Kings Canyon High Basin Route

Trip Reports

Few people who thru- or section-hike the Kings Canyon High Basin Route write about it afterwards, and I don’t necessarily find all trip reports out there.

If you have published a trip report and would like it added to this list, please contact me.

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5 Comments

  1. David Burdick on September 7, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    Hi Andrew

    We’re back from the King’s Canyon High Basin Route- One “Badass” off-trail adventure

    150 miles, 31K of elevation. Averaged 10 miles/day off trail

    Here’s the 6 minute video on our trip: https://youtu.be/-p2oPyK7jSE

    Here’s the route: http://caltopo.com/m/68D7

    Let us know what you think!

    David

    Reply
    • Andrew Skurka on September 7, 2016 at 9:50 pm

      Nice work. Would love to post a written trip description if you care to write one. Looks like you did everything but Ionian. Maybe better that way — it’s quite a commitment, and you were already out 11 days.

      Fun to see some of your route-finding adventures, e.g. Talus Pass, Cartridge Pass, Arrow Pass.

      Also, if you have feedback about the route or guide, I’d love to get some feedback.

      Reply
    • Andrew Skurka on September 7, 2016 at 10:02 pm

      Also, where are you getting the 150 miles? I’m pretty confident that the entire route is closer to 125.

      Reply
  2. David Burdick on September 8, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    Hi Andrew,

    Glad you found the GPS route of interest. It does tell a good story, and you are correct, we did get confused at times, also at Kings Col and Cartridge Pass. A few extra waypoints to help point the correct way might help. Also found that that the Kings Col waypoint mentioned was not accurate.

    Regarding the mileage, we found that the actual miles recorded, on the Garmin etrex 30, was significantly higher than what is mentioned on your cumulative mileage chart. For example:
    • At junction with Elizabeth Pass tr, you state 14.5. Our accumulated miles = 21.3
    • At Lake reflection inlet, you state 31.5 miles, ours stated 44
    • At King Col, you state 51.3, when we were reading 71 miles
    • At arrow creek at 3000m, you state 58 miles, ours read 82 miles
    • At junction ALT with Amphitheater Pass, you stat 72.3, ours was reading 104
    • And at tr. Jct JMT and Middle Fork TH, you state 78.4, ours state 122 miles.

    Overall, the Garmin we carried at all times recorded about 50% more miles than what your accumulated miles chart states. Which is why we didn’t do section 5, as we planned for 12 days to cover that 124 miles, when it appears to be, with on-the-ground accumulation, more like 184 miles. That would require, at least for us slowpokes, about 17-18 days of food.

    Interestingly, when I uploaded the map to Caltopo, the 149 miles that it had recorded turned into 133 miles on the map. It could be that once laid on a topo, the elevation gain and loss is no longer recorded as distance. If you take the 31K elevation gain and loss accrued and turned that into miles (5500 ft./mile), you get roughly 5.6 miles. Multiply that by 2 (for both up and down) and you get the 133+(5.6×2)=144 miles, closer to the accumulated miles recorded on the Garmin. Another factor not taken into account is zig zagging and switchbacks that are hiked but tend not to be calculated once the route is put onto a map. This difference is magnified if point to point straight lines are being used to calculate mileage.

    Overall though, really loved the trip and was glad to do an off trail adventure of such magnitude. We really got an appreciation for both the solitude gained from trail-less areas as well as the increased distance one can cover on a good trail.

    Cheers
    David

    Reply

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