This section of the Pacific Crest Trail is supposedly the last section built. On the Middle Fork of the Kings River the old trail went up Cartridge Creek and over the Pass before dropping down to meet the Pacific Crest trail near the South Fork of the Kings. This part of the new section is called the Golden Staircase. It was here in 1989 that I saw a Fisher, a member of the weasel family. I've never talked to anyone that's seen one. It was headed up canyon which sunrises me, as I've always read that they hunt in the trees at night and this was just above tree line and it was late morning.

I saw a slide show in 1989 by two guys that skied the John Muir Trail with Galen Rowell in 1988. Galen fell coming down the Golden Staircase and ripped the toe of his boot off. They ended up putting screws through the inside of his boot so that he would continue to Reds Meadow, where a phone call resulted in friends bringing him new boots. Late in the season of 1987 Galen went in and hid pails of food in trees for the ski trip, making good notes as to their location. Then in the summer of 1988 he hiked the trail with his wife and a mule, picking up the leftover food. He then published his account of the trip in the April 1989 issue of National Geographic. My only complaint of the article was that it didn't include many winter shots as the slide show was very impressive.