Milestone Basin and Vidette Creek 2014
Milestone Basin to near JMT
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
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Only
had one night in Milestone Basin, versus the original plan of
two. We backtracked down to the trail in the Kern Canyon, then
took a connector trail over toward the JMT to the east. The first
lake on this connector trail has an awesome view looking down the
northern part of Kern Canyon from its south side! We camped at a
barren lake not far from the JMT, but away from the crowds. We
hadn't seen anyone since Lake South America on Tuesday morning, and
only those two since last leaving the JMT mid-day on Saturday despite
being on trails some of the time.
Journal Entry:
Clouds cleared last night after a bit of localized thunder around
Midway Mtn. Awoke to completely clear skies, but clouds appeared
mid morning and again are thickest over the Great Western Divide, clear
over Sierra Crest. Easy hike down Milestone Basin, mostly
backtracking our route from yesterday. Reached the Kern around
11:30 (left camp around 9:00). Started uphill to the east on the
trail connecting to JMT. Arrived at the unnamed lake just before
JMT around 3 and set up camp. Puffy white clouds floating
around. On the way, we got a great view down the Kern Canyon from
the south end of the first lake on the crossover trail.
Also: saw a coyote in Milestone Basin, too far away for a
pic. Tomorrow we cross Forester Pass and down to the trees.
 outlet creek near our campsite |
 high lake in Milestone Basin |
 Milestone Mountain |
 middle part of Milestone Basin, Mt. Whitney in distance |
 Milestone Mtn over Milestone Creek |
 Milestone Creek heading downstream, Mt. Whitney above |
 view straight down the Kern Canyon |
 marshy lake on trail (view on left from the south side of this lake) |
 looking back at Milestone Basin |
 looking back at Milestone Basin |
 sign at junction with Lake South America trail |
 lake that we camped at |