July 23 - August 1, 2010

This trip is full. Please contact the guide using the Contact page to be placed on the waiting list.

In 2006 and 2007, I led small groups of hardy Southern Arizona Hiking Club backpackers on week-long trips to California's Sierra Nevada. I actually planned this trip for 2008, but was unable to go. Fortunately, several people did go and had a great time! Now I've revived this trip and will go in 2010.

Here's your chance to view this spectacular mountain range for yourself.

This aggressive loop backpack trip from the Lodgepole Visitor Center delves through the backcountry of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, building by slow degrees to a grand climax of a High Sierra crossing at Elizabeth Pass, and winding down again with another gradual passage down the north wall of the Kaweah River canyon. Glacier- carved cliffs and mountains, deep canyons, wildlife, and giant sequoias - this hike has it all! I think this trip is going to be the best yet! Join me for this amazing trip to one of the crown jewels of the American wilderness system.

I have my permit reservation for eight backpackers. All of the slots are already filled, but contact me to be added to the waiting list!

I wasn't aware that Everett Ruess had been through Deadman Canyon back in August, 1933! Here's what he had to say in a letter to his mother:

Everything has been proceeding beautifully, and at present I am in the most interesting little canyon I have found in the Sierras. Parallel to it is Cloud Canyon. They converge below to form Roaring River, which flows into King's River.
The elevation here is 10,000 feet, and above is Elizabeth Pass and the Copper Mine, at nearly 13,000 feet. Golden trout and rainbow are in the stream, which flows under snowbanks at its head.