Sierra Nevada - Kings Canyon National Park - Kings River Circuit 1969

On August 24-September 1, 1969 I backpacked with a Deck Trek group consisting of myself, Gil Beilke, Roger Hardy Sr., Roger Hardy Jr., Ed Myers, Tim McSweeney, Steve Palash, Richard Alvernaz on a 62 miles round trip from Dusy Basin to South Lake on a ciruit of the Kings River area in Kings Canyon National Park.

Beautiful weather. After the Explorer Post 360 trek during the previous week, we resupplied via pack train at Dusy Basin and headed over Knapsack Pass where we all climbed Columbine Peak, then on across Palisade Basin and Potluck Pass to camp on Glacier Creek.

We descended from Columbine Peak to Knapsack Pass and then continued on across Palisade Basin and Potluck Pass to camp on Glacier Creek.

On a layover day seven of us climbed Mt. Sill. It was my second time as I had climbed it on a solo trip on August 21, 1960. Both times the route was up the southwest slope.

After returning to camp from Mount Sill we hiked up to "Cirque Pass" to check it out. A year later on this same date in 1970, August 25, Explorer Post 360 backpacked over "Cirque Pass" to the Palisade Lakes. Five of us from the Post climbed Cirque Pass Peak.

Our route up Mount Sill was from the snow field at the lower right up the cirque to the left and then up the south slope to the peak.

The next day we dropped down Glacier Creek to Deer Meadow where Roger Hardy Jr.'s pulled hamstring put him out of action so we gave him some food and sent him to the LeConte Ranger Station to rest up and we would meet him on the way out.

We then ascended Cataract Creek to Amphitheater Lake - pretty and loaded with mosquitoes. We saw a piece of Soviet space junk burn in a giant fireball that night.

The next day Roger Hardy Sr. was having knee problems so we sent him to join his son at LeConte Ranger Station. Then we headed over Cataract Creek Pass aka Observation Pass to the Dumbell Lakes basin with a side trip to Observation Peak by the six survivors. This was a neat cross-country route in pretty unvisited country.

From Cataract Creek Pass we climbed 12,362' Observation Peak via the class 2 route from the pass.

From Cataract Creek Pass we dropped into the Dumbell Lakes basin and continued cross-country over Dumbell Pass into the Cartridge Creek basin and on to Marion Lake - saw a coyote in-route. Marion Lake was pretty and we had our steak dinner. A marker was nearby in memory of Helen Marion LeConte for whom the lake is named.

The next day we followed an old Army trail over 'Red Pass'. Everyone made a side trip to climb Red Point and three (not including me) climbed Marion Peak.

We continued over a ridge into the South Fork of Cartridge Creek, then on past some outstanding scenery to the top of Windy Ridge where four of us hiked out to Windy Point.

We finally all arrived at Horseshoe Lakes to camp.

The next day took us through a forested park and then down the steep trail - known as "la bitch" - to Simpson Meadow, then along the middle fork of the Kings River to our campsite at the Cartridge Creek trail junction - a seldom used campsite from which we had to remove a bunch of down wood before moving in.

Steve Palash and I missed a trail junction and took a short side trip into the State Lakes area. We recognized our error and backtracked to get back on route.

We now descended a long series of switchbacks known as "la bitch" some 3600' to Simpson Meadow on the Middle Fork of the Kings River.

We made camp on the Middle Fork Kings River at a little used campsite at the Cartridge Creek trail juntion (the Cartridge Creek trail is abandoned).

The next day we continued up the beautiful Kings River canyon - past a snow bridge thirty feet thick over the river and a snow "boat" in the middle of the trail. We made camp near the LeConte Ranger Station and rejoined the two Hardy's who had been busy helping the Ranger.

The final day took us from our camp near the LeConte Ranger Station out over Bishop Pass to South Lake after an outstanding trip. Much of it cross-country but a lot of that was on old abandoned trails.

To see the entire trip on one map, scroll this map up/down and left/right

The RED line is the approximate backpacking route. The BLUE lines are the approximate climbing routes.