The frog crew has set the date for its annual Center Basin
Party in Sequoia Kings National Park, beginning in the afternoon of Friday
August 24, and concluding the morning of August 26 (of course, coming anytime
on the 25th is acceptable too).
Location: Center Basin in Kings Canyon National Park
Closest trailhead is in Onion Valley, out of Independence,
CA on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mts.
The hike to Center Basin is 15 miles, over a fairly minor pass
(Kearsarge). Let us know if you are
coming so we can prepare for the right number of people. One dinner and breakfast is provided as well
as some booze. Bring a sleeping bag,
warm clothes, tent (if you are partial to one), etc etc.
What follows are extremely detailed directions, though if
you look at a map of Sequoia Kings, you should be able to figure it out pretty
easily. For those of you thinking about
coming in from out of town, you should contact me and I will probably just meet you in town/at the trailhead/or whatever else
works. :)
FROM THE EAST SIDE (Onion Valley trailhead up through
Kearsarge Pass: don’t forget to get your permit. You can get it at any forest
service visitors center (there is one in Bishop—don’t know about south of
independence though). The Onion Valley trailhead itself is out of Independence,
45 minutes south of Bishop (left at the Independence post office if you are
coming from the south). You can camp at the trailhead (suggested if you want to
do the whole hike in one or two days) to get an early start the next day but it
costs $15. Otherwise, there is lots of free camping on BLM land nearby—a good
area is off the turnoff to Onion valley—off the dirt road by the basalt
outcroppings on the left going up the hill before things get steep.
The hike/section 1: from Onion Valley to Kearsarge Pass is 4.5 miles or so, and I think Onion Valley is at 7,000 feet and the pass is just shy of 12,000, so it’s a 5,000 foot elevation gain. From Kearsarge pass, you drop down past Kearsarge lakes (take the left track going downhill at the first junction—the one with the signs—and then stick right when the trail branches off to the campgrounds at kearsarge lakes at the next junction—from there, follow signs to vidette meadows or forester pass). You’ll pass Bullfrog lake and go down a steep hill (keep taking all the left turns you are presented with) and you’ll end up at Vidette meadows. It is 2 or 3 miles from Kearsarge pass to Vidette.
The hike/section 1: from Onion Valley to Kearsarge Pass is 4.5 miles or so, and I think Onion Valley is at 7,000 feet and the pass is just shy of 12,000, so it’s a 5,000 foot elevation gain. From Kearsarge pass, you drop down past Kearsarge lakes (take the left track going downhill at the first junction—the one with the signs—and then stick right when the trail branches off to the campgrounds at kearsarge lakes at the next junction—from there, follow signs to vidette meadows or forester pass). You’ll pass Bullfrog lake and go down a steep hill (keep taking all the left turns you are presented with) and you’ll end up at Vidette meadows. It is 2 or 3 miles from Kearsarge pass to Vidette.
OK. SECTION 2: Vidette to Center Basin.
After Vidette, there are a few more campsites before the one that marks the Center Basin trail junction (heads-up: the Center Basin trail is marked on the OLD Tom Harrison map—it’s the old JMT--but NOT on the NatGeo map of the park). Anyway, once you turn onto the JMT, you hike 2 or 3 miles to the CB trail. In those few miles, you should cross through two barbed wire drift fence gates and see a 10,000 ft elevation marker/sign somewhere on your right. Once you pass through the second drift fence, start paying attention cause it is only a short trip to the CB trail and the trail can be hard to see. The trail itself splits off the left (east) side of the JMT but you’re more likely to see the campsite and the brown bear box off to the right of the JMT. The bear box is a far from the trail though, down by the river, so keep an eye out. You don’t want to miss it (I have) and hike further than you have to.
After Vidette, there are a few more campsites before the one that marks the Center Basin trail junction (heads-up: the Center Basin trail is marked on the OLD Tom Harrison map—it’s the old JMT--but NOT on the NatGeo map of the park). Anyway, once you turn onto the JMT, you hike 2 or 3 miles to the CB trail. In those few miles, you should cross through two barbed wire drift fence gates and see a 10,000 ft elevation marker/sign somewhere on your right. Once you pass through the second drift fence, start paying attention cause it is only a short trip to the CB trail and the trail can be hard to see. The trail itself splits off the left (east) side of the JMT but you’re more likely to see the campsite and the brown bear box off to the right of the JMT. The bear box is a far from the trail though, down by the river, so keep an eye out. You don’t want to miss it (I have) and hike further than you have to.
Once you turn left onto the CB trail, you’ll pretty much be
hiking straight up a hill for a bit. There are three hilly sections and two
flatter sections and you’ll cross two streams (they may not both still be
running). When you reach the top of the third steep section, it should open up
into the basin itself, and you should be looking at a small meadow off to your
left and a man-sized boulder right at the top of the hill on your right. There
should also be one or more cairns but sometimes hikers knock them down. You
want to immediately face directly north-east (about a 45 degree turn to your
left) and start hiking out over that meadow towards the northern part of the
wall of peaks. The lake that our camp overlooks is really big lake RIGHT at the
base of that wall. Don’t stop hiking until you either see that big lake (one
where you cant see the bottom) or you hit the scree wall. If you hit the lake
and don’t see our camp, drop your pack and start exploring up the south shore a
bit. Finding the camp itself, nestled amongst the little hills in the basin is
the hardest part, so good luck. Our camp is marked when we’re not there by a
gray knack-box type thing, a blue tarp “burrito:” and a collapsed screen house.
Note: the trail continues on past the top of the third hill, and if you keep on it, you should find yourself in a large marshy/lake-and-stream-filled meadow with a cliffy bluff overlooking the southeastern edge. Beautiful, but not our camp. So turn left and start hiking straight north through the hills.
Note: the trail continues on past the top of the third hill, and if you keep on it, you should find yourself in a large marshy/lake-and-stream-filled meadow with a cliffy bluff overlooking the southeastern edge. Beautiful, but not our camp. So turn left and start hiking straight north through the hills.
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