Gardiner Basin in Kings Canyon National Park is a very special location. Long ago there was a horse trail into the basin but in the last forty years it has fallen into disuse. There are a few signs of the trail here and there but it has mostly vanished. In all of my years in the Sierra, I had never been to Gardiner Basin until 2013. It was so gorgeous on my first trip with my wife, Margaret, that I went again with son, Dylan. On this second trip we made a new route up the north side of Mount Gardiner, and then took a high traverse to one of the camps that we used on the first visit. We stayed there for two nights and were rewarded with this outrageous view each evening after afternoon thunderstorms. Both evenings had some of most amazing light of my career.
