18 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



although it does avoid the steep and difficult trail which 

 drops from the rim of the canyon to the floor at the 

 junction of Rattlesnake Creek with the Kern. 



On the Franklin Pass Trail the summit of the great 

 western divide is attained at the disputed elevation of 

 11,300 feet. From this pass the first view of the great 

 range of the higher Sierra is secured. It is stunning, 

 breath taking. The 

 great peaks from 

 Langley to Barn- 

 ard, including Le 

 Conte, Muir, Whit- 

 ney and Russell, 

 all peaks 14,000 

 feet or over, stand 

 out in startling 

 array against the 

 eastern sky. The 

 range that is 

 stretched before 

 you is really the 

 great western di- 

 vide, but these 

 mountains were 

 first climbed from 

 the west and the 

 range of peaks, of 

 which Florence 

 Peak just to the 

 south of Franklin 

 Pass is one, was 

 supposed to have 

 been the great 

 western divide and 

 was so named. It 

 was not until some 

 time after that the 

 higher crest of the 

 Sierra Nevada was 

 discovered, prob- 

 ably just in such a 

 manner as it is dis- 

 covered each year 

 by those upon 

 whose vision it 

 bursts for the first 

 time from Frank- 

 lin and similar 

 passes of the west- 

 ern ridge. It is a 



bit confusing to find the lower ridge named the great 

 western divide, while the main crest of the Sierra Ne- 

 vada, with its towering peaks, is the true divide. 



It is difficult to leave Franklin Pass with the vast 

 panorama of mountain peaks and canyons stretching on 

 all sides, but the trail down Rattlesnake Canyon traverses 

 a country so new and different from that over which the 

 trail to this point has led that the regrets are of short 

 duration. To me Rattlesnake Canyon and the Siberian 

 outposts, about twenty miles further along the trail, are 



Photo by Mark Daniels. 



THE KERN RIVER 



This stream rises in the hundreds of small lakes around the upper bases of the peaks which 

 form the Kern-Kings Divide and the main ridge of the Sierra Nevada. It flows almost due 

 south. This view of it was taken near Funston Meadow. 



the two most fascinating features of this district. Rat- 

 tlesnake Creek lies between great walls of granite which, 

 about half way down the creek, are over 2,000 feet in 

 height and almost vertical. The bottom of the canyon, 

 however, is for the most part wide and comparatively 

 level, carpeted here and there with meadows which are 

 threaded by the sparkling waters of the creek. Perhaps it 



is the contrast be- 

 tween the moss and 

 grass covered floor 

 and the barren 

 rock and disinte- 

 grated granite of 

 the pass which 

 adds such charm 

 to that portion of 

 the trail which 

 leads through Rat- 

 tlesnake Canyon, 

 but in addition to 

 this, there is an un- 

 deniable and a very 

 distinctive charac- 

 ter to the forma- 

 tion of the canyon 

 walls, which makes 

 this bit of trail 

 stand out in one's 

 memory. There 

 are more colors in 

 the granite of the 

 walls and they are 

 also sculptured in 

 such a way as to 

 cast interesting 

 shadows and carry 

 spots of sunlight. 

 The charm of the 

 canyon casts its 

 spell over even the 

 dumb, as is evi- 

 denced by the pro- 

 fusion of those rep- 

 tiles that have 

 given the creek its 

 name. Exercising 

 alertness for the 

 wily snake adds a 

 soupcon of inter- 

 est, as it were. 

 The descent from the upper rim of the Kern Canyon 

 to the floor is the most tedious portion of this wonderful 

 trail. The zigzags back and forth seem countless in num- 

 ber and the trail endless. At each turn one expects to 

 find the river within a stone's throw, but after fifteen or 

 twenty have been made, the river is still as far as ever. 

 The drop is about 1,800 feet, at every 100 of which the 

 patient mule cranes his neck astern and reproaches hu- 

 ivanity with a pained expression and pleading eye. The 

 trail finally emerges, however, upon the broad grass- 



