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VIEWS FROM KAISER PEAK

Atop lone Kaiser Peak (10,310´), a western spur of the Sierra ridge, ambitious hikers get outstanding views of the central Sierra, whose highest peaks bound the San Joaquin River. Gaze around you at this great river’s watershed. In the north, the serrated Minarets of the Ritter Range rim North Fork San Joaquin River, while Middle Fork San Joaquin wraps east below Mammoth Crest, and South Fork San Joaquin drains the distant, barren, granite peaks visible along the east-southeast skyline. From here, the San Joaquin continues to flow west to the trough of the Central Valley, where it joins California’s other great rivers and is either diverted for agriculture, power, and people, or follows its historical route north to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and then out through San Francisco Bay.

Retrace your steps down the spur trail to the junction and turn right (west) along Kaiser Ridge. Immediately below and north of the sheer granite ledge is Bonnie Lake, while the small twin disks of Bobby Lake lie northward nearly 1000 feet below.