Oh, and good to hear the thread is loading more quickly. I can't promise that will be the case after I continue adding more photos, but we'll see!

F4?

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2013, 05:45:21 PM »
nice pictures.

What camera are you using?
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Gavin

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2013, 09:26:57 AM »
Thanks, F4. In regards to photo gear, I tend to schlep around a DSLR (usually a Canon 5D Mark II body) plus a wide-angle zoom lens, a tilt-shift lens, a tripod and ballhead... Anyway, you get the picture. It's usually a fair bit of weight on top of everything else, but I feel more satisfied with the results, so for me it is worth the effort!

Gavin

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2013, 10:34:36 AM »
I woke up on the 9th day even earlier than normal, to try to see and photograph the sunrise light just as it was first touching the jagged toothy ridge of the Kaweah Peaks. Here is an image of the central Kaweah Peaks... I really like the way the morning light enhanced the already-reddish color of the rock:



Alacia and I were planning to hike no more than 3 miles or so because we knew the cross-country venture would take a long time and involve some punishing ascending and descending over endless scree slopes. There are a few cols in and out of Kaweah Basin and none of them are easy. We decided to try for Pyra-Queen Col, a very narrow slot between Kaweah Queen and Black Kaweah that would drop us down to the Nine Lakes Basin.

This was the other part of the trip I was a bit anxious about, getting out of the Kaweah Basin... I had read a few online reports about the route online but didn't know how demanding it would really be in practice. As the sun continued to rise, I photographed some more mountain ridge reflections. Here are a couple images looking back towards our camp (notice my red sleeping bag in the mid-ground of the second image, just below the long shadow), and towards Pyra-Queen Col beyond. The col is located left (or south) upslope of Kaweah Queen, the peak to the right... In the second image the col is just left up ridge from the central, reddish rock outcrop in the middle of the ridge line:





After a quick breakfast, Alacia and I packed up and began the slow ascent. Granite scree changed to a looser jumble of metamorphic shingles as we proceeded up towards the col, just shy of 13,000 feet. The vegetation mostly disappeared, with infrequent flowers and bunch grass popping up irregularly. Here is a photo of Alacia during the slow ascent over scree and boulders:



Another photo of Alacia resting as we near the col, with jagged outcrops between Red Kaweah and Black Kaweah in the background:



Very close to the col, the sharp spire of Kaweah Queen (in the background) rose to prominence:



And finally by late morning, we reached Pyra-Queen Col itself. There are actually a couple of narrow slots forming the col, one about 15 feet wide and the other about 8 feet wide. Here are views from the col, first looking at Black Kaweah, then at Kaweah Queen, then down to the highest and longest lake of the Nine Lakes Basin, a half mile long from end to end:







Looking down at the upper Nine Lakes Basin, we decided to try for a camp site on the north (or right side of the next lake down from the highest lake, the smaller one above and just right of the high lake in the photo above. The small tarn (just visible above and left of the high lake) looked interesting too, perched right on the cliff edge overlooking Big Arroyo, the massive river cut leading southeast down from the Nine Lakes Basin.

First we needed to get down, though. The passage from the col was 4th class for about 20 feet, then eased off to 45-degree scree slopes after that. It was definitely slow going, though... neither of us wanted to bust an ankle out here! Here is Alacia on the cautious descent:



After more hours of unending scree, we finally dropped our packs for a rest, halfway around the highest lake of the basin. In hindsight we were definitely glad to have hiked down from the col to the Nine Lakes Basin... Hiking the route in reverse would have been brutal. It was bad enough on our knees hiking the way we did! Here is Alacia dozing in the sun, with Pyra-Queen Col at the low point of the ridge, just above the tiny twin snow spots.



Here is a view of the high lake looking in the other direction (west):



After a late lunch, we strapped the packs back on and found a nice camping site near the outlet of the eighth lake of the Nine Lakes Basin. Vegetation was still limited mostly to grasses and high-altitude ferns. Nevertheless, there were signs of life, with American dippers bobbing along the lake shore, and groups of American pipits flying among the rocks in loose territorial groups.

After setting up camp and scarfing down a well-earned dinner, I eyed the evening color and saw some good possibilities for evening photos. Now that we were back on the west side of the Kaweah Peaks, I looked forward to making use of the sunset color upon the rock faces. Fortunately, the color deepened from gold to orange to a deep red as dusk descended... Here are a couple of reflection photos I quite liked, with Lawson Peak in the first (the smaller peak second from the right), and Kaweah Queen in the second (on the left, with Pyra-Queen Col again in the middle):





Night descended and we burrowed into our sleeping bags, with brilliant starry skies overhead... Another good day!

More to come!

Brad Young

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2013, 06:35:46 PM »
Great trip!

I had to laugh ironically though at not wanting to "bust an ankle" out there. Little did you know that instead of busting one out there, you were saving it for a basketball game at home!

Per chance did you take a photo of either of the slots at the crest of the Pyra-Queen col?

F4?

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #8 on: October 14, 2013, 07:48:24 PM »
Well that nice of a setup sure makes a difference. Those pictures are amazing.

I have a 4/3, but recently tried the 5DIII and the 6D. Now I'm scheming on how to justify buying a 6D when I already have a setup.

Keep posting up.
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mungeclimber

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #9 on: October 14, 2013, 08:04:16 PM »
real shame you didn't see anything purty out there.

maybe next time?

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F4?

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2013, 09:30:07 PM »
I am amazed at how dirty the high sierras are.

Just look at all that loose scree lying around.


In some countries, they'd clean up and re-purpose the scree for walkways and counter tops.
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Gavin

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2013, 05:03:27 PM »
Great trip!

I had to laugh ironically though at not wanting to "bust an ankle" out there. Little did you know that instead of busting one out there, you were saving it for a basketball game at home!

Per chance did you take a photo of either of the slots at the crest of the Pyra-Queen col?

About the injury: yeah, I suppose there is irony there. All things considered, if it had to happen, I'm glad it was in the front country!

About the slots at the crest of Pyra-Queen Col: for some reason I spaced and forgot to photograph those clearly! However, there are a couple photos of the more narrow slot on other online trip reports I've seen. (...And the 7th, 8th, and 9th photos for the 9th day show the south, north, and west edges of the slot respectively, at the base of the images... I just forgot to photograph the whole slot clearly in my focus on the peaks!) Coming from the Kaweah Basin, the main thing to keep in mind is that the slots are just upslope left (south) of the reddish, ridgeline knob mentioned in association with the 2nd and 3rd photos of the 9th day in the report. That reddish knob has a steep, smooth chute of rock heading up right... At first I looked at it and thought (with anxiety) that was the col, but thankfully the slots of the col are further upslope and definitely more easily accessed.

Gavin

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #12 on: October 16, 2013, 05:06:45 PM »
Well that nice of a setup sure makes a difference. Those pictures are amazing.

I have a 4/3, but recently tried the 5DIII and the 6D. Now I'm scheming on how to justify buying a 6D when I already have a setup.

Keep posting up.

Yeah, the 5DIII and 6D are very nice. (I actually just replaced my 5DII with the 5DIII, for more effective use with wildlife and action photos.) I also noticed that Sony just announced a mirrorless interchangeable lens full-frame camera - the A7r - that will accept lenses from many different companies via adapters. Looks like a potentially promising camera body for landscape images.

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #13 on: October 16, 2013, 06:58:37 PM »
Yeah, those little Sony ones are great for taking climbing and travel (I used the Nex5). But man, the 6D is pretty nice.

I use the OMD EM5 and love it. But the glass and ISO that the 6D has can't be beat.
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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #14 on: October 16, 2013, 08:21:16 PM »
Very enjoyable shots Gavin. I love the blue/green water shot. I also love seeing all that glacially sculpted landscape. It looks like maybe the metamorphic peaks are slate? Thanks for the share.
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Gavin

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2013, 02:25:05 PM »
After a delay (due to the backlog of work after the government shutdown ended), I'm back for some more for the trip report. Glad to hear folks are enjoying the photos and trip details.

I woke up with the crisp air before dawn on the 10th day and hiked a bit upslope from the 8th lake of the Nine Lakes Basin, to the small pond or tarn just west of the lake. The tarn sat on the edge of the cliff drop down to Big Arroyo, and offered some neat, abstract reflections in early morning hours. Here is one photo from just before dawn, with Eagle Scout Peak (the central summit) in the distance:



After a few photos I climbed back into the sleeping bag to sleep off some of the weariness from the crossing of Pyra-Queen Col the day before. After a leisurely breakfast, Alacia and I packed and hiked slowly down north, past the various lakes of the Nine Lakes Basin. Here is a view of the 7th lake, with Lion Rock the leftmost peak on the horizon line:



Here is the outlet from the 7th lake, before it cascades downslope west. (The tarn from the morning is located on top of the background bluff, out of sight.)



As the day proceeded on, we began to experience the only real negative aspect of the whole trip: we noticed with annoyed frustration that there was a steady stream of jet flyovers. We had heard a few planes and jets flying overhead for the past several days, but today the flyovers were predominantly from military jets, as frequent as one over 10 minutes. The noise pollution was pretty irritating and continued throughout most of the day (and into the next couple of days as well). It seemed particularly out of place as we hiked through such a remote and (otherwise) beautiful lake basin up in the middle of the High Sierra.

Despite the jet noise, the beauty of alpine country of the Nine Lakes Basin filled our spirits. We continued downslope past the 4th and 5th lakes, along the shore of the large 2nd lake, and found a gorgeous spot near the southern outlet of the 1st lake to camp. Here are views looking north at the 1st lake, then down to the beginning of the Big Arroyo (fed by the waters of the Nine Lakes):





After 5 days of hiking off trail and cross-country, we began to see a few more hikers again, passing back and forth along the High Sierra Trail southwest of the 1st lake of the Nine Lakes Basin. We hadn't hiked with backpacks too far today, partly because I wanted to check out Precipice Lake, just over Kaweah Gap to the west. Ansel Adams took a famous image of the lake and I was interested to see the location. After setting up camp, Alacia and I hiked west over the gap, switchbacking down for views of the lake, the south side of which is a sheer cliff wall.

The timing wasn't the greatest - in the morning, if the air is still, one can photograph some pretty cool reflections - but the sun did enhance the blue-green of the water. Here is one image I liked:



I decided to try my luck at some lake reflections at Precipice Lake on a return the following morning... For now we hiked back to the Nine Lakes Basin, settled into camp, and watched the afternoon light create its magic on the cliff walls and peaks. Here are some images from our campsite I was able to capture:





And here's a parting shot for the day at sunset... The pre-dawn photo at the tarn was taken at the top of the central, sunlit bluff, 1,000 feet higher up:


mungeclimber

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2013, 10:52:39 PM »
Precipice looks great!
Famous stuff there. nice!


It's a funny thing. There is a way of talking about end of day light by a lot folks that have been in the Sierra a lot. They always describe it as "the show"... "what time do you think the show will start?"  "let's get the camp chairs set up for the show."


Is this just me projecting or has anyone else noticed that?
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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #17 on: October 20, 2013, 01:55:48 AM »
Wow, some really good ones
Here's to sweat in your eye

Brad Young

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #18 on: October 20, 2013, 06:56:06 AM »
I'm starting to admire Alacia's willingness to get some sleep in the morning...

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Re: Trip Report, Part 2: High Sierra Backpacking - Kaweah Basin And Beyond
« Reply #19 on: October 20, 2013, 07:48:09 AM »
That one big boulder looks like you might be able to rock it.
I like the pre dawn and the one preceding the blue/green water.
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