Sphinx Lakes in Kings Canyon

From the switchbacks leading to Buubs Creek you can look down Kings Canyon and imagine the glacier that once helped form this canyon.

The Bubbs Creek Switchbacks

As you gain altitude on the switchbacks the general vista improves with great views down Kings Canyon and up the canyon towards Paradise Valley. The Sphinx looms above and you can wonder at John Muir's attempt to name all the surrounding features after features in Yosemite Valley. Some names stuck, but most did not.

On the switchbacks among the scrub oaks and Pinion Pines, it is not hard to understand why the trail is so hot and dry. On another trip of mine on the Copper Creek trail near dusk with everything else in shadow, I looked down the canyon towards Bubbs Creek, and the switchbacks were STILL bathed in sunlight! A very hot trail.