Lakes Basin, South Fork of the Kings River, Kings Canyon National Park
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(Shift moves in; Command on Mac zooms out. Might need to click on image first. On iDevice, can move device around to pan). View of Lakes Basin, in the headwaters of the South Fork of the Kings River.
Hide... Starting with the view south (downcanyon), the Pinchot Pass area is directly above the llamas; Acrodectes Peak far beyond peeks over the lowpoint. The valley below and right of where Pinchot Pass hides holds Lake Marjorie as well as several other lakes. The prominent peak on the ridgeline a bit to the right is Mt. Ickes. To the right, above the larger bushy tree, is Vennacher Needle. The range of peaks to the right of Vennacher Needle back to the uphill trail separates the South Fork from the Middle Fork drainage. Mather Pass is just east of north, hidden in the low spot to the right of the uphill part of the trail. Continuing right, the long jagged ridge to the east is Mt. Prater, separated by a gentle col from Split Mountain, all on the Sierra crest.
Most of the view are of Cretaceous granitic rocks, several bodies of which come together nearby. The foreground to the east and the light colored peak right of Mather Pass are of the 90 Ma Lamarck Granodiorite, while most of the view to the southwest to northwest is the outer granodiorite phase of the Cartridge Pass pluton. Darker rocks to the northwest and north are the oldest plutonic rocks, unnamed diorites, while the Sierra crest is the ~170 Ma Tinemaha Granodiorite. Lighter rocks, probably including the orange rocks, to the northwest are the Evolution Basin Alaskite, probably near 88 Ma. To the south, rock west (right) of the Lake Marjorie area is Cartridge Pass Granite and Granodiorite, while to the east it is Lamarck Granodiorite. The red rocks on the horizon are older Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks.
The area has been heavily glaciated, mostly evident as erosional forms like aretes and cirques, but the trail follows a Tioga-age medial moraine. The prominent glacial trimlines on Mt. Prater are quite striking and probably mark the upper limit of ice. The gentle topography of the col and north side of Split Mountain suggests a relatively uneroded piece of an older landscape. Return to panorama index page |