Kings Canyon NP, June 2019 trip

Every year I take the boys backpacking at least once, usually the high Sierras. This year we did not get to high (last year we made it to Glenn Pass). With all the snow pack the creeks and rivers are RAGING right now. Here's a few clips of Bubb's Creek just past the bridge:

We made it across this section last year but this year it just seemed too sketchy. I backpack with my sons (11 and 13, yes they carry all their own gear plus some!) so I am extra careful with them.

We altered course and headed up Woods Creek, spent 2 nights at Lower Paradise Valley although we heard later we were not supposed to do that, the campsite was closed due to falling tree risk. Oops. No harm no foul I guess.

Past Lower and before Middle Paradise Valley, the trail became a small lake:

A number of other hikers said they were turned back by this but me and the boys just stomped through it, sometimes up to almost our knees but it was never very fast moving so there was no risk of getting swept away. If you are OK with wet (and cold...) feet, you can get through here no problem.

One night in Upper Paradise, only a few other hikers there, so it was quiet and beautiful. In case you are contemplating the Rae Lakes loop and wondering about the South Fork Kings River crossing where the bridge is out, have a look:

Yeah, pretty much suicide trying to cross that. Maybe late in the season there will be a fordable spot downriver where it spreads out but given this year's snow pack, it seems unlikely.

I really wish we could have crossed Bubb's, we wanted to camp in the snow which I heard would have been just past Vidette meadow (maybe even before Vidette). Another group in the parking lot that we met on our way out was headed up Copper Creek to Lower Tent Meadow, they said the trail disappeared under snow before Upper Tent Meadow. It's definitely a year for later trips in the Sierra. The boys and I might try to get back in August before school for another short trip, we'll see.