KNAPSACKING IN THE KINGS-SAN JOAQUIN 

 REGION 



By a. L. Jordan 



N THE I2th of June, 1917, we left Cascada, the terminus 



V_/ of the San Joaquin and Eastern Railway, with knapsacks 

 and outfits weighing between fifty-five and sixty pounds apiece. 

 My companion was Mr. H. H. Bliss of the University of Cali- 

 fornia. We traveled via Huntington Lake and Badger Flat to 

 Kaiser Pass, where we had a fine view across the South Fork 

 of the San Joaquin of Saddle Peak, Red and White Mountain, 

 Mount Abbott, Mount Gabb and others. The South Fork 

 seemed larger than the Merced at Yosemite. We had a bath 

 in the hot sulphur spring, then crossed the suspension bridge 

 and went onward. 



Leaving the trail, we explored a peculiar rock mesa which 

 we had seen from the pass. It was of volcanic nature and had 

 vertical cliffs, accessible in only one or two places. We called 

 it "Jericho Mesa." We next came to Mono Meadow and then 

 to Vermilion Valley, where we passed through some aspen 

 thickets and noted many evidences of avalanches. On leaving 

 Mono Creek we entered a country with no trails, and going on 

 into the Second Recess, climbed the steep right bank of Mills 

 Creek at about nine thousand feet. 



Here we discarded our moccasins, put on caulked shoes and 

 began "hitting the snow." On the way to the pass a large coy- 

 ote was seen, and the tracks of many others were noticed in 

 the snow. We called it "Coyote Pass" (12,200 feet). Leaving 

 our packs here, we started for Mount Gabb, and finding only a 

 few steep places, reached the summit about two o'clock. The 

 reward was one of the finest views I have ever seen — a great 

 vista of gigantic peaks, rock-masses and snow. Finding no evi- 

 dence that the peak had been climbed before, we made out a 

 statement, placed it in a "dehydro" can and left it in a cairn on 

 the summit. The elevation marked on the map is 13,700 feet. 

 We made a speedy descent, resumed our packs and started 



