Kern-Kaweah and Kaweah Basins

The trail meets Roaring River and its quaint rockwork along the trail.

Roaring River

Kern-Kaweah and Kaweah Basins via Colby Pass, September, 2000.

The trail is a fair plunge down the moraine with only one switchback. The fall goes on and on for a good distance, all the while reminding me that some days hence I would have to march right back up again in this heat on my way back. The forest closed in again as I got lower and finally the trail leveled out. My memory told me the Ranger Station was right at the bottom of the hill, but in reality it is still a fair walk through sparse and fairly beautiful forest on a sandy trail. At one point the trail reaches Roaring River and the river side of the trail has a low rock wall and other rockwork.

The Roaring River Ranger Station. Say that three times real fast.

There was some climbing now and then and as I hike upwards I reached a drift fence gate, good evidence I was drawing close to the Ranger station. I toiled onward in the sweltering heat under my heavy load and I was glad when the trail finally leveled out near the station. At last we reached the Ranger Station, a good excuse to stop, cool off and have some early lunch.

The bridge over Roaring River with the spring runoff below.

The station was about the same as the last time I was there, although I did not remember much about the surrounding area. Funny, at this moment I can remember almost every detail. There is ample camping there, and a sign promised a nearby toilet. Access to water was easy, which we availed ourselves to refill our water bottles. The last time I was there, Roaring River was really roaring because it was early season, about July first. Now, the water was very much there in good quantities still, but it had lost much of its roar.
At a point two days into the wilderness, the first time I was there I had the feeling of remoteness, but now, with the Ranger cabin nearby, it seemed down right friendly and not so remote. That would come later.

The view of Roaring River from the bridge in the spring runoff.

Sufficiently rested and ready to face the heat, I crossed the sturdy steel bridge that was undergoing even more renovations. The junction is just across the bridge, and it reminded me that on the 7.5 map the bridge is misplaced over a contour line, and not over the river.