5.0 Garfield Creek
9.25 South Fork crossing
10.0 Hockett Lakes
INTRODUCTION: Tucked quietly away in the southwest corner of Sequoia, Garfield Grove (named after a former president) and the contiguous Dillonwood Grove, compose one of the largest clusters of giant sequoias in the world. While hordes of tourists crane their necks to see the Big Trees in more popular areas such as the Giant Forest, Garfield Grove is cloaked in relative obscurity, awaiting discovery by the small number of devotees willing to hike 5 miles to the heart of the grove.
Beginning in foothills woodland, the trail climbs moderately through diverse plant communities, including riparian zones and mixed coniferous forest. Along with such diversity, the route offers refreshing streams and fine views on the way to Garfield Grove. After a 10-mile, 5,000-foot climb, backpackers reach first-rate camping and swimming at the serene Hockett Lakes.
While the low-elevation start offers off-season hiking opportunities (see Trip 1), backpackers bound for the high country beyond should get an early start to beat the summer heat. The typically high daily temperatures deter many recreationists, but the Garfield-Hockett Trail is the shortest route to Hockett Lakes. Perhaps the best bet for avoiding the stiff ascent during the heat of the day is to stay at the free South Fork Campground the night before and start hiking at the crack of dawn. Watch for poison oak, ticks, and rattlesnakes for the first 3 miles or so.
DIRECTIONS TO TRAILHEAD: Follow State Highway 198 to Three Rivers and turn east onto South Fork Road, approximately 7 miles southwest of the Ash Mountain Entrance to Sequoia National Park. Follow South Fork Road 9 miles to the end of the pavement, and continue another 3 miles on narrow, dirt road to free South Fork Campground (vault toilets). Proceed through the campground to a small, oak-shaded hikers’ parking area.
DESCRIPTION: The signed Garfield-Hockett Trail begins from the edge of the campground access road a short way before the parking area. Proceed up the trail on a moderate, winding climb across an oak-studded hillside. Lush trailside vegetation includes a healthy population of poison oak and colorful spring wildflowers. Enter a side canyon, about a mile from the trailhead, and step across the first of many small streams you encounter on the way across the slopes below Dennison Peak. The moisture in these diminutive nooks creates a dramatic change in vegetation, and ferns, thimbleberry, maples, nutmegs, alders, dogwoods, and cedar line the shady stream banks.
Continue climbing steadily through oak woodland to Putnam Canyon. Just below the trail, the sound of rushing water from Big Spring courses down the canyon, but chances are the creek will be dry after snowmelt where the trail crosses the streambed. Steep and narrow, Putnam Canyon is filled with boulders and low shrubs, creating an opening through which you have a fine view across South Fork Canyon of the bulbous granite dome of Homers Nose protruding from the opposite ridge.
Beyond Putnam Canyon, the steady climb continues, as a smattering of ponderosa pines, white firs, and incense cedars start to intermix with the deciduous trees of the oak woodland. Fortunately, the arrival of conifers coincides with the departure of the poison oak, although the lovely flowers and plants seen previously start to disappear as well. A mile from Putnam Canyon, you bid a final farewell to the oak woodland, as the trail bends southeast into a canyon near the western fringe of Garfield Grove. Farther on, a dozen or so giant sequoias dwarf the smaller conifers on the way to the crossing of the usually vigorous creek coursing down Snowslide Canyon.
Beyond the canyon, the trail returns to mixed forest on a steady, moderate ascent through the heart of Garfield Grove. The stately sequoias become more numerous after you reach the crest of a forested ridge, where the trail passes right by some of the larger specimens in the grove. At the 5-mile mark, step across the first of five branches of Garfield Creek—the luxuriant flora and delightful cascade in each of these five shady nooks offer inviting rest stops. Beyond the first branch of the creek, 3 miles of gently ascending tread lead to the far end of the grove.
Leaving the Big Trees behind, a steep climb leads to the crest of a red fir–forested ridge, followed by a brief descent to a broad ford of South Fork Kaweah River, 9.25 miles from the trailhead, where several shady campsites line the far bank. From the ford, follow the river upstream to a signed junction with the little-used Tuohy Creek Trail, which fords the South Fork and continues south beyond the park boundary to a trailhead at Shake Creek Campground.
From the junction, a winding, moderate climb heads away from the river and up a lodgepole-pine-covered hillside to gentler slopes above. Just past the crossing of the outlet, a short lateral branches to the southernmost Hockett Lake, 10 miles from the trailhead.
Hockett Lakes are a collection of shallow, grassy-banked bodies of water surrounded by a light forest of lodgepole pines. A pair of primitive campsites near the southernmost lake testify to the relative lack of overnight visitors and the strong possibility for solitude. The 5- to 8-foot deep lakes make fine swimming holes.
Beyond the junction of the lateral, the Garfield-Hockett Trail continues approximately 300 yards to a junction with a connector heading across Sand Meadows and a junction with the Atwell-Hockett Trail a mile farther.
Introduction to Atwell Mill and Mineral King
One glimpse of the glacier-carved East Fork Kaweah River Canyon, with its alpine slopes rimmed by striking peaks, will convince onlookers of Mineral King’s picturesque riches. Ironically, these scenic virtues had less to do with the area’s eventual inclusion into Sequoia National Park than did its lack of mineral resources.
Prompted by the well-publicized mining booms in other areas of California and Nevada, hopeful miners poured into Mineral King (originally named Buelah) in the late 1880s, searching for the next mother lode. Miners extracted just enough ore to keep hopes alive, but it was never enough to make such a remote location profitable. The southern Sierra never yielded a significant strike of either gold or silver and was determined to be a bust by the turn of the century. The powerful San Francisco earthquake of 1906 triggered massive avalanches that leveled structures in Mineral King, serving as an exclamation point to the region’s commercial woes.
The lumber to rebuild Mineral King after the avalanches had to come from somewhere, and so a sawmill was erected in 1879 at nearby Atwell Mill. A flume was also constructed between Oak Grove and Hammond to produce hydroelectricity. Unfortunately, a number of mighty sequoias were felled in the process, stumps of which are still visible in the vicinity of the mill. The mill ultimately suffered the same fate as the mines, as the cost of transporting lumber to viable markets in the San Joaquin Valley proved to be too expensive.
Another commercial interest invaded Mineral King in the early 1900s, when the Mt. Whitney Power Company built four rock-and-mortar dams at Crystal, Eagle, and Monarch Lakes. The dams were erected to regulate the flow of water into the aforementioned flume to maximize power generation at the company’s hydroelectric plant in Hammond. Unlike the mines and mill, the dams and power plant remain in operation, currently owned by Southern California Edison.
Once mining and timber went by the wayside, the remaining inhabitants of Mineral King turned to the prospect of a resort community to maintain an existence in their beloved mountains. Unfortunately for the residents, the area failed to achieve much fame as a resort community, turning into a sleepy little burg after World War II.
The area’s customarily mild winters