Knap sacking Across the Kings-Kern Divide. 163 



KNAPSACKING ACROSS THE KINGS-KERN 

 DIVIDE. 



By William E. Colby. 



During the summer of 1910 while on the Club Outing, 

 the writer took two delightful knapsack trips. An ac- 

 count of the first one follows : 



The Club was encamped on one of its main side trips 

 at the upper end of the Vidette Meadows, near Kear- 

 sarge Pass. The exquisitely sculptured granite pyramid 

 of the East Vidette towered into the sky on the one hand 

 and the jagged crest line of the Kearsarge Pinnacles en- 

 closed us on the other, while the lace-like tracery of 

 Vidette Falls dimly seen through the sturdy Alpine 

 forest and the flower starred meadows close by, added a 

 delicate touch to the otherwise stern and forbidding 

 grandeur. Outfitting ourselves from the convenient Club 

 commissary w4th those light weight but nourishing foods 

 which are the knapsacker's delight, a small party of us 

 started up the main stream toward Center Basin and 

 taking the westerly branch where it forks at the base of 

 Center Peak, kept on up the left-hand side of the stream 

 skirting the slope of the Peak. 



We took two pack animals and four five-gallon fish 

 cans with us intending to try to cross the main Kings- 

 Kern Divide through the second gap to the west of 

 Junction Peak and bring back some of the famous Golden 

 trout to plant in the main stream which was fishless 

 above Vidette Meadows. An old Sierra Club Bulletin 

 had reported the rumor of an old sheep trail lead- 

 ing over this pass and subsequent investigation at the 

 request of the writer made by a party visiting the region 

 had confirmed the existence of the old trail, but with 

 little encouragement as to its practicability without con- 

 siderable repair. After some search we discovered the 



