Camping on avalanche pass in Kings?

[chris smead]

Are there a lot of good camping spots on top of avalanche pass on the sphinx trail? (in late June)

[Dave T]

Yes, there's a nice place right at the top, by the rocky outcrops to the left as you come up from Roads End.

There is a picture in one of my trip reports.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=24319

[Bob Gross]

The problem with camping at the pass is lack of water. If you stay down away from the pass on either side, there is water.

–B.G.–

[Dave T]

The problem with camping down away from the pass on either side is the lack of views. If you camp up at the pass, there are views.

[obx hiker]

You could also come in by Marvin Pass if you're not doing a loop that ends up back at Roads End. You can get to Roaring River in a day or 7-8 hours from Marvin.

There are recent photos of the view from Avalanche taken from near the pass (which is in the woods) on page 2 this thread from the High Sierra blog : http://www.highsierratopix.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7532&start=12

The one taken by "roguephotonic" is surely scenic!

[Shawn Forry]

Lots of flat areas on top of Avalanche Pass for camping. There is also a small creeklet that flows late June just south of the true pass. It is located about 300-400yds down the trail on the south side of the pass on the descent. Look for it on your right. Another option is to top off with water at the last little creek about 3/4mi before the pass. If you have even more ambition, scramble to the top of Palmer mountain for the night. Easy climb up, huge flat campsites and views of the entire range.

[chris smead]

I'm quite interested in Palmer mountain. Anyone have any camp pics from the top?

[Bill Law]

No picture, but I found this, which speaks to the point (at http://www.climber.org/reports/1996/138.html

"Oh I love to climb a mountain, and to climb the highest peak But nothing delights me half as much, as the view from Palmer Peak"

(this little ditty was found in an entry in the summit register on Palmer Mt)

[chris smead]

Just thought I'd reactivate this thread.
Is there a trail from avalanche pass to the top of Palmer mountain? And if not is it pretty intuitive to get there?

[Bill Law]

No first hand experience (I looked into this some in the course of considering a climb this season, prompted by mention earlier of Marvin pass, which I visited last year).

Looking at it (at http://www.closedcontour.com/), it looks moderately steep (1200' climb in 3000' straight line from the pass). The trip report at climber.org that I cited above mention a short class 3 section; perhaps that can be bypassed?

Here's a picture.

[chris smead]

Thanks for the I do so far.
I'm planning on doing this trip late June.
I heard the snow is melting quick. Does anyone have any current pics of Palmer or any Kings/Sequoia pics at altitude?

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