Читать книгу Sierra South. Backcountry Trips in California's Sierra Nevada онлайн

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DAY 1 (Potter Pass Trailhead to George Lake, 4.7 miles): From the Potter Pass Trailhead, the trail briefly parallels Potter Creek before steeply climbing its west fork. The path bears east as it ascends southeast-facing slopes that offer views southeast toward the highest peaks of neighboring Dinkey Lakes Wilderness—10,000-plus-foot Three Sisters (seen as a series of rounded granite studs) and barren, serrated, 10,302-foot Dogtooth Peak. The strenuous climb culminates 2.5 miles from the trailhead at Potter Pass (8970´), where your trail converges with the California Riding and Hiking Trail, coming up from a trailhead farther east on Kaiser Pass Road.

VIEWS FROM POTTER PASS

Epic views await at the pass! In the north, Balloon Dome stands alone as a prominent granite knob jutting from the enormously visible San Joaquin River valley. Farther north, the Minarets of the Ritter Range are easily identified as the dark, jagged peaks, remnants of volcanoes that erupted some 100 million years ago. East-southeast, South Fork San Joaquin River drains the mountains of northern Kings Canyon National Park, while Middle Fork San Joaquin River curves north below distant Mammoth Crest, which separates the river from the Mammoth Lakes basin.