High Sierra Backpacking: Sachin's Loop

Back to back in the high sierra (thanks Joanne!).  It has been a great past two weekends where I got to explore all kinds of new incredible territory.  This past weekend Sachin and I backpacked 54 miles with over 11000 ft of climbing taking two days.  Sachin proposed a big loop starting at Lodgepole campground in southern Kings Canyon.  I had never been there before and was excited to check out some new terrain.

Sachin's loop.  54 miles with over 11000 ft of climbing.  Red is day 1 (33 miles,  6824 ft climbing), Blue is day 2 (21.4 miles, 4508 ft of climbing). Start/Stop is Lodgepole campground in Kings Canyon.

We started the hike in the dark, climbing through the forrest.  As we came around one of the corners we spotted a couple set of eyes shining back at us.  A couple of bear cubs were traveling the trail ahead of us.  We assumed the mother was with them, but never got a good look.  We kept making noise, attempting to get them out of the way, but it probably took 10 to 15 minutes of us chasing the bears up the hill before they decided to crash downhill through the forrest.

We were in wilderness territory, outside of the bounds of Kings Canyon National Park, and came across a hunter who was questioning us about the trail that we had just descended.  Here we see a "snow surveyors shelter".  I guess when things get crazy in the winter, the surveyor can seek some safety here.

Much of the first half of the loop was through the forrest without extensive views of alpine granite terrain.  We did get pretty high and were able to see some fun stuff in the distance.

Our trail skirted Sugarloaf peak.  It was a very prominant chunk of rock. 

We saw plenty of this.

As we start to climb up Deadman's Canyon, we start to see some serious rock.

Sachin was loving the Aspen.

Following trail climbing up this creek reminded me a lot of a canyon climb on the IMTUF course in Idaho.

Notice the smooth U carved out by glaciers a long time ago.

The Canyon just kept going and going and getting better as we went.

Here is a Video of of the stream falling down the rocks:

As the sun started to set we were scouting out a nice place to camp that set us up to tackle the pass in the morning.

We reckoned this would be the perfect spot.  Some nice soft, flat sand, protected by rocks with the soft sound of the waterfall in the distance.

It got pretty cold, but it was actually a comfortable night of sleep, all things considered.

Now starting to climb from the floor of the valley in the morning.

Up and over the top of Elizabeth Pass.

Video of one of our breaks on the High Sierra Trail:

Some really weird looking rock in the distance.

This section of the High Sierra Trail contoured a very steep mountain side with some spectacular views off to the left.

Great trip!  After we cleaned up a little we actually went right next door to inspect the General Sherman,  a giant Sequoia.  It has the distinction of being the largest tree in the world.  Which means I have now seen the big three:  Grizzly giant in Yosemite, General Grant in KC NP and Sherman in Sequoia NP.