Kern-Kaweah and Kaweah Basins

Looking up Cloud Canyon towards The Whaleback and the Shorty Lovelace cabin. Shorty sure knew how to pick some great spots, actually living in many places we burn vacation time visiting.

Shorty Lovelace

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

In the early 1900’s, Shorty Lovelace was a fir trapper in the Sierra year round and a confirmed alcoholic. Trapping in the Sierra was his 12 step program and the reason why he trapped year round. He knew he could not resist that devil whisky if he went into town, so he just stayed in the mountains as much as possible. It must have been a lonely life. During his stays in the Sierra he built himself cabins which dot the Sierra and can be found on many topo maps of the Sierra. I have found several of his cabins from Tahipite Canyon to Cottonwood Lakes.

One of the many Shorty Lovelace line cabins. The park service stupidly burned most cabins, including his beautiful ranch HQ, which today would have been a historic landmark.

Another point of interest is that Shorty was really short (Duh!), and the one identifying feature of his cabins is the low doorway and low roof. The cabin in Cloud Canyon was no exception, and it happened to be one of the most charming of all of the cabins built by Shorty Lovelace I have seen. This particular cabin was very well made and the fact it was still in such good shape is a tribute to his handiwork. It was low and sturdy probably like  Shorty was himself. At one end of the cabin were two racks for sleeping and at the other end was a well made rock fireplace and chimney. Standing at six two, the interior looked fairly cramped to me, but maybe it was spacious to Shorty. I had to wonder what Shorty did and thought about during those long cold days and nights of winter. Perhaps the chores of living and surviving filled his days, but there had to be long and lonely times. Nearby the trees showed the evidence of his habitation of the area, and again you have to wonder how he had managed to do so much building by himself.

Dave shot this picture of me crossing the Cloud Canyon branch of Roaring River. You have to cross this stream twice on the way to Colby Pass in Cloud Canyon.

Special Note: I have had the privilege of interviewing someone who actually knew Shorty Lovelace. This would make a lengthily story all its own and will be a special feature. When I have it all put together and the time to post it, you all will see this story. Stay tuned.

I finally tore myself away from the cabin and hit the trail. Travel was a breeze, and the last touches of snow were almost entirely behind me. After crossing the river, Dave seemed to pop up out of nowhere and called me over to him. After a short conference we decided to meet down the trail at a camp area near the large meadow for lunch. I headed down the trail.

We met for lunch in an area that long ago obviously was used for a camp, but in the shade it was a bit cool. No matter, it was an ideal spot, and too soon we were back on the trail. At the end of the meadow we turned for a last look at the Whaleback in Cloud Canyon over the large meadow then headed down canyon. We practically ran down the canyon trail in the pleasant coolness and before long we were back at the Roaring River Ranger Station filling up our bottles and eating Lunch Part Two. We decided we would go over the moraine hump into Sugarloaf Valley to spend the night. While I changed into boots, Dave took off down the trail and I soon followed. Going up over the moraine was a chore but not too bad and it was smooth sledding down the other side. At Ferguson Creek a caught up with Dave and we scoped a camp by the stream. We decide it lacked in sunlight, and that would be same in the morning, so we voted to keep going to the next known camp. I took off in the lead and sailed down the trail, and it did not take too long to reach Sugarloaf Creek and the excellent camps there. Turning off the trail to the right I went all the way to the back where I found some very level ground in a camp with all the amenities for hanging gear and places for setting stuff down. While waiting for Dave I explored the camp and found several more spots to camp. Dave arrived and after we sorted out who would go where we set up camp and then sat for a spell. We had gone a distance in one day that had taken us two days to do a few days before.

Dusk came soon enough and after dinner we settled down to a book or a stroll, whatever the mood at the moment. As soon as it was a bit dark I decided to head for bed early: the lack of a working chair removed my incentive to sit around after dusk. As it was, it was a good night to sleep.