- Heading to California – Go west, young man!
- Spending Some Time on the Meadows – My parents’ meadows sure are wonderful
- Lifting Some Logs at Camp El-O-Win – We cut up some logs at Camp El-O-Win to help stop the spread of pine beetles.
- Working in the Woods – Dealing with all the beetle kill pine.
- Preparing for Backpacking – Getting the vintage Kelty packs ready for our trip
- Backpacking in Kings Canyon National Park and the John Muir Wilderness
- Hiking Through Crown Valley – On our way on our big backpacking trip!
- Into Blue Canyon – We found some big views and bigger trees.
- Hiking Up Blue Canyon – There are an absolute riot of lakes in Blue Canyon.
- Our Camp in Upper Blue Canyon – The beautiful upper basin of Blue Canyon in the evening.
- Morning at the Upper Blue Canyon Campsite – Dawn breaks over our camp as we prepare to scale the side of Finger Peak.
- Up to the Pass on Finger Peak – A gorgeous view from the pass that we couldn’t get through. Too much snow blocked our route on the north face.
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- Traversing to Hummingbird Pass – After an aborted attempt at crossing over the shoulder of Finger Peak, we headed for Hummingbird Pass and Crown Basin.
- Hummingbird Pass – I stood on this spot many years ago and here I am again except this time I am actually going over the pass rather than coming up for the view.
- Down in Crown Basin – We revisited a favorite camping place from my childhood on our way toward Blackcap Basin.
- Up and Out of Crown Basin – The two little unnamed lakes in upper Crown Basin are beautiful and seldom-visited places.
- Portal Lake – The mosquitoes drove us away.
- First Night at Pearl – Camping on the moraine at Pearl Lake gave us a great vantage point to watch the sun go down and the stars come out.
- Morning at Pearl Lake – A glorious dawn breaks across the rugged granite peaks.
- The Upper Lakes of Blackcap Basin – We went on a morning hike to see several of the lakes in the upper part of the basin in the direction of Mount Goddard.
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- Midway, Cathedral, and Chapel Lakes – A few more high lakes in Blackcap Basin awaited our review.
- Another Night at Pearl Lake – The sunsets here are outstanding and the alpenglow is second to none.
- Last Morning at Pearl Lake – The most glorious of dawns streaks across the sky.
- Hiking Down to the North Fork of the Kings River – This river feeds many dams and hydro projects downstream but here it remains wild and will forever be thanks to the Wilderness Act.
- Big Maxon Meadow – The old cattleman’s cabin has seen better days.
- Hiking Down Lower on the North Fork of the Kings River – Closer to our campsite but with many more creeks to cross.
- Camp on the North Fork of the Kings River – Our last camp in the backcountry for this trip.
- Post Corral Meadow – Our first sighting of people in five days.
- Out of the Backcountry – Another successful hike is now behind us. I miss the backcountry already.
- Making Lumber – Lots of lumber stacked everywhere from the beetle killed pine.