A few more Kings Canyon backpacking pics

“

This is a continuation of pics from a 9-day trip into Kings Canyon National Park. I just got a bunch more slides back so I scanned a handful tonight. This shot is of my buddy Jim cooking grub at our camp at upper State Lake. This area is not frequently visited so there are no campsites in terms of existing fire-rings and sitting logs and such. We just found a nice flat spot not far from the lake and crashed out under the stars. The next day was the toughest of our trip, most of it through trailless country, ascending and descending drainages, canyons, and cols and finally dropping down into Marion Lake. It was worth every step. Maybe not at the time, sure, but looking back, yes.”

“

This is a self-portrait I took at our camp spot in Lake Basin. I think Jim was filtering water or peeing or something down at the lake while I snapped some shots of our campsite. I have to take photos of myself in the wilderness every once in a while or my girlfriend starts thinking I'm not even backpacking, that I'm spending all this so-called backpacking time fartin' around in Vegas or something. Come to think of it... what exactly is SHE doing while I'm out in the woods so much? Hmmmm.





Sorry, I caught some lens flare on this sucker. This is the lowest of the lakelets in the meadow behind our camp. I spent an hour or so in the morning just enjoying this place and taking a few pics. We would often see deer feeding here and it seemed to be a hotbed of UFO activity. We did see some mutilated cow carcasses strewn about and some odd crop-like circles in the grass. I would think the NPS would crack down on UFO activity inside the park. It pisses me the right-off. Anyway, I have many more scans but it's late and I'm tard, real tard. You take care of yourselves, all of you, each and every one of you. You know who you are. Be good out there.”

“Buck nice photos :(”

“Buck, nice pics, but you knew that. :)”

“bUCK, you crazy nut >8^]”

“Yo Buck...wanna go snowshoeing?”

“Buck, scan the photos of the UFOs.”

“Did Jim pee and then filter water from the lake, or did he filter water from the lake and then pee in the lake? If the former, then I'd worry about Jim.”

“buck buck bo buck banana fanna fo #&%!$ fee fi mo muck bu-uck.”

“Great pictures Buck.
Sasquatch and UFOs too. Hey one time over at the sierratopics site you were going to tell us about your run-in with a bigfoot. You never did and I'd still like to hear about it. Tell us. I want to see one of those big fellows and I'm not talking about Bigfoot Ale either (although I do want to drink one of those.)”

“Buck, your photos are always awesome..

What kind of slide film are you shooting?”

“Spanks for the kind comments. Truly I say unto you, I do not post photos to receive such comments, I Muirly post photos to share pretty places and some cool adventures, just as I enjoy the same from others.

MarkO®, I am a crazy nut. That was an accurate statement. Yes indeed.

Wind Walker®, I am looking forward to a wild and crazy adventure with you and snowshoeing would be really cool! Perhaps any time after late February, early March? I have a 3-day Lost Coast adventure and then a 4-day kayak-the-perimeter-of-Mono-Lake both in February.

dayhiker®, since whenever Jim filters water for us he adds lime Gatorade®, I'm really not sure if he pees before or after the filtering process. And since Jim is not female, I can't do a pregnancy test in my Nalgene, which if it showed positive would obviously prove the presence of urine. Unless those tests work on pregnant marmots too? I'll check into that one.

navi-guesser®, I have many UFO photos but they are all in the hands of agencies I can't even mention at this time, which are located in extremely undisclosed locales. I even have photos of green aliens, but since the greens in their skin is nothing like the greens here on earth, film does not capture it well. I shot aliens with Velvia 50, Provia 100F, Fuji Astia, Kodak Ektachrome, and even the latest 11 megapixel digital sensors. Nothing.

solitary hiker®, I did tell my Bigfoot story at High Sierra Topix. Go back and check the thread, it should be there.

Indiana John®, I shoot Fuji Velvia 50.



Here's a close-up of the meadowy creek behind our camp. What a serene place, Lake Basin. And the fishing is incredible. Don't tell no one. This is just for trailtalk® particpants, per my contract with matt®. I'll post more later, it's actually a busy day at work.”

“I figured you must shoot Velvia to get those vivid colors. Have you been able to reproduce that look with digital? Or even tried?”

“

When we decide on a place to camp, Jim works fast. Real fast. He sets up his gear and cooks dinner and has peed before I even get my pack off.”

“Hey Indiana John®, I haven't shot with digital yet so I haven't tried to replicate Velvia. Wind Walker does a very good job of it though! He shoots with the Digital Rebel and takes sweet, vibrant shots with that contraption. I'd like a Canon 20D for my documentation shots, but when the lighting goes magic I still want my film. Actually I want a medium format Pentax 67II for the magical times.”

“Hey solitary hiker®, here's a link to my Bigfoot story I shared here many moons ago. I joke a lot about UFOs and Bigfoot, but this is a serious story. I kid you not. It's about 1/3 of the way down in the thread.

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/26467,-1.php”

“Great pictures and entertaining captions, as always. Thanks, Buck.”

“Thanks for the link Buck,
Very interesting story. One of the most interesting yeti encounters is told by Slavomic Rawicz in his book "The Long Walk". If you don't know about this book it's not about bigfoot/sasquash/yeti encounters or backpacking. It's the story of a Polish soldier's escape from the Russian Gulag sometime in 1941 or '42. This guy had nothing to gain by making his experience up. It's a great read.”

“Awww Buck ...it's much sooner than that. Tekdude and I are cooking up a 3 day snowshoe backpack starting the day after Christmas. Basecamp at Panorama Point in Yosemite with a possible ascent of Mt Starr-King or a day trip over to Starr King Lake or maybe both ;)
If you can't make it please call...NSA, FBI, DEA, INS, MSR and GPS.

Nice pics as usual...and Jim is very fast.”

“Buck you made my day with those photos of the Sierra's! It has been awhile since I have looked or even seen any of your pictures & also Windwalker's photos which I love too!

Thanks so much for posting them..they are again beautiful!

You and Windwalker..are you two going to do calendars? I keep looking for them”

“
Zis wuz our second evening at Bench Lake. We stayed here dos nights and tres days. On this evening we hiked to the far side of the lake (it was the far side compared to the side we were on, otherwise both sides are equally far from each other, I even measured to be sure). We came across this old gnarly-dude snag which I then pointed my camera at and depressed the shutter. There was a marmot on the end of it but we threw rocks at it to scare it away so I could take this pic. We really didn't mean to hit it in the face, it just sorta happened. Jim liked this snag so much he took it home even though it took him three trips on foot to haul it out. I told him we could've done it in one trip with my buddy's black chopper, but he's a purist that way. He e-mailed me a photo of it over his mantle, it looks really nice. I'm surprised no one took it before us, it must've been there for 500 years or more. Some backpackers have all the luck.




This was taken from near the trail the follows the shoreline of Bench Lake. I guess I liked the way the light was on the fall grass because otherwise there's no exciting subject matter or anything. Oh wait, now I remember. I saw my first unicorn sasquatch dash across here and into the trees and I was a couple seconds late getting my camera out. That was it. Shoot. Oh, the memories.



This is a lakelet behind Bench Lake where the Swedish Bikini Team skinny-dipped and sunbathed for three days straight. I kept pretending to be fly-fishing right next to them. They asked why I was fishing so close to them and I said they were disturbing the bottom which kicked up a bunch of nymphs and driving the trout into a frenzied feeding craze. Plus they let me squat their skeeters.



Bench Lake really is on a bench. This is looking off from the edge of the bench down into the upper reaches of the wild and rugged canyon of the S.F. Kings River. We had planned to descend this puppy all the way down to Paradise Valley, through the infamous Muro Blanco, but Jim blew the tread out of his boot and we didn't want to attempt this insanely untrailed gorge at less than 100% capacity from the get go. This is looking at the mellow stuff, it gets disturbingly awesome a few miles downcanyon. Is "downcanyon" a word, or should I have said down canyon? Forget about it.”

“
Waterfalls don't get much more remote than this spot. We hadn't seen a trail in miles and miles. We had crossed a steep ridge from an already remote lake and dropped into this canyon draining one of the forks of Cartridge Creek. A series of unnamed lakes dotted the upper basin. We had grand views down-canyon of the wickedly spectacular Black Divide jutting up into the sky in all directions. Dis is the stuff I love most about backpacking. Anyway, the photo of this waterfall didn't come out that great because Velvia 50 doesn't do good in bright, harsh sunlight and it was mid-day without a cloud in the sky. This is the kind of water you don't need no steeenking waterfilter to drink.”

“
You can't really tell from this shot, but the descent here down this chute was insane. It was about as steep as it gets for human consumption. We left skid marks, both on our pants and in our pants. This is Marion Lake and we had already descended like 1,500' through various environs, including boulder fields and scree and grassy slopes... all so steep that our knees were butter by the time we hit this spot. Actually they were margarine, butter would've spoiled by then. This is late afternoon and it was so awesome finally seeing this remote lake, our destination for the day. We camped there and had the place to ourselves, which didn't surprise me. It really is a chore getting here no matter how you slice it, but it chore was worth it. Great fishing for rainbows was a nice bonus as well. I found out about this place from an encouter with DB Cooper a couple years ago.”

“Very nice.”

“well done Buck, as usual”

“Dayum Buck,
If the waterfall picture taken with Velvia 50 didn't turn out good, I don't know what you would call good. All of those pictures are professional grade.
>
Are you coming on the Wheezers & Geezers trip? I want some film and F-stop pointers. Between you and Windwalker there is a photography school in the making. Ever thought of doing that as a business?”

“"It really is a chore getting here no matter how you slice it, but it chore was worth it."

You crack me up. really. I'm going to pieces here. Actually I'm bawling like a baby cause i left the mountains for this freaking flatland!”

“That waterfall shot makes the grade in my book Mr Forester...the loss of shadow detail is minor because your eye is drawn right to those B E A U ...Tiful ribbons of white water. Looking beyond that waterfall the water is so crystal clear....it's making me thirsty! Yup...I like it, keep 'em coming”

“Thanks, you people. It's all about the wilderness.




I thought this was sort of an odd shot. I used my 15mm fisheye lens from a cliff near Windy Pass. I couldn't keep myself out of the shadows, so hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. This is looking down on a really neato meadow with Goddard Creek Canyon in the background. Goddard Creek Canyon is a very remote and seldom visited place. The Enchanted Gorge ends in this canyon, with Disappearing Creek shooting out in grand fashion to meet Goddard Creek. The bushwhack out of lower Goddard Creek Canyon into the M.F. Kings River gorge is one of the tougher bushwhacks in the Sierra. Anywaze, I just thought this fisheye perspective was pretty odd and sorta neato. Fish on.”

“
This was our first day out. We started way down in that gorge, which is Kings Canyon, many thousands of feet below. I think our elevation gain the first day was over 5,500', pant pant. But that's okay because we're pretty much amazing hiking studs. Chicks dig us. Seriously, they do. We're hot. But enough of that, I'm embarrassing myself. There wasn't much flat at all on this day, nor many water sources. This is Upper Tent Meadow, which is above Lower Tent Meadow (doh), which we passed through earlier that day. We passed a group of three hikers who crashed out at Lower Tent Meadow, which made us realize the studs we really are because we had only just begun. I only jest with the bragging, even though we ARE that good. sHuDdUp bUcK. In this photo the foreground flowers are blurry because we just got buzzed by a cigar-shaped craft which created a breeze. I never even heard it coming. Man those things are silent.



We kept seeing the horizon above us, thinking the next set of switchbacks would lead us to the top of the ridge, but it teased us for hours as each time we reached the "top" a new horizon awaited us from above. Fiiinally we made the top of the ridge which gave us new views into a different drainage. This lakelet was one of those views. We continued up the canyon another mile or so and crashed out in a beautiful deer-filled meadow with a spring fed creek and listened to coyotes yip as we ate a gross dinner and froze our tushes off while being so freaking tired we could hardly lift our muthuh-luvin' forks to our mouths as we swatted at bugs. Backpacking is a flippin' blast.”

“
Here's some pretty flowers along the outlet creek of Marion Lake. Right after I took this shot I yanked them up to wipe my backside after eating a bad batch of oatmeal earlier in the day.




This is Marion Lake in the morning. We camped on the lake, which made it difficult to keep our campfire lit. I really love the headwall above this lake. This was taken with a 17mm ultra wide-angle lens so the perspective is much higher in real life. You had to look straight up to see the tops of the peaks and in fact it's so high up you could jump off those hightest peaks and actually land in the lake. It took me three tries though. I splatted on the granite the first two tries. Luckily Jim knows some crude surgical skills and had my skull sewed up with 4lb test fishing line within minutes. I only lost about half my brain, but it was the half I always had tied behind my back anyway.



These are grossly out of order. I'll have all this stuff in a trip report when I finish my website, I'm just randomly posting photos as I pick the suasage off cold pizza and toss them to my dogs and type. This is another mid-day shot of an insanely remote unnamed lakelet in one of the Cartridge Creek drainages. For 8 of the 9 days it was cloudless, sunny weather. It was nice to hike in, but it didn't provide good photography lighting. I like lots of drama in the sky and magic lighting. I also like hot fudge sundaes and green Toyota Tundras.

That's it for now, I'll post more photos when I damn well feel like it. Thank you, please take your seats. No, don't sit back down, just take your seats with you as you leave. Thanks. Adios.”

“

Here's another shot of a wildly remote waterfall on our Kings Canyon trip back in September. We were just passin' through but we took a nice break here. The lighting wasn't good for a photo but I shot it anyway. I saw my first California grizzly bear not far from this spot. It was chasing a giraffe.





Here's Jim checking out Goddard Canyon and wanting me to hurry up and take a shot so he can drop his pants and take care of business. This is what I call a poo with a view. This shot was taken before Jennifer and Brad separated. This place constitutes the second largest roadless area in the lower 49 states. Ah lawk it alawt.





This was some pretty harsh lighting so it doesn't come across on film as pretty as it was being there. I want to spend a couple days here, it was so hard to leave this enchanting area. The lakelet is perched on the canyon rim, I'm standing in the middle of a creek, and the canyon continues up grandly behind me with a couple nice lakes nestled up high. The place is lousy with skookums and it's just a gorgeous, seldom-visited place with no trails. I would like to be here in early summer when the place I'm standing would be a torrent of melting snow. Here's a little tidbit of information I found interesting... in the winter Oksana Baiul used to practice for the Olympics on that pond. The NPS would fly her in via black chopper with a few gallons of Vodka and a handful of KGB. Useless trivia, but interesting nonetheless, if you're in to that sort of thing.





These are more like documentation shots of our trip. We hiked along parallel to the canyon for quite a while with views like this. With all the huffin' and puffin' we were doin' we got to spend lots of time enjoying the scenery while taking frequent breather breaks. Okay, they were more like gasping-for-air breaks. There are four distinct herds of giraffes in this photo but you can't see them, they are master of disguises. We weren't too concerned, we had ample giraffe-spray.





This is morning at Bench Lake. It's a peaceful place to be, that is, if you can get used to the giant anacondas that live here.




This is Bench Lake again. I have another shot of this same scene with Jim on the end of those rocks. Sometimes it's nice to add the human element to a nature scene. The reason I didn't post that one is because this is an island out in the lake and Jim had to swim there and he was standing there dripping wet in his skivvies. The water was pretty cold and we all know the effects that has on a proud man like Jim. He asked that I burn the slide, so I did.





This is back in Lake Basin on a bright morning in a meadow near our camp. I'm not lying. I can't prove it without you being there, but it's true.




Here's a wider angle view of the same scene, seriously, it is. I've posted a few photos that look quite similar, but so? Don't click on my threads if you don't wanna see similar shots over and over and over. I'm just kidding. That would be rude if I were serious.




Here's one from the same area place situation zone that's not as wide as the last one but wider than the first. ENOUGH ALREADY!”

“Nice!”

“Buck, I've only known you for a couple of days, but I'm starting to worry about you. You're either a comedic genius or an axe murderer. But I'd bet you're fun to have a beer with either way.

Could I ask a couple of questions about these pics? My wife Kat and I are planning a trip to King's Canyon on either Memorial Day or Independence Day weekends, probably a 4-5 day trip, and we're looking at potential routes.

Can you give me some info on the trail? What trail, approximate elevations, how hard was the climb?

Thanks”

“Thanks. You are quick. Your concerns about me are valid. Although suggesting I'm an axe murderer is absurd. I prefer hatchets. Chainsaws are boring.

As for hiking in Kings Canyon, check with the regulations, I don't think Kat's are allowed. (rimshot) Okay, that was stupid. On this particular 9-day trip, much of it was off-trail. If your wife would enjoy an off-trail 9-day backpacking trip through some of the craziest terrain in Kings Canyon, then you have found yourself a magnificent beast. Congrats. We started this journey at Cedar Grove Roadend, climbed up over 5,500' to Granite Pass, cranked over to State Lakes and Horseshoe Lakes and then the off-trail fun began. Up ridges, down canyons, up ridges, down canyons. We ended up in Lake Basin and then went over Cartridge Pass and down into the S.F. Kings River canyon and straight back up to Bench Lake, then over Pinchot Pass and down Woods Creek to Paradise Valley and back out to Cedar Grove Roadend. It's a trip through spectacular country, that's for sure. The elevation was usually in the 10,000 range. It's a strenuous trip but the scenery and incredible fishing keeps you going. I didn't have a woman to go to each night, just a stinky hiking partner, so you'll like it even more.

Wait, I just read you are looking for a 4-5 day trip. Okay. There are zillions of options for that... not on Memorial Day (that's too early), but over the 4th of July, you betcha. I gotta run right now but I'll come back with a couple suggestions, others would have some great ideas too. I'm actually fairly normal.”

“Buck, Amazing photos as usual. Thanks for sharing. Hope to meet you some day on the trail.”

“These photos suck! I take better pictures with a disposalable camera!











He he he he he he he he he he!

j/k Beautiful shots!”

“

Here's looking another direction from a big meadow in Lake Basin. It looks pretty pristine from this angle but there were lots of crop circles everywhere. I'm not even kidding.




This is lower State Lake, which is filled with golden trout and water. We took a long rest here. It's a great place to pass time, and pass gas. The only thing that could make this place prettier would be if it were more beautiful. But we loved it as it was. I caught lots of trout. And no, I didn't use PowerBait®. I used a black ant fly. I'm sure casting spinners, spoons and sporks would've done just as well.





This is Upper State Lake which is above Lower State Lake. We spent the night here, not so much by choice, but mostly because it's where the cigar shaped craft dumped us.





I take a lot of photos on my trips. Duh. This is a perspective shot showing the scale of hikers and the surrounding peaks. The hikers are on the lower left side of the photo. They are 8' tall professional basketball players. These are big mountains. I'm kidding. The hikers are only an inch and a half tall. Those aren't trees near them, they're just little bushes and tall weeds.”

“Hey songbyrd, we'll hafta hook up for a trip sometime, I see you're in Sac too! Cool beans.”

“other than "whew".”

“I still think you would be happier if you got out more, Buck...and, you can take as many angles of the same view that you want...I don't care..they all make me just so friggin' happy to be here, freezin' my butt off, in scenic Wisconsin..yep, I'm happy, happy happy...sob sob sob..thanks for posting the usual gorgeous pictures...sigh....................”

“Great shots Buck! We'll be in Sequioa/Kings Canyon in July, hope I've figured out how to get some decent shots by then.”

“Buck, as always, you suck.

I thought about you the other day. Ernest Goes to Camp was on the tube.”

“Great way to start the day. Thanks, Buck.”

“Great photos Buck!”

“Awesome pics - makes me wanna go NOW!

Bison, dont worry, my pictures will look just as good as Bucks. :)”

“You're gonna take pictures of me strutting around the Sierra's in my loincloth honey?”

“I love the perspective shot. One of the things I was amazed at when I made my first trip out to Ca. was the enormous size of everything. And again I am reminded with that shot.”

“Beautiful!

BTW, I've looked and looked and still can't find the giraffe in that one pic...”

“BC, there were 4 distinct HERDS of giraffes..that should make it easier;)”