Trail Report: Monache Meadows

[FishPOET]

Monache Meadows has been on my bucket list for a very long time. The stars aligned this weekend and I got to cross it off the list.

I left work at 2pm on Thursday and met Linda at the Pilot on 395 at 3pm. We headed up the 395 to Pearsonville and topped off the tanks at the Shell Station. We headed up 9 Mile Canyon to Kennedy Meadows. From there we took 22S05 Sherman Pass Road to 21S03 Fish Creek to 21S36 Powell Meadow to 20S22 Granite Knob to 34E38 Bull Meadow to 22S03 Monache Meadow. We took 20S03 all the way to the end and camped on the South Fork of the Kern River.



We had just enough light left to set up camp. I was exhausted and in bed for the night at 9pm.

We woke the next morning to cows tromping through camp



We had breakfast and walked up stream to the dam. We did a little fishing (not any catching) as we walked back to camp.

The rest of our group started rolling in around 2pm.



I hiked up the hill behind camp and was rewarded with this view of Monache Meadow


We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up. No campfires are allowed so we sat around the BBQ until 11pm before calling it a night.

Saturday was more fishing in the morning


and relaxing in camp in the afternoon. We had a potluck dinner Saturday night and sat around the BBQ until 10pm.

Sunday we broke camp at 10am and checked out many of the spurs in the area.

Crossing the South Fork of the Kern River on 20S05


Olancha Peak from 20S05


Lower Monache Meadow and Deer Island from 20S05


Monache Meadow from 20S05


Twisting and turning on 20S03


34E38


34E38


34E38


We saw deer


We saw a bobcat, a marmot, more birds than I have ever seen anywhere else and lots of cows.

The weather could not have been any better. High 70's during the day. Comfortable in the sun and the shade. Low 40's at night.

I was home at 7pm tonight. Another fantastic weekend in the forest.

The rest of the pics can be seen here

[dirtman13]

Great report and pics Doug. Thanks.

[RAT]

Awesome pics doug. The area is gorgeous. Been up there twice but never camped. I did catch though...

[Mike]

Nice! This is on my bucket list too. Thanks for nudging it closer to the top!~

[suntinez]

scouting trip for Monache Meadows

I wanted to go whitewater rafting, but was getting mixed reports from the outfitters around Kernville about how much water was in the Kern River. Some places had already closed down for the year because levels were so low, others were happy to take my money for a reservation – so I decided to do a strange loop on the way to Pismo to check things out. Glad I did, because not one of the dozen or so rafting places was open for business. I’ve never seen the water on the Kern this low. The marinas at Lake Isabella were sitting in islands of sand.

This section of water is usually class 4 rapids, not even one raft this year. I doubt they could make it, rock crawling in a blowup boat is undoubtedly not fun.


I decided to go up into the mountains of the southern Sierra and see if I could find cooler temps, it was roasting in the valley – well over 100 degrees. Sherman Pass Rd is paved but many miles of turny hairpins, and intersects a lot of OHV trails. Moto-heaven up here.

Here’s the Sherman Pass overlook at 9200ft.


And the view north/east from there – spectacular.


I went as far as Blackrock Station at 8150 ft to get information, then headed for Kennedy Meadows at ~6000 ft to camp by the S Fork of the Kern River.


Next day I came down Kennedy Meadows Rd to Canebrake Rd/Chimney Peak Rd, which ends at Hwy 178 west of Inyokern.

A view of Sawtooth Peak on the way:


It’s a 15 mile dirt road, nicely graded but washboard most of the way. Rattled the cabinets right off my Tiger.


It has some views too, this is looking south to Hwy 178 in the distance


Sign at the entrance from 178:

[suntinez]

I’ve wanted to go to Monache Meadows in the Kern Plateau for some time, and it turns out several other folks did too. No one had been there before and googling didn’t provide clear directions, but when you’ve got a map-master in the group, no worries. I see Doug has put up several maps of our route and the meadow here, another great resource for folks trying to find the way.

This was one of the most picturesque meadows I’ve ever seen, and it’s HUGE. After passing Blackrock Ranger station, it’s a few miles to the Monache Jeep Trail which does some twisty stuff through the forest before reaching the meadow. I was worried about Tiger’s size getting through the Jeep trail but other than some inadvertent tree-trimming with a 10 ft tall vehicle, didn’t have any problems.

We reached the meadow just as the sun was setting,



Saw a couple of buck mule deer just as we entered


This is an active cattle grazing area, and we passed by these guys on the way to camp:


Crossed the S Fork of the Kern


to our spot for the night, right on the edge of the river. Awesome.


Doug crashed early but I stayed up late, aiming my camera at a million stars


In the morning we were awakened by locals, stomping through camp:


Then took a short hike passing toppled Sequoia trees on the way:


to the dam at the boundary of the Golden Trout Wilderness area:


Some beavers spent a long time gnawing this tree only to have it fall against the mountain. Bummer.


The rest of our group started arriving and we had an awesome campfire-without-a-campfire, birth of legends happen on nights like this

[suntinez]

In the morning we worked our way back to the dam, no one caught anything worth keeping, but everyone had fun.




fishing for goldens:


wildflowers and super clear water





Back at camp we had a potluck, as usual everyone outdid themselves:







Sunday it was time to pack up and go, but we wanted to explore the meadow first:


In the middle of the meadow is an interesting formation called Bakeoven Dunes


Stopping by Powell Meadow on the way out:



And finishing up with lunch at the Kennedy Meadows general store:



We took 9-mile Canyon Rd down to 395 and got some impressive views of the Owens Valley.


I can’t wait to go back. The Jordan hot springs are nearby, a lot of history in this area and so many more roads to check out. Another great summer escape in the Sierras.

[broncotime]

I've been looking at these popups for a while, i really like this one. any chance you might know the maker?

thanks for the awesome writeup.

[FishPOET]

I've been looking at these popups for a while, i really like this one. any chance you might know the maker?

thanks for the awesome writeup.

Four Wheel Camper

http://www.fourwheelcampers.com/

[Schmo]

I love that place . . . it's moto heaven up there. My plan was to be up there every other weekend this season . . . I was on track with 5 or 6 trips before having to go in for knee surgery. Can't wait to get healed up and get back up there. I'd imagine it's pretty cool in a Jeep too, but absolutely epic riding up there.

[broncotime]

Four Wheel Camper

http://www.fourwheelcampers.com/

thanks, i kinda thought so by the stripe, but had't ever seen a grey one. after digging the site it looks like an addon. i'm guessing that's the 5.8 long to fit a 6.5 bed with the gate up?

[clcoyle]

Great photos and report, we are headed there this weekend so hopefully the weather cooperates. -Chris

[slickrock steve]

Great photos and report, we are headed there this weekend so hopefully the weather cooperates. -Chris

I have a couple questions about the area. Are they allowing cold camping? ( without fires), and can you still go all the way to the dam at Strawberry?, was there any water in the river anymore.
I was up to the Kern Plateau at Horse Meadow/ Big Meadow, and the Salmon Creek, and Kern river were empty!!
Only enough water to wet the stones!!
I want to go before the fall weather closes all the trails due to snow.
SNOW???....well maybe!:bolt: