Kern-Kaweah and Kaweah Basins

Looking back towards Cloud Canyon and the junction of creeks. It is a real climb now, and for me the cold and gloom was closing in. Down canyon the low point to the right is Avalanche Pass.

Climbing Towards Colby Lake

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

Finally giving up my slice of paradise at 10,00 feet, I saddled up and headed out along the treaded and rutted trail in meadow turf. After reaching the end of the bog the trail became much more defined as it began to mount the canyon wall, lazily switchbacking on the solid granite of well-groomed looking trail. Some spots were merely ducks on open granite and the route required some scrutinizing to follow the trail. In other places the trail was a well-constructed and graded stairs and balconies that seem newly hewn and maintained. I wondered whom I had to thank for the obvious work on this "unmaintained" trail.
It was beginning to get cold and windy and the altitude was beginning to take its toll. Occasionally I felt a drop or two, not good news before noon in the Sierra. That usually meant there would be rain for sure.
The views continued to get better as I climbed, particularly down canyon, and I was really enjoying the classic Sierra surroundings, making the toil of the past few days worthwhile. However, toil was a key word on this section despite the easy nature of the well-constructed trail and switchbacks. I was beginning to get tired of the uphill grind in thinning air, and it was getting colder the higher I went.
Sometimes a particular spot will lodge itself in my memory and one particular wide granite shelf stood out for me. It was studded with smallish picturesque trees and some small grassy islands through which the trail meandered through like it was always meant to be there. Beyond the trail melted into a wooded area and eventually met the outlet stream of Colby Lake. The crossing there looked like it would be another wet one early season. After a hop of a boulder or two the trail followed a few more switchbacks before finally leveling out in a fairly charming and dense woods for that altitude. Naturally most of the trees were Lodgepole Pines, but that did not detract from the garden nature of my new surroundings. The trail, now a garden path, meandered through the grass and flowers around a small bog and climbed up to a shelf with fair views of the surrounding area.