Mt. Brewer Loop ~ October 2014

Kings Canyon

Earlier this summer I planned on traversing the Great Western Divide during a ten day solo trip through the Sierra, but when bad weather approached I had to cut it short. This time I rejoined the Great Western Divide near Lake Reflection for a four day trip over three cross country passes, three remote basins and an attempt at climbing Mt. Brewer.

The plan was to finish the north end of the Great Western Divide during a 40 mile loop out of Roads End in Kings Canyon. Although the total mileage didn't pose a problem the daily climbs were a challenge. The daily elevation change on trail ranged from the 5,000 foot ascent on the first day to the 6,980 foot descent on the hike out. Ouch.

SHR 2012 ~ Day 1: Onion Valley to Bubbs Creek/Spinx Creek Junction

The start of our journey at the Onion Valley trailhead.

Day 1 started with some logistics. After leaving our cars at the South Lake trailhead near Bishop we took a shuttle to Onion Valley. Although it was convenient to start and end this section of the SHR from the east side of the Sierra it meant that our first day would be spent hiking toward the official start of the route at the Copper Creek trailhead at Roads End. By the time we made it to Onion Valley it was already 10:30 am.