Leon Turnbull Photography

I did not sleep well on night 2. My legs were sore and uncomfortable all night long. This is what happens when you get old (for all you young ones out there). Usually I take electrolytes to help but I did not do that on this night. Lesson learned. I slept fairly well on every other night.

I was up early as were the other groups at the lake. It was a beautiful morning at Hamilton Lake. No clouds in sight (yet). I made my breakfast and drank my coffee. Then I used the facilities. There is a pit toilet at the lake. It is a funny one because it is open with no sides. I guess it is like this so you can see the bears coming for you as you sit on the pot. This does bring up another irritating point though. I noticed that some backpackers just left their toilet paper out in the open, hidden under a rock (as if that helps), and in one case just left beside the trail out in the open. Argh! Why do people do this? There is a pit toilet right here. Why can’t you just put your toilet paper in it? That is why it is here! Leave no trace, people. Please. It is so easy to pack out all your garbage, including your toilet paper. (if there is no pit toilet).

It is a tough climb to the top of Kaweah Gap Pass. It is a 2500 ft. elevation gain. It took a very long time, mostly because the trail is so darn rocky. I hate climbing up and over rocks built as steps on the trail. It is about 5 times the effort to lift your leg over a rock, as opposed to just climbing up a dirt path. You also cannot go very fast; probably I was going about 1 mph. Along the way you pass stunning Precipice Lake. At 10,300 ft. elevation the lake still had ice in it. The top of the pass is at 10,700 ft. elevation. When you look across to the other side the view is absolutely magnificent. You can see down to the lake in Nine Lake Basin, the big waterfall in Nine Lake Basin, and down into Big Arroyo. And of course there are the magnificent mountains including Black Kaweah and Kaweah Queen.

My plan was to camp in Nine Lake Basin and go up to the big waterfall in the evening. Initially I wanted to camp beside the gorgeous lake. However … I “knew” another thunderstorm was coming in the afternoon. I could already see the thunder clouds building up in the distance. They would make their move in the afternoon just like the previous day. There is zero shelter at the lake. No trees at all. It is completely exposed. I needed to find something that was somewhat sheltered. This was not an easy task but I found a decent spot by a small waterfall (never a bad thing to camp beside a waterfall). OF COURSE … that storm never did come in the afternoon. The clouds just hovered off in the distance, slowly building up strength all afternoon. They were just about to make their move and in fact did start to move towards me … and then they just all went away. Stranger things!

In the evening I hiked up to Nine Lake Basin Falls which is at 11,300 ft. elevation. (my camp was at 10,500 ft.). It is a beautiful 100 ft. high waterfall in a gorgeous high elevation setting with snow still around it. Once the sun went behind the mountains it became very chilly and of course I left my warm jacket back at camp. I took my photos then hurried back down, arriving back at my tent just before dark. Good night day 3.