Copper Creek-5,043' (The Sphinx)
(36.7938277, -118.5803768-Mouth)
Description:
An old name for a creek that enters Kings River Cañon from the north. There are several outcroppings of copper in the vicinity, and a small copper mine east of the creek has been worked from time to time. (J. N. Le Conte.) From Place Names of the High Sierra (1926) by Francis P. Farquhar
According to GNIS, Copper Creek has also been called Malachite Creek: Browning, Peter. Place Names of the Sierra Nevada. Berkeley, California: Wilderness Press, 1986. p46
In
the meantime a soldier had explored another canyon, and reported that
we could get out to the north that way, so the next day we started, and
came to this camp. It was worse than any of our other trails. We are
not over 4 1/2 or 5 miles from our last camp, and have come up over four
thousand feet! It was heavy for our animals. Twice we had very steep
slopes for a thousand feet together, where it seemed at first that no
animal could get up with a pack. Once our pack horse fell, turned a
complete somersault over a bowlder, and landed below squarely on his
feet, when he kept on his way as if nothing had happened. His pack
remained firm and he was not hurt in the least. Fortunately it was not
so steep there. There were places where if an animal had once started he
would have rolled several hundred feet, but all went safely over. We
camped at a little over nine thousand feet where we are now, by a meadow
on the hillside where we have a grand view of the peaks in front and
the canyon beneath us. From Up
and Down California by William Brewer, Book 5 Chapter 2
In 1877 a party decided to winter over in Kings Canyon. They built a cabin on the east side of Copper Creek on the Canyon floor. Around this place a homestead for H Mehrtens is noted on US survey maps from 1884. Also There is a County Land Ownership map from 1905 which says that the Kanawyers located their camp there. The creek was named for a mine Pol;e Kanawyer worked up on the Canyon wall close to the creek. From Oak to Pine to Timberline by Helen and Forest Clingman
Trips:
- August 31, 2014 - Day hike up Copper Creek to the Lip with Fritz
References:
- Redwood Hikes - even though I do not think there are any redwoods close to this trail
- Sierra Nevada Tourism site
- NPS Trail Description
- Bill Finch's backpacking trip
- Oh, Ranger!
- Hiking Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks by Laurel Scheidt
- Lance Imm's trail description
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