Blackcap Traverse

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July 13-17, 2014
The LeConte Divide and White Divide are two continuous and connected ridgelines with a combined distance of ~30 miles which lie west of Goddard Canyon and east of Red Mountain Basin, Blackcap Basin, and Crown Basin. These two divides lie in a remote part of the Sierra and are very infrequently visited compared to the rest of the range. Accessing the closest part of either divide would require at least 17 miles of hiking from the shortest approach. It was because of this remoteness that I became so interested in the area, and about five months prior to setting foot on the ridge, began mapping out a traverse which would involve a grand tour of every peak on those two divides. Apart from the few named summits (Mt. Henry, Red Mountain, Mt. Hutton, Mt. Reinstein, Finger Peak, Blue Canyon Peak, and Tunemah Peak), there was no online information regarding the remaining 21 unnamed peaks on the divides. The most I was able to find were a few short blurbs written by Secor which indicated a few passes and unnamed peaks in the area. I spent many hours carefully pouring over Google Earth for routes, water sources, and good camping locations, and finally had a route mapped out a month later. I dubbed the route the "Blackcap Traverse" after nearby Blackcap Basin. This is not to be confused with another route of the same name which runs from Bench Valley to Blackcap Basin.

The final plan was to start from North Lake Trailhead out of Bishop and take the Paiute Pass Trail 16.6 miles over Paiute Pass, down Paiute Canyon, and to the John Muir Trail in the north fork of the San Joaquin River. From there, I would head south to cross the San Joaquin River and head up the toe of the LeConte Divide. Once on the divide, I would traverse south along the ridge, arriving at the southern end of the White Divide a few days later. Getting on and off the divides would involve the largest amounts of elevation Change, with over 4,000 ft of gain from Goddard Canyon onto LeConte Divide and over 5,000 ft of loss from White Divide to Simpson Meadow in the Middle Fork of Kings Canyon. Once at Simpson Meadow, I would take the Middle Fork Trail 9 miles north to where it intersects the John Muir Trail, and take that trail 18 miles north to a point shortly after Evolution Lake, where I would leave the trail and head up Darwin Bench, past Darwin Lakes, up and over Lamarck Col, and down the Lamarck Lakes Trail back to North Lake Trailhead.

About a month before setting off on the traverse, I contacted Michael Chapiro who I had met on the 2013 Sierra Challenge to see if he was interested. He had caught my attention during the Challenge by successfully descending Tinemaha Drainage, which was a hell of a feat since a descent by a previous party had involved multiple days and a rescue. When asked about the traverse, Michael seemed pretty enthusiastic about the idea, and we planned to start the route on Sunday July 13.

Getting to the trailhead
Trailhead coordinates (lat/lon): 37.230710, -118.618828

The table below includes every peak (from north to south) on the Blackcap Traverse. Since most of the peaks are unnamed, I have dubbed names for them which are mostly derived from the names of nearby features (especially lakes) or after defining features on the peaks themselves (such as "Thumb Peak" where the summit block of that peak resembles a giant thumb). These dubbed names are in quotes. Peaks without quotes are either officially named by the USGS or were found named by previous parties who had written them in summit registers.

Order	Peak	Elevation	Topographic Prominence	Summit Coordinates (lat/lon)
1	"Upheaval Peak"	11,442 ft	223 ft	37.199791, -118.833468
2	"Heather Peak"	11,620 ft	320 ft	37.191519, -118.832695
3	Mt. Henry	12,196 ft	896 ft	37.183325, -118.827265
4	Mt. Henryetta	12,140 ft	560 ft	37.169345, -118.820829
5	"Turf Peak"	12,020 ft	280 ft	37.156879, -118.808084
6	Red Mountain	11,963 ft	463 ft	37.149813, -118.80116
7	"Hell For Sure Peak"	11,837 ft	457 ft	37.141948, -118.792205
8	"Little Hutton"	11,690 ft	105 ft	37.125731, -118.792548
9	Mt. Hutton	11,990 ft	490 ft	37.125765, -118.799329
10	"Thumb Peak"	12,020 ft	480 ft	37.121779, -118.789845
11	"Schoolmarm Peak"	11,990 ft	450 ft	37.11976, -118.776948
12	"Holster Peak"	12,063 ft	185 ft	37.109989, -118.775811
13	"Horsehead Peak"	12,200 ft	840 ft	37.107269, -118.766799
14	"Confusion Peak"	12,180 ft	560 ft	37.098267, -118.769181
15	"Valor Peak"	12,212 ft	432 ft	37.088876, -118.749941
16	Mt. Reinstein	12,586 ft	726 ft	37.079394, -118.738354
17	"Bibay Peak"	12,500 ft	440 ft	37.070193, -118.73384
18	"Ram Peak"	12,221 ft	361 ft	37.060622, -118.727124
19	Oyster Peak	12,323 ft	543 ft	37.054303, -118.735771
20	Finger Peak	12,404 ft	864 ft	37.029989, -118.730323
21	Blue Canyon Peak	11,860 ft	280 ft	37.028331, -118.709384
22	"Big Boulder Peak"	11,946 ft	205 ft	37.022376, -118.70676
23	Black Crown	11,987 ft	527 ft	37.021588, -118.689981
24	"Turtle Back Peak"	11,539 ft	214 ft	37.010606, -118.699229
25	"Grandview Peak"	11,824 ft	220 ft	37.003461, -118.692899
26	Tunemah Peak	11,894 ft	714 ft	36.995382, -118.688268
27	"Little Point"	11,309 ft	114 ft	36.988053, -118.675904
28	"Drop Off Peak"	10,987 ft	287 ft	36.979517, -118.665047

Trip report (click on day 1 to begin)

Day 1: North Lake Trailhead to Henry Flats

Day 2: Henry Flats to Holster Saddle

Day 3: Holster Saddle to Blue Canyon Pass

Day 4: Blue Canyon Pass to Muir Pass

Day 5: Muir Pass to North Lake Trailhead

Total Stats
84 miles    32,230 ft gain/loss

Maps (Since Blogger does not let me upload these files at full size, email me at eric.jsc@gmail.com for full sized versions of these maps)
Approach (North Lake Trailhead to leaving JMT)
17.3 miles    2,560 ft/3,755 ft gain/loss

Blackcap Traverse (north to south)
31.2 miles    19,660 ft/21,785 ft gain/loss

Exit (Simpson Meadow to North Lake Trailhead)
35.5 miles    10,010 ft/6,690 ft gain/loss

Weather Forecasts
Trailhead
Paiute Pass
10,800 ft in Paiute Canyon
Paiute Pass Trail/JMT intersection
Mt. Henry vicinity
Mt. Hutton vicinity
Mt. Reinstein vicinity
Finger Peak vicinity
Tunemah Peak vicinity
Simpson Meadow
8,000 ft in LeConte Canyon
Muir Pass
Evolution Lake
Darwin Lakes
Lamarck Col

Peakbagger Pages
Upheaval Peak
Heather Peak
Mt. Henry
Mt. Henryetta
Turf Peak
Red Mountain
Hell For Sure Peak
Little Hutton
Mt. Hutton
Thumb Peak
Schoolmarm Peak
Holster Peak
Horsehead Peak
Confusion Peak
Valor Peak
Mt. Reinstein
Bibay Peak
Ram Peak
Oyster Peak
Finger Peak
Blue Canyon Peak
Big Boulder Peak
Black Crown
Turtle Back Peak
Grand View Peak
Tunemah Peak
Little Point
Drop Off Peak

Summitpost Pages
Mt. Reinstein
Finger Peak
Tunemah Peak

Other
High Sierra Topix message board
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park
John Muir Wilderness