Thanks Tom! Yeah the lake was quite easy to find. Once we were south of Diamond Mesa it was just about lining up the map and bang there it was. Quite a beautiful place too. We had a blast! Though Shepherd Pass trail heading east was brutal.

"Though Shepherd Pass trail heading east was brutal."

It's about equally brutal either way, for different reasons, IME. Goin' up, comin' down, your legs'll be al dente by the time you're finished. ;0) I hope this is but the first of many trips into the Kern for you guys. You've definitely earned it. As you can see, there's a lot of exploring to be done, easily enough to fill a few bucket lists to overflowing.

Sorry guys for not posting any pics yet. I'm trying to find a good source on the web to resize my photos as a batch, any suggestions?

Here goes nothing, hopefully I resized all the photos right.

First, thank you Ken for another great hike. I was amazed how much better we did on this hike compared to last year. You, me, and Marc have all lost a lot of weight and it makes a big difference, everybody looked in great shape. Last year I had a 26# pack with food and water, and I personaly weighed 217#. This year the pack weight with food and water was 23# and I came in at 165#, I even brought more food this year. Last year I planned on only eating twice a day , this year I ate 3 times a day, good meals not just snacks. The 1st day I felt great averaging about 2-2/12 mph going up Kearsage Pass, after Kearsage I hyperextended my knee and it gave me fits all weekend, but with the help of an ace wrap from Adam, and some wrapping experience from Justin, plus some chocolate covered coffe beans, I tuffed it out and made it to the trail head "1ST" NANER NANER. Sorry Marc I couldn't resist.

First day heading up Kearsage




I was amazed at all the wild flowers still blooming.





Adam coming up Kearsage Pass



Here's Adam taking more great pictures, you're getting really good at it Adam. I love all the pictures you've posted so far. I guess it was worth the 6# of extra camera gear, keep it up.



Here comes the newbie, great job Justin. I had a great time hiking with you and the reast of the guys.



This reminded me of the Matterhorn.



Here comes Rick up the pass, our other newbie, fishermen turned UL hiker, great job.



This nice buck let me get within about 20 yards of him, so I could get a nice close up shot. This was while we were taking a lunch break down by Frog Lake, more precisley the inlet.



Marc and Ricks hotel for the night.



My digs for the night. This was my MYOG solo tarp that measured 5 1/2' x 8' and weighs 7 oz without lines. I may start making these to sell, I'll let you know or you can pm me. This night I used it as a wind break/lean to, along with a John West bivy, and a Tim Marshall quilt, my MYOG pillows one for the head and one for my knees.



Kens rest stop for the night.



This was all the Alpineglow I seen for the whole trip, what a shame to because we had some great back drops for it on this trip.



We did have some great sunsets though.



More pics later, I need to go to bed!

Edited by jumpbackjack on 07/13/2012 00:50:05 MDT.

I forgot to ad this interesting tidbit....the night before had me packing up (which I would leave several small items for the trip....)...anyways, as I pulled out my Salomon's, I noticed my kevlar lace was broken. My darn cat who has a fetish for chewing on my backpacking gear chewed through my kevlar lace.....errr
Thus I took the shoes back to REI early on the day of our departure. This set us back a couple of hours. Darn cats....

Edited by kennyhel77 on 07/13/2012 17:43:57 MDT.

Ken, you could return the darn cat.

There. Problem solved.

--B.G.--

naw Bob, his return by date has long since expired...he is 11 years old and I have way too much money invested in the ole bugger. I did not like my Salomon's anyways. REI has nice return policies :)

REI has a nice return policy that covers everything, including CATastrophes.

--B.G.--

"REI has a nice return policy that covers everything, including CATastrophes."

Good one Bob!

agree Rick!

Since Jack is mentioning pack weight then I came in at 21 pounds and 7 ounces.....hah!

Back with more pics

Where the heck are we guys? We're on the 3 day SEKI challange, DAH!



Justin's home away from home.



Another beautifull night in the Sierra.



I like flowers, pretty pretty flowers. "Snap out of it Jack, you're freaking out the other hikers"!



Sunbeams on a stream.



Does anybody know the name of this flower?



There goes the sun, nighty night.



Are these purple or lavender?



Is this the stair way, I mean switch backs to heaven?



Adam at the top of Forester Pass



Hmmmmm! how do I get over there?





Todo we're not in Kansas anymore, or are we?







Justin and his Karate Kid move, but instead of chop sticks to catch a fly he uses trekking poles. We're not worthy, oh power of the fly catcher.



Rollin, rollin, rollin, oh these hills keep rollin.



Sit back and enjoy the view.

Edited by jumpbackjack on 07/15/2012 17:24:00 MDT.

The flowers:

The pale magenta flower with yellow center is some variety of Shooting Star.

The reddish flower on the green stalk is a succulent, probably close to Roseroot, Sedum roseum.

The pale purple cluster flower is one of my favorites, Sky Pilot, Polemonium eximium. I'm guessing that you shot it near the top of Forester Pass because I never see it much below 12,500'.

--B.G.--

"The pale purple cluster flower is one of my favorites, Sky Pilot, Polemonium eximium. I'm guessing that you shot it near the top of Forester Pass because I never see it much below 12,500'."

Mine, too. Fairly rare and the fragrance is heavenly. I found it up along the Kings-Kern Divide years ago at Milly's Foot Pass and Lucy's Foot Pass. Never at lower elevations, as Bob said. Thanks for the picture Jack. Now if you could just have captured the aroma......

The fragrance is heavenly, but only if you find it within the first few days of its full blooming. One time I watched a pika approach the flower, and it seemed like it only wanted to sniff it. Then he gave up and ate the good parts like any self-respecting herbivore.

I expect to be up there near Milly and Lucy in a few weeks, but the flowers will likely be dried up by then.

--B.G.--