Kern-Kaweah and Kaweah Basins

Somewhere between the small unnamed lake and the lower basin meadow, I had this view. I love timberline country.

Colby Basin

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

After our short rest it was time to hit the trail again, so after hauling my pack back in place, we hit the trail.

The trail kept its well-maintained nature, this time on solid packed yellowish soil, very different from the talus heap we ascended on the other side of the pass. We switchbacked down to the small rockbound lake mentioned previously, and crossed a long level area above the lake traversing left. The trail then meandered to and fro, losing altitude here, traversing there, until it finally met a large open grassy dry meadow area studded with boulders with a small stream running down the middle. It was probably an even more impressive sight when the grass was green right after snowmelt. Here the trail got a bit thready with various branches shooting off this way and that, but eventually after crossing the stream, one main trail took over for the rest of the trip.

That jagged peak mid-picture is Milestone Mountain, long on my things-to-do list.

Here also was the junction for the cross-country trek over Milestone Pass, having already spotted Milestone Mountain along the way. We had planned to head up that way, but the weather had put a big kink into our time management.