Gardiner Basin, Kings Canyon Trip Report

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In 2017 I hiked into the Kearsarge Lakes area of Kings Canyon National Park. During the trip I climbed to the top of the 4th Kearsarge Pinnacle and gazed in wonder at the wild backcountry of Kings Canyon. In that instant Kings Canyon cemented itself in my mind as one of the most beautiful regions of the world. I pulled out my topo map and began noting the huge peaks and beautiful granite cirques in front of me. One place in particular that caught my eye on the map was the Gardiner Basin. It looked so remote, so wild, that I figured it had to be a place of great beauty.

After that trip ended and I was back at home I pulled up Google Image Search on my computer and typed in the words “Gardiner Basin.” Although there weren’t many photos from the area there were enough to convince me that my intuition was right: here was one of those supremely magical places in the Sierra. And so I began to plan a 5-day trip to visit the Basin and see its beauty for myself.

Fast forward almost a year to late July 2018 and conditions for just such a trip were looking beautiful: I had a good chunk of free time in between projects, I was fit and in good health, and critically, massive thunderstorms were battering the the Sierra. In my opinion there’s no better time to be in the High Sierra than monsoon season, and so it was with great anticipation that I parked my car at the trailhead at Onion Valley and began what would become one of the most extraordinary backpacking trips of my life.

Rather than attempt to do justice to the experience with my poorly written words, instead I’d like to invite you along on the trip with me through a series of video journals that tell the tale of what happened each day. For my sensitive readers, please note that I do use some foul language in these videos. After all, there was nobody out there to hear it except me and the f#cking mosquitoes.
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Day 1 highlights include getting lost on Dragon Pass. Sketching myself out, not one, not two, but three times while trying to get over it. Seeing bighorn sheep at the top. 1000 feet of scree boot skiing. And a beautiful sunset over the Rae Lakes Basin in Kings Canyon National Park.
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Day 2 highlights include: Rae Lakes Basin, thunderstorms and mammatus clouds on a cross-country pass. Incredible rainbows, and a barn-burning sunset over the monumentally beautiful Gardiner Basin.
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Day 3-5 highlights include more explorations of the Gardiner Basin, idyllic country living in the 60 Lakes Basin, monster views from Glen Pass, an afternoon hiding from the rain under a rock overhang, and one of the most blistering backcountry light shows I’ve ever seen.
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Now, I know y’all are wanting to see the resulting photos, so here are a few behind-the-scenes images and some fine art photos from the excursion.
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Did you enjoy this kind of trip report video journal? Let me know in the comments!

~Josh
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Josh Cripps is a wilderness landscape photographer living in beautiful Mammoth Lakes, California. He shoots campaigns and gives presentations for Nikon. His work has been featured in publications like Outdoor Photographer, Pop Photo, and Landscape Photography Magazine. Josh also runs photography workshops, teaches online courses, and runs the popular YouTube channel Pro Photo Tips. Sometimes he talks like a cowboy and can grow an enormous beard when the need arises.

You can read more about Josh here.
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