Homer's Nose (9023') from the North

6 Oct 1996 - by Ron Hudson

Used 15 min Kaweah quad plus Mineral King quad. Private and BLM property ownership and some roads are shown on Sequoia NF map. I parked by "BM 3058" on map, i.e. at 3000', located about 1.5 mi E of where the MK road crosses from the S side to the N side of the E Fk Kaweah and about 3 mi from the Lookout Pt Entrance Station to the NP.

Went down easy bush to 2800' of river. Unmapped road goes up from near there. Connects with mapped "trail" (it is a road) about 3600'; continued up. There is gate at about 5300 with private sign but nobody around. Went up S side of meadow/bowl valley area 5300-5600. Took road thru Case Mtn Grove (mostly cut but a few good sequoias remain on public and). Then road and trail and class 1 X-C along Salt Ck Ridge to summit. Took from 1130 AM to 730 PM to camp (bivvy) about 2 mi from summit. Next day one hour up, one hour on top, then 5 hours back to car.

Probably not any big infringement on private property, but I was wary of any sounds or hunters. Talked to 2 guys on trail motorcycles (they were stopped so I hadn't heard them until they saw me) who knew owners and go there a lot. I guess main road access (open?) goes from 3 Rivers area at about 1000'. Other road connection near gaging sta at 2500 appeared private.

Earlier the first day I tried trail on 15 min map S from the Lookout Point Entrance Station. Was maintained down to the river (3700') for fishermen and I got about 1/2 mi up S side, but it became impassible and impossible. 50 years growth of brush. Would be a great trail if burned off. I believe it was originally a trade route over Salt Creek Ridge to the south.

So my climb route it is probably longer than from the south. But it was an interesting exploratory adventure to me.

There also is a trip report by Doug Bear (Jones) - from the south: http://angeleschapter.org/sps/archives/sps00194.htm


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