Sherman Pass Mem Wknd

I am not much of a pict. taker and my son took most of these shots, so I hope you can get a little idea of the Trail(s). Some of the best trail sections are missing cause we lost the camera in the X.

We took Chimney Peak cutoff from Hwy 178 - which is mostly a scenic 17 mi a 2x4 rd to Kennedy Meadows. From Kennedy we took a "Jeep Trail" to Monache Meadows, it was really a 2x4 with a few rocks.

From Monache it got interesting - a local ranger confirmed there was a trail but had no idea of its condition and indicated the signs where down. So we spent most of Sat playing find the trail - the trail was unmarked and disappeared entirely from time to time. It was like hide and seek finding the Jeep signs. This lead to some fun hike and look for the sign, then back to the X to follow the faint trail line game.

Eventually we came to the Sherman Pass 4x4 trail cutoff, the Ranger said that it hadn't been completely cleared yet, but we decided to take a look. We got about 7 mi before we were stopped by an deadfall to big to cut. So we camped by a nearby creek and watched the deer come out into the meadow. Next day we headed down the the Kern River and the crowds.

The Sherman Pass 4x4 trail cuts very tight between the trees, and really needs 3"+ clearance in many spots, it is a "very" scenic trail and although rated "expert" I would give it an "upper level moderate" with a few short "difficult" sections.

While we we up high we saw only 5 or 6 other rigs on the jeep trails and none camping where we went.
There were bunches of 4-6 in goldens in the creeks and we had fun stalking them in the pools.

Pretty fun run and I would recomend The Sherman 4x4 Trail as a 1 day add on to any run in the area.

Chimney Peak