Kings Canyon canister requirements

From Humphreys Basin, you will hike down Piute Creek to the John Muir Trail. Where the JMT crosses Piute Creek, you enter the Park and I am sure that bear canisters are required for anyone on the JMT in Kings Canyon NP; they were last year.

You didn't say how you were going out. If you are going out over Muir and Bishop Passes then you will continue to need a bear canister since you will be on the JMT until you reach the Bishop Pass Jct and then, bear cans are required for all the stretch of trail from Bishop Pass to the JMT junction including the Dusy Lakes basin.

If you are planning to exit the Evolution Basin via Lamarck Col, you likely won't be checked and I believe the bear can is not required. When I was through there last year, there were no bear lockers in the Evolution Lake basin.

I am doing a loop starting in two days going over Piute Pass to Göethe Lake, over Alpine Col to the Darwin Canyon and then out over Lamarck Col and returning to North Lake. I will take my old green Ursack even though I'll be in Kings Canyon between Alpine and Lamarck Cols. I won't worry because most of this part of the trip is well above the normal range of bears. Also, I think this is one part of the park where canisters are recommended but not required.

It appears that bear canisters are recommended throughout the Parks (Sequoia and Kings Canyon), but are only required in 3 areas of the Parks. The following is from the "New Wilderness Food Storage Guidance" publication that can be obtained from the SEKI website.

"In 2009, these parks are strongly recommending that all campers carry all food, garbage, and toiletries in a park-allowed, bear-resistant food-storage container (canister or pannier). As the parks continue their efforts to remove broken and unused lockers from the wilderness, previous locations of food storage lockers may not be guaranteed.

NOTE: This recommendation is in addition to the existing requirements to carry and use park-allowed, bear-resistant food-storage containers in three specified areas: 1) Rae Lakes Loop and vicinity 2) Dusy and Palisades Basins and 3) Rock Creek drainage."

This sort of sums up why they are required:

"Through the years, portable canisters were designed, tested, and made commercially available. In 1991, only 1% of wilderness visitors carried these canisters. This increased to half of the wilderness users by 1999; even more use them today. While this trend is promising, human-bear incidents and injuries continue, leading these parks to require portable container use in a few areas starting in 2000. By 2003, portable containers became required in the Rae Lakes, Dusy Basin, and Rock Creek areas of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

With these requirements in place, incidents have continued to decrease. Despite that, in the past ten years in park wilderness areas bears seeking food have injured nine people. Three bears were put to death due to safety concerns related to their persistence in trying to obtain human food."

Yes, I will exit Muir pass then Bishop pass. According to the above map, I only need a canister East of the Middle Fork Kings River heading up over Bishop Pass (my last day). But now Rincon is saying what the ranger said, which is that once I enter King's Canyon NP, I'll need a canister (which is NOT what the website states).

It just occurred to me that if I bring a BearVault Solo, I can squeeze in all the food I need for the second half (the JMT/Bishop Pass portion), and leave the first half trip food (the Humphrey's basin portion) out of the canister for counterbalancing.

The problem is that I will be camping above treeline in Humphrey's basin the first night, and the ranger said that if I can't counterbalance my food there, I can get fined, even though it is outside the restricted zone. So does this mean I need to just suck it up with a BV500 or Bearikade? Or does anyone know of hang-able trees near the Golden Trout Lake area (my first night).

I know this is getting rather complicated, but if I could bring a BV solo instead of a BV500, that'd make a big difference. Then again, I'm not sure I want to trust counterbalancing in the Sierras. And that adds weight back to the system. That Bearikade Weekender is looking more and more tempting…

Are you actually going to the Humphrey Basis (eg Desolation Lake area) or are you just planning on hiking over Piute Pass and then staying on the trail down Piute Creek. The Humphrey Basin is a side trip on a spur trail off the Piute Creek Trail. If you are just going to the vicinity of Golden Trout Lake (GTL), there are trees there for a hang but they are not terribly tall. If you can continue on down the trail from GTL another thirty minutes or so, you have dropped into taller lodgepole pine that will permit a good hang.

I understand your confusion and can't say for sure what the canister requirements are for different places in the park. I do know that I encountered a ranger who checked me for a canister when I was camped at the Goddard Creek crossing. This was the evening before I started climbing up into the Evolution Valley.

Thanks Charles for your input. I was just going to stay on the Piute Creek Trail. It sounds to me like if I can make it to treeline on my first day, I can just bring a BV450, and any food I can't fit into it I'll make sure to counterbalance and consume before I reach King's Canyon. Heck, if it's just 30 minutes, I could counterbalance my food and come back to camp at Golden Trout Lake, and even explore Desolation Lake the following day, all while leaving my food counterbalanced lower in the forest. Not sure that's worth the 8oz savings, though.

Now I'm going to get a little specific: Is the best route to Desolation L. from Golden Trout L. via Lower Desolation L.? It looks like I could head north from Golden Trout to Lower Desolation and then to Desolation proper, and exit back to Piute creek via Mesa L. and Square L. But I'll have 5 others with me, all with much heavier packs, so I don't want to be the one that makes everyone backtrack to Golden Trout.

There is a trail that cuts away from the Piute Creek Trail that goes directly to Desolation Lake. I don't recall whether it is marked (it has been at times) but it is the only trail leaving the Piute Creek Trail to the N. before the cutoff for Golden Trout Lake. I would go to Desolation Lake that way. You can get to Golden Trout Lake via Lower Desolation but IIRC it is longer and more difficult as you are going cross-country. I suspect, though, that there are use trails going the way you describe but I am not familiar with any.

been a few years since i was up there, but you can access desolation lake pretty easily x-country

closer to mt. humphreys, the terrain is sometimes steep and rocky – a bit further west (from a bit after you hit a little creek coming down from i think marmot lake) most of the terrain is pretty easy to just walk on – mostly flat/rolling – and landmarks are easy to use in this big, open area. this is true for most of the area from that creek on that is north of the paiute pass trail until about the west end of mesa lake. it's like a big moonscape, peppered with lupine and other flowers

so while you can get to desolation further east of lower desolation, there is more up/down to the terrain there

if you look at a tight topo map, you can get a good idea of routes

John, I just exited over piute pass from the JMT on monday. We talked to a ranger on the way down and no bear cannisters are required in area the of desolation lake or goeden trout lake.

Charlie is right about the lack of trails from the golden trout lakes and desolation lake and where to hang food. it is cross country, unless you go northeast from golden trout lakes toward the pass and then when you meet the pass trail you make a hard left and go west to the creek that runs from lower desolation lake and then head north to lower and then to upper desolation lakes. there was no real trail marked but there is a use trail that goes up toward the desolation lakes. It is really wide open country. Not many trees of any size in the area.
Hope that helps!