Middle Fork Trail (2010)

Be sure to check out the video I made for this trip! It covers virtually everything in terms of pictures and video clips.

Click here to watch the video
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My dad and I left Clovis for Visalia around 7:00AM on a Monday, and once again we were flirting with an approaching storm front, predicted to dump some snow at low elevations late Tuesday evening. Due to this, our trip would only be one night, but we still wanted to pack on some miles. After stopping for a wilderness permit at the Foothill Visitor's Center in Sequoia National Park, we made our way to the trailhead. Traveling east on HWY 198, turn right towards Buckeye Flats Campground. After a short distance on this road, veer left at the sign for the Middle Fork Trailhead. This takes you on a very narrow dirt road about 1.3 miles to the trailhead.

Having never hiked this trail before, and realizing that its mostly uphill on the way in and downhill on the way out, we decided to hike simply until we got tired. Our goal was Redwood Meadows (13 miles)...
which we later realized wouldn't be possible due to snow.


On the trail at 9:30AM with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s. The trailhead starts in a chaparral-type environment at 3400' elevation. We learned quickly that you SHOULD NOT WEAR SHORTS ON THIS TRAIL! Thankfully we had pants on, otherwise our legs might look more like hamburger meat - much of the trail is overgrown with "mountain misery". It also didn't take long to realize that this trail full of creek crossings. I would highly recommend trekking poles.

At mile 3 we hit Panther Creek, where we met three guys hiking out, and another family of three camped there. Panther Creek is the first spot that you can find level ground suitable for camping, and in my opinion, this would probably be the best site on the entire trail.

Mehrten Creek came at mile 5, where we took a lunch break and sampled Joe's Moose Goo with tortillas. This stuff was packed full of calories, but too sweet for my taste. At Mehrten Creek, a few more sites can be found to set up camp, but most are dusty and pretty exposed to the sun. We filtered water here, and danced our way across a rather treacherous creek crossing.

Mile 9 presented us with the roaring Buck Creek. Thankfully there was a bridge across this one, as well as some nice places to camp, and we even saw some fish in the pools below. Depending on where you are in Buck Canyon, the elevation is near 5000', and temperatures started dropping noticeably.

Still feeling strong enough to make it to Redwood Meadows, we pressed on, eventually to within 2 miles of our target, only to get stopped by snow several feet deep. We remembered the nice sites we spotted at Buck Creek, so we turned around and headed back, finishing the day at around 13 miles.

This was our first opportunity to test our new homemade alcohol stoves and heineken pots, which performed flawlessly. Temperatures dropped near freezing overnight, and my new GoLite Ultra 20 down quilt kept me toasty warm along with my new Thermarest Z-Lite 3/4 length closed-cell foam pad.

We awoke to cloudy skies, a breeze, and temps in the 40s. Some oatmeal with dried fruit and starbucks coffee got the morning started.We made excellent time back to the truck, about 11 miles in 3.5 hours.

Felt great to finally get back out after waiting around all winter long. This was definitely a spring hike, since summer temps would get miserably hot. Can't wait for all of this snow to melt so I can get back into the High Sierras.