Walker Pass is the highest point on State Route 178 near Lake Isabella rising at an elevation of 5.246 feet. The pass is also the southernmost crossing along the Sierra Crest, with the more southerly Tehachapi Pass traditionally marking the geographic divide between the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains.It is one of the main thoroughfares from Highway 14 to the Kernville and Lake Isabella area. Also at this location the Pacific Crest Trail crosses here and continues into the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This path was discovered in 1834 by Joseph Rutherford Walker who learned of this pass from the local Native Americans. Walker returned through the pass in 1843, leading an immigrant wagon train into California. In 1845 the military surveying expedition of John C. Fremont used the pass. Walker Pass was used in 1861 by cattlemen from the San Joaquin Valley and the Tejon region of the Tehachapi mountains to drive cattle to the silver boomtown of Aurora near Mono Lake.
TO CLAIM YOUR FIND: Post a photo in your log that includes either: a readable piece of paper indicating your geocaching name and the date (month, day and year) of your visit; a photo of yourself near the monument (faces not required) or your signature item. The photo must be posted with your log. Note that visits prior to the date of publication do not qualify for logging a find on this Virtual Reward.
ADDITIONALLY, besides the required photo, message the answers to the following questions to my Geocaching Account (SnoopyRocks) through Geocaching's Message Center at the time of your log. (NOTE: Do not include your answers in your posted log.)
1. What year was the plaque to Joseph Walker / Walker Pass dedicated?
2. What value does this site possess in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States?
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025:
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.