Black and white panorama from Forester Pass at 13,120 feet over the lakes and peaks of upper Kings Canyon.

The Divide

Forester Pass, Kings Canyon National Park, California

The view from Forester Pass, highest point of the Pacific Crest Trail, held for about ninety seconds because the clouds behind me had a schedule. The north side below this was wall-to-wall snow with no visible trail — part of the descent happened on my feet, the rest on my ass, and by the bottom Forester had somehow become my favorite pass of the trip. Monochrome, because that sky in color was gray anyway; in black and white it is architecture.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 19mm · f/5 · 1/800 · ISO 64

July 2, 2025

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More from Forester Pass, Kings Canyon National Park, California

A dark tarn beneath the snow-streaked headwall on the north side of Forester Pass, Kings Canyon National Park.

More from JMT

Wildflowers above the Hitchcock Lakes with Guitar Lake in the distance, from the west slope of Mount Whitney.A small creek winding through alpine meadow toward Guitar Lake below Mount Whitney at golden hour.Storm clouds building over tundra and tarns below Forester Pass on the John Muir Trail in the morning.A meltwater creek running over green moss through a meadow below Forester Pass, Kings Canyon National Park.Storm clouds over East Vidette and the Bubbs Creek forest, from the climb above Vidette Meadow.