Southern Sierra: Kiavah Wilderness and Sequoia National Park

Halfmile maps f

From Cameron Canyon Rd aka Hwy 58 aka Tehachapi Pass the trail treks up by LaRose Falls and waterfall canyon. I'm curious if the beauty matches the name and might take a trail detour to check out the area. From the looks of the map, it seems like water in the Piute Mountain Range will not be an issue on the first part of this section. As we traverse around cache peak there area is littered with springs on either side of the trail but beware hikers get sick on this section so be careful, take some extra Vitamin C, and make sure your water is clean. After this short spurt of water it goes dry so carry a lot.

From the satellite view it looks like the trail comes down into dry lands before it hikes up into the Scodie Mountain section of the Kiavah Wilderness and Sequoia National Park, south east of Lake Isabella. In the screen capture below Lake Isabella is in the top left of the screen. The PCT traverses from the Piute Mtn range on the left side of the screen, directly below Mayan Peak (point A), and then north to the green range on the top right side (the Scodie Mtns.)

Maybe there is some shade to be found around the Pinyon Mtns. Even if there isn't that much shade to be found, there may be another treat. Pine Nuts from the Pinyon Pine. For those who can eat them, they are a tasty treat.

Flora:
It looks like another hot and sunny section. Even Scodie Mtn, which is supposed to be a reprieve from the sun looks rather arid.

But don't let it fool you, the plants we get to experience here are very special. The Kiavah Wilderness is one of the two places that can support Pinyon-Juniper woodlands in CA. One can also find Mormon tea, burro bush, Joshua Trees, grey pines, and a variety of wildflowers which are blooming April to June. The rare gem on this section of trail is the Walker Pass milkvetch, a endemic legume. It has only been recorded as seen three times. If you see it, please take notes and report it/ don't bother it. I will be hunting a few west facing hillsides for this little survivor.