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Up to the Kaweah Gap, Day 1.

So, Wednesday morning we woke up in the campground and packed our gear up one last time. Double and triple checking everything that we needed to have and then double checking each other after that. Then unpacking some things that we had doubled up on and cutting a few more ounces here and there and then doublechecking one more time. After all that nonsense, we got our permit from one of the more unsociable deskrangers I’ve ran across and we headed to the trailhead to start our excursion. Of course with any big endeavour before pictures are a necessity, hence the following: Gant, Jared, Josh

The trail starts off very gently, in addition to being very heavily used, unlike what we’d find later in the trip. You find yourself hiking through the Giant Forest, where you can’t spit without hitting a gargantuan Sequoia tree. In the low growth of the trees it feels and looks like a rain forest. The greenery, the large leafed ferns everywhere are a stark contrast to the monopoly that granite has on the High Sierra. Off to the South you have a view of the Cathedral rocks, to the East you see the Great Western Divide, which is where the Kaweah Gap is located, our goal for day two.

We didn’t get the earliest start that day, probably around 10:45 or so and we had at least 11 miles to cover with the most weight in our packs because of exorbitant lunches and other first day goodies. We made pretty good time, even though we had numerous creeks and streams to cross and land to survey. Jared had a slight wardrobe malfunction, which Gant was overly interested in for some reason as well, but despite this we still booked along quite well. The only wildlife to note on day one outside of the thirteen hundred deer was a lone rattlesnake, who didn’t even strike at anyone.

Around the halfway point of the day, we came across Mehrten creek, what a gorgeous spot. We unfortunately got there while another group was in the prime spot, so we got the leftovers, but still the leftovers were simply stunning. We dunked our heads, cooled our feet, took small naps and generally relaxed at one of the prettiest spots we’d find on the entire trip. I’ll be back here, without a doubt.

But the Kaweah gap wasn’t getting any closer. Not that we’d make it there on day one, but the more miles we could drop the closer it would be for day 2. So, we booted back up and got back to work. We had at least 5 more miles to cover to get to Lone pine creek, which was an informal goal for the night. But when we got to a place called Bearpaw meadow, we ran into a very helpful ranger. After an hour or so of talking to her and picking her brain about our intended route as well as some welcome Tang and a shared piece of pecan pie she talked us into changing our plans a bit for the next few days. The view from her backcountry cabin was spectacular at sunset, during the day too, but the alpenglow colors over the divide and Kgap in particular was stunning.

But, since we had taken so much time talking to the ranger and mooching food we had just about run out of daylight. So, we decided to setup camp at Bearpaw meadows, where there was conveniently an abundance of firewood for us to burn, which was perfect since Jared and I had brought some kielbasa type foods for dinner, while Gant pretended to enjoy his dehydrated meal.

Thus ended day one. 11.3 miles, a beautiful creek, an amazing sunset and the realization that no one had forgotten to pack anything, what a great start.