A High Sierra Circuit on King's River. 185 



right up a steep talus pile of large rock for the 12,000- 

 foot level. This rise of 800 feet can be made easily by foot- 

 folk, but it looks difficult for laden animals, and the trail is 

 very bad. In order to avoid any danger from falling rocks, 

 most of the party made the ascent before the packtrain 

 started. Imagine our surprise, then, to see them appear 

 on the sky line in less than an hour after leaving the lakes ! 



From the pass the government maps indicate a trail 

 running westward to Charlotte Creek. Five hundred feet 

 below the pass to the south side lies a Httle lake, or rather 

 two lakes, which empty into Lake Charlotte two miles 

 below. One of these lakes is not shown on the govern- 

 ment map and doubtless was well muffled in ice and snow 

 when the survey was made. Between the pass and the 

 lakes an enormous fan extends. Forsaking the trail, we 

 plunged straight down hill to the lake and followed down 

 its outlet without difficulty, saving half the distance and all 

 of the 'Very bad going"'^ which we have since learned is to 

 be experienced in attempting to follow the indicated trail. 



We did not stop at Lake Charlotte, although it is one 

 of the most beautiful mountain lakes and is filled with 

 fish, but enjoyed it only while skirting its shores on our 

 way to Bullfrog Lake, where we camped. Pictures of 

 this region usually consist of white snow and white sky,, 

 separated by a very ragged line of black rock. The ex- 

 ceptionally light snowfall of the year 1908 showed us the 

 true Bullfrog without its mantle of white. On the one 

 hand the rounded, comparatively gentle slopes of Rixford, 

 on the other the perpendicular ramparts of the Kearsarge 

 Pinnacles ; before us the lake, skirted by the trail leading, 

 over Kearsarge Pass, probably the oldest gateway across 

 the Sierra Nevada. We laid over here for a day, and^ 

 while some of us spent the time fishing and idling among^ 

 the beautiful Kearsarge lakes, others climbed up to look 

 over the brim of the cup in which we found ourselves. 



Starting from the level of the lake, about 10,500 feet, 

 we ascended the peak to the northwest of Bullfrog whichj., 



*Sierra Club Bulletin, loc. cit. 



