Sequoia Car Camping Trip

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I took a mini roadtrip to do a couple of nights of camping in the Sequoia National Forest. I left my work in Riverside on Friday afternoon and suffered up the I-15 until finally breaking free onto the 395. At Kramer Junction I Headed east on The 58, then North up through California City and Red Rocks until finally leaving pavement at Dove Springs OHV Area.

I chased the last bit of daylight as I winded my way through the desert hills until finally arriving in Claraville at a camp called Landers. I wanted to check out this campground due to the fabled pit toilets (okay, and also the beautiful remoteness). The lore about the pit toilets turned out to be true. Good thing I always bring a shovel.

After a pleasant night I left Landers Camp and headed up to a place called Moreland Mill, which looked to have been a site of a mining operation back in the day. It was more or less on top of a mountain and the area was still quite beautiful despite the apparent wildfire damage. The views were great but the weather looked to be changing so I headed down and continued my journey towards Kernville.

I would say my visits to Kernville amount to about countless now so I didn’t need to stop for much more other than gas. Continuing North on the very familiar 99 I came across an overturned truck were the sheriffs were guiding motorists around the accident. It seemed like an odd situation which I pondered on my way to Sherman Pass Road.

I was almost to Kennedy Meadows when I turned down a trusty old road I knew with several prime camping spots. Of course the very prime spot was taken, but I settled for the one adjacent to it.

At the higher elevation the temperature dropped quicker in the evening and the wind started to pick up a little. Since I didn’t have a fire and it was getting dark I decided to call it an early night. I awoke several times in the night noticing how unexpectedly cold I felt. Turns out the temperature got down to about 20 degrees! I guess winter had arrived.

The morning was so cold I didn’t even make coffee or breakfast. I packed up the few things I had out and headed straight out of the mountains. Down 9 Mile Canyon Road on onto the 395 again; southbound.

Pictures from this trip can be found here.

Backpacking to Commanche Camp

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I had been wanting to check out Commanche Camp for a while, however I wasn’t sure what route I wanted to take to get there. The obvious choice would be to come in from the Lytle Creek side, but I have reservations about leaving my car overnight at that trailhead.  I have heard of break-ins happening to cars there and I didn’t want to take any chances. 

So Icehouse Canyon trailhead it was.  I had hiked this trail before, but a while ago.  I had only went up to Icehouse Saddle and then to the neighboring peak of Timber Mountain.  To mix it up, we decided to check out the Chapman trail which would take us through the Cedar Glen trail camp.  There was a group we passed on the way to Cedar Glen and more groups camping there when we arrived. 

We quickly scoped it out and considered it for a possible future trip.  Then it was onto Icehouse Saddle.  The Chapman Trail junctions with the main Icehouse Canyon Trail about a half a mile from the saddle.  We took a quick break at the saddle, checked some of the trail signs, and then found the one pointing us to where we wanted to go:  onto Commanche!

The trail drops down the other side of the saddle.  It was obvious this portion of the trail isn’t traveled much.  We had to negotiate several fallen trees on our way down, and there was a lot of exposure.  We didn’t see another soul once we crossed the saddle, and that meant we got Commanche Camp all to ourselves.  A good thing too, since only several tents could actually fit there.  We were also pleased to find that the creek was running.

More pictures from this trip can be found here.