Kennedy Mountain 11,433′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 10:50
Distance: 20.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 7400′
Crux: Class 2
Trailhead: Lewis Creek- trash, pit toilets
Access by road to Kings Canyon was closed all of the 2023 due to California’s historic winter, and it was an area of the western Sierra where I had the most unclimbed Sierra Peak Section Peaks. Because of this, I hoped to get there twice this season, and made it a point to get in early once Highway 180 finally reopened. Not in peak hiking shape, I decided to try for Kennedy Mountain, one of the only remaining summits left for me on the Monarch Divide. Compared to the others (Mount Harrington and Goat Mountain) it was definitely the least interesting, with a trail all the way to Kennedy Pass about a half mile below the summit, and straightforward use trail from there. That being said, it was a good early season peak to climb and would still make for a long day at over 20 miles and 7,000+’ of gain. My planned early start became even earlier when I woke up for no reason at 12:30 PM and never fell back asleep, ultimately rolling out of bed around 2 and starting the 2.5+ hour drive to the trailhead. By the time I had packed my gear and started up the Lewis Creek Trail, it was about 5 AM, only needing to use my headlamp for the first mile before it became light enough to turn off.
I was happy to be covering this section before sunrise, as the Lewis Creek Trail had been severely burned in the Rough Fire of 2015, and I would have virtually no shade for the first 6 miles to Frypan Meadow. The first two miles of the trail were in decent shape up to the first junction, but slowly deteriorated after that, soon climbing over dozens of downed trees. While some seemed to have been there for some time, other’s appeared to have fallen sometime since the closure, with no clear social trails going around or over them. The trail weaved in and out of several overgrown drainages before crossing over Comb Creek.
The spring snowmelt meant the creek was flowing fast, but I was able to utilize one of the many downed trees to get across. Shortly after I reached the a crossing of Lewis Creek. This was much wider, and I wasted a good amount of time trying to find a way to rock hop across, ultimately to take my shoes off to wade across. Above the creek crossing the trail became less defined, weaving through overgrown manzanita and mountain misery to Frypan Meadows, taking about 2:45 from the start.
It was a bit slower than I had hoped, but I had wasted about 20 minutes trying to keep my feet dry crossing Lewis Creek, and I hoped to make it up. I lost the trail in the wet meadow, and walked along huge downed trees to a nice little campsite where I took a break. Swarms of mosquitos prevented it from being a long one, and after wolfing down some calories, I continued north, quickly losing the trail again and ultimately cutting cross country through the forest to the northeast. I had a GPS loaded to help me pick up the trail once more, although I found it in even worse shape than ever, plenty of downed trees and very easy to lose.
Crossing in and out of a few drainages, the trail began to cut across the Southern Slopes of Kennedy Mountain, and I hoped the trail would become more defined as I neared treeline. However, as I rounded the slopes, I was met face to face with a wall of aspen trees and pockets of meadows. This was actually the crux of the day- pushing through the overgrowth and trying to stay on what little was left of the trail, having basically no foot traffic in at least a year and a half.
I finally made it through the aspens and filtered water from a small stream, the drainage leading directly above to the summit. The trail on the opposite side of the stream was actually in the best condition since the trailhead, switchbacking through the thin pines up to the Kennedy Pass. I knew the views from the pass would be good, but I was surprised by just how good they were- with the entire Palisade grouping to the northeast and the Goddard grouping further north.
With the summit about a half mile away and slightly behind schedule, I continued up from the pass, following ill defined social trails and sandy slopes up to the small false summit on the ridgeline. There were patches of lingering snow, and I was pushed out onto some pretty rotten rock and sand trying to skirt around it. The ridge actually narrowed between the two summits, and it offered a tiny amount of scrambling if one wanted, although there was easy sand slopes immediately to the south to avoid it all.
It was 11:20 when I reached high point, taking over 6 hours to cover the 11ish miles and 7,000′ of gain to summit. The views from the top were even better than from the pass, with Spanish Mountain, the Obelisk and Three Sisters to the northwest, the Goddard grouping to the north, the Palisades to the northeast, Arrow Peak and the summit around Rae Lakes to the east, the great Western Divide and Kaweahs to the southeast and Mount Silliman and the Tablelands to the south. I took a rather long lunch here, definitely feeling the lack of sleep and hoping to make up some time on the descent.
It looked like the ridge directly to the south would shave off a good amount of mileage, although I worried it would spit me out in the thick aspens or overgrown manzanita. Even so, it seemed worth the risk, and I dropped off the summit directly to the south. Although I initially stuck to the ridge, I found some excellent sand to plunge down trending to the southeast, and I eagerly boot skied back down to the creek, getting there in less than an hour despite having taken two hours to get from the creek to the summit on the ascent. I had some remaining water and continued past, having an easier time fighting through the aspens now that I had pushed a path through certain thickets. Similarly route finding was easier getting back towards Frypan Meadow, although I decided to cut cross country and bypass the meadow completely on the return considering it was wet and the trail was hard to find anyways. I filtered one more liter of water and picked up the pace as I reentered the burn area, finding little relief from the mid day sun overhead.
I was able to keep my shoes on at the Lewis Creek crossing on the return, finding a slab downstream to jump from, although it would have made for a slippery and sketchy landing from the other direction. I chugged along, jogging where I could although the unrelenting sun was definitely sapping my stamina. It was a bit before 4 PM when I made it back to the car, and after 12 shadeless miles (roundtrip) and the overgrown trail past Frypan Meadow, I felt comfortable naming the peak as one of my least enjoyable SPS summits. Still another one ticked off meant one peak closer to finishing the list. I hopped in the car and grabbed dinner in Fresno before heading home in time to see Avery before bed.