Remote Gardiner Basin Adventure, Kings Canyon National Park, California

The Trip

Secluded among the high granite peaks of Kings Canyon Park, Gardiner Basin remains untouched by trails and far from crowds. We will follow a spectacular and challenging route over two 11,000-foot passes (one without a trail) to reach this alpine haven. Although we will only be a few miles away from the John Muir Trail, the high passes serve as natural barriers to visitors, and the basin remains a pristine, tranquil sanctuary.

We'll be traveling lightly in a group of no more than six participants, plus two leaders. This is fewer than is typical for these trips, many of which have up to 12 or 13 participants in addition to leaders.

A highlight of our trip will be the several days (including a layover day) we spend in Gardiner Basin exploring hidden lakes, tracing the sparkling cascades of Gardiner Creek, scrambling up neighboring ridges and peaks, or just relaxing. 

We'll exit Gardiner Basin by way of another high, spectacular, and challenging cross-country pass, this one taking us to Sixty Lake Basin and still more of the finest backcountry in the Sierra Nevada. 

Although we start our trip on a major trail, we depart the trail after the second day of hiking and spend most of the next four days on cross-country routes. The off-trail hiking and scrambling is not technically difficult, but there will be a few challenging sections to add some adventure. In places we will find faint, long-abandoned trails, which will ease our way through the most rugged of the terrain. For the last day and a half of the trip, we return again to maintained trails for our exit from the high country. All of our camps will be at about 10,000 feet or higher.

We will be hiking in the ancestral lands of the Western Monache, the Mono Paiute, and the Owens Valley Paiute Nations, on trails that served as trading routes across the Sierra and in areas where people hunted and gathered food stores for millennia. These Native American Nations were forced to cede the lands in a series of treaties dating back to the 1850s. We acknowledge this history and reflect on its impact as we hike in these lands.

Join us if you're looking for spectacular scenery, solitude, and a cross-country adventure with a small group of fellow hikers! Please don't hesitate to contact the leaders if you have additional questions after reading the full trip description.

Our hiking schedule is not rigid. How far we get each day and where we camp depends on how we feel, the weather, and other factors outside of our control. Flexibility is important. The itinerary described here should be taken as a general plan. Elevations listed by day are the total gain and loss for the day, not net values. The actual route and daily schedule (including the mileages and elevation changes) may depart from this plan.

Day 1: We will meet in Mammoth Lakes on the afternoon before the start of the hike. In addition to meeting each other, we will review final preparations regarding gear, safety concerns, wilderness ethics and how we hike as a group. Last-minute gear adjustments or purchases can be made at nearby stores. We have the option to have dinner at one of Mammoth's many eateries that evening. Camping at a group campsite in Mammoth Lakes will be available this first night. 

Day 2: We will meet for the start of the hike at the Onion Valley trailhead (9,192 feet). Our hike begins with the climb to Kearsarge Pass (11,811 feet). Although the distance is not great (about four miles), the ascent is significant (2,900 feet), with our heaviest packs of the trip. From the pass, we will continue another two miles to Kearsarge Lakes, where we will make our first camp. Mileage: 6.5; elevation gain: approximately 2,900 feet; elevation loss: approximately 1,300 feet.

Day 3: This day we will continue mostly on trail to Charlotte Lake. We expect to camp at the lake or shortly past it near an unmaintained trail along Charlotte Creek. Mileage: 4.5; elevation gain: about 800 feet; elevation loss: 1,300 feet.

Days 4-6: We'll head upward toward Gardiner Pass. We will find traces of a use trail along the way, but for the next several days we will see no maintained trails. We will stop atop 11,200-foot Gardiner Pass to enjoy spectacular views of high peaks in all directions before descending a crude path down the steep northwest slope. The walking is relatively easy as we gradually descend alongside a small creek that connects a series of small, clear lakes and eventually joins Gardiner Creek. Mileage: 4.5; elevation gain: about 1,900 feet; elevation loss: about 1,800 feet. 

Next we will head upstream, roughly following Gardiner Creek but staying to the south side to avoid the steep slopes immediately adjacent to the creek. Somewhere in here we plan to camp, perhaps near where a southerly fork of Gardiner Creek climbs along a string of lakes toward Gardiner Peak, or perhaps a little farther where a large lake is found in the middle of the main basin. Mileage: 4.7; elevation gain: about 2,000 feet; elevation loss: 1,900 feet.

We plan to have a layover in this remote and spectacular basin. Day-hiking opportunities are bountiful. 

Day 7: We continue by climbing east and a bit south toward Sixty Lake Col (11,680 feet), the long saddle south of Mt. Cotter. The western face of the col is imposing, but fortunately the route is not nearly as hard as it looks from afar, and we are rewarded with another fine view at the top of the Col. After enjoying the panorama, we will descend into Sixty Lake Basin, where we will camp near one of the "sixty" lakes. Mileage: 4.3; Elevation gain: 1,800 feet; Elevation loss: 1,400 feet.

Day 8: We have been hiking mostly off-trail for four days. Now we continue on a lightly maintained trail, crossing a low ridge to Rae Lakes. Here we'll meet the John Muir Trail, which we'll follow south over Glen Pass (11,942 feet), the fourth high pass of our journey, and camp again at Charlotte Lake on our last night. Mileage: 4.2; elevation gain: about 1,600 feet; elevation loss: 2,100 feet.

Day 9: Back in familiar territory, we will once again cross Kearsarge Pass and then descend 2,700 feet to the Onion Valley trailhead, where we started our trek seven days earlier. Mileage: 8.2; elevation gain: 1,900 feet; elevation loss: 3,200 feet.

Getting There

For improved acclimatization, participants are strongly encouraged to arrive early in the area to day-hike at altitude. An extra day or two also makes it easier to recover from events such as a missed connection and still make it to the trailhead in time.

Our trip officially starts with our meeting on day one in Mammoth Lakes (approximately 8,000 feet elevation) about 30 miles south of Mono Lake on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Camping will be available for the first night at a group campsite in Mammoth Lakes. Our hiking starts on day two at the Onion Valley trailhead (elevation 9,192 feet), located 14 miles west of the town of Independence, and about 100 miles south of Mammoth Lakes. Detailed directions to the trailhead will be provided in pre-trip letters. 

The closest major airports are at Los Angeles (240 miles), Reno (260 miles), Las Vegas (270 miles), and in the San Francisco area (340 miles). Trip members flying from other parts of the country should consider sharing a rental car or arranging rides from one of these airports. We will provide a trip roster with contact information to help facilitate shared travel arrangements.

Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a trip member.

Accommodations and Food

We will plan a diverse and appealing menu to accommodate both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Responsibility for cooking will be shared among the trip members in cooking crews. Our first trip meal will be lunch on the Kearsarge Pass Trail on our first hiking day. Dinner on day one in Mammoth Lakes and breakfast on day two are not included as part of the trip.

Trip Difficulty

The overall difficulty of the trip is rated 5 on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 denotes the least difficult and 5 the most difficult trips.

Altogether, we will hike about 35 miles. Roughly a third of these miles will be completely off-trail and another third will be on trails that are only lightly maintained. We plan to hike three to ten miles on travel days, and we intend to take one layover day. All of our planned camps are at elevations above 10,000 feet.

Off-trail sections of the trip include some relatively easy walking but also some hiking on rough, rocky terrain with loose footing. These sections are not technically difficult, but can be tiring and demanding. Cross-country hiking requires patience, stamina, and good balance.

Our greatest elevation gain will come on the first hiking day as we climb 2,700 feet from Onion Valley over Kearsarge Pass. Five of the subsequent days will have elevation gains between 1,000 and 1,700 feet. (As noted above, elevation gains and losses include all ups and downs along the trail, not just net gain between starting and ending elevation). All told, we will cross five passes -- three on-trail and two off-trail -- at elevations between 11,000 and 12,000 feet. The total elevation gain summed over seven planned moving days is approximately 9,300 feet. 

Participation in this outing requires that you be experienced and in shape and have reasonable expectations for the trip. Recent backpacking experience and very good aerobic conditioning are essential. Although experience in cross-country (off-trail) backpacking is not required, hiking on rough, rocky terrain does require good balance and a patient, tolerant attitude, both of which are requirements for the trip. Our objectives are to enjoy some spectacular country and to complete the trip safely as a group.

If you have questions or have concerns about whether this trip is appropriate for you, please do not hesitate to contact the leaders.

Equipment and Clothing

A list of suggested personal equipment will be sent to all participants. (If you would like the list before signing up, let the leader know and they will send you a copy.) Each person should keep the weight of personal gear below 20 to 25 pounds (including your backpack) so that, with the addition of approximately 16 to 18 pounds of commissary equipment, food, and a couple of pounds of water, total pack weight will be less than 38 to 43 pounds at the start.

We will provide all food and cooking equipment, although you must bring your own cup, bowl, and eating utensils. Some of the group equipment is relatively bulky, particularly some pots and the bear canisters. Your pack should be sufficiently large to carry an item about the size of a full paper grocery bag (alternatively, four or five one-gallon milk jugs) in addition to your personal gear.

Although Sierra summers are generally relatively dry, you still must be prepared for rain. For shelter, tents are strongly encouraged, and lightweight waterproof tarps are the required minimum. Where possible, we will help participants contact other trip members who want to share shelters. For rain gear, you should bring a waterproof jacket and rain pants rather than a poncho.

References

Maps:

Please plan on bringing your own map and compass. Not only is this a matter of safety, but you will have a better appreciation of where we are going and where we have been.

A number of available maps provide a good description of our route, including any of the following alternative choices:

• The combination of two USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles: Kearsarge Peak and Mt. Clarence King.
• The Kings Canyon High Country map published by Tom Harrison Maps (www.tomharrisonmaps.com).
• The two-sheet map set for the John Muir Wilderness and Sequoia/Kings Canyon Wilderness published by the U.S. Forest Service.
• The Kearsarge Pass and Rae Lakes Loop map (scale is 1:42,240) published by Tom Harrison Maps (www.tomharrisonmaps.com).

Books:

• Secor, R.J., The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes, and Trails. The Mountaineers. An excellent general reference to trails, cross-country routes, and climbing routes in the Sierra Nevada.
• Laws, John Muir, The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada. Heyday Books. An excellent field guide to the plants and wildlife of the Sierra.

Conservation

The Sierra Club is an environmentally focused entity. We are concerned about conservation and sustainability of resources, both locally and globally. Our work is accomplished by volunteers and aided by a salaried staff, encouraging grassroots involvement. Our outings seek to empower participants toward greater understanding, advocacy, and participation in the goals of the Club.

The Wilderness Act of 1964 defines "wilderness" as "an area where the earth and its community are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor." This important act first established the National Wilderness Preservation System, originally protecting nine million acres of national forest lands. Today some 109 million acres are encompassed by the system, including the John Muir Wilderness and the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Wilderness, where we will be "visitors" for all eight hiking days.

Although this wilderness is now protected from logging and mining activities, this has not always been the case. In fact, until the 1960s, storage reservoirs were planned that would have drowned valleys near our route. Furthermore, the surrounding national forest lands do not receive the same level of protection. We will examine and consider the level of protection that wilderness designation has given to this area, appreciate how this land compares with other types of "protected" areas we are familiar with, and discuss how we should protect these areas for future generations.

We'll have an opportunity on our outing to discuss environmental issues, the importance of large protected areas for habitat resilience, and what we can do to support work on these issues. Participants are also encouraged to share information about other environmental issues, such as those in their local communities.

Visitors like us have an effect on the wilderness. Our trip will provide a good opportunity to consider why it’s important we minimize this effect and how to do so. We may also discuss how wilderness practices have changed over the years and how they can be further improved while at the same time allowing for a special experience.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and will operate under permits from Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park and Inyo National Forest.