It was a trip he first forged as a young man, riding horseback through the High Sierras with pack mules trailing alongside. Nearly six decades later, LA Times reporter Doug Smith returned to the Kern River Canyon to retrace his journey. Smith joined Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today” with what he encountered on the trail.

Smith traversed the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada range, twisting through 27 miles of switchbacks. He reminisced about the first time he made the journey in 1963.  

“I was a 16-year-old junior in high school. I was lucky to get this job in the outdoors. I was a fan of Henry David Thoreau and wanted to work in the outdoors. So, I managed to find this crazy job at a park station and learn how to ride horses and how to build tracks on mules’ backs,” Smith said. “After that first year, I just fell in love with the Sierra backcountry. And, like everybody who’s ever worked with mules, I fell in love with mules, too. They’re just the most wonderful animals.” 

Eventually, Smith returned to city life, working as a reporter in Los Angeles for 50 years. He spoke about why he returned to the Sierras so many years later. 

“I regret that I didn’t go back more often. The Kern Canyon is an amazing, spectacular, natural place. I call it ‘Yosemite without other people.’ To get there, you have to choose to ride or walk through about 30 miles of the backcountry. It’s arduous. But when you get there, it’s the most glorious place you could imagine...If I waited too much longer, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to make it,” Smith shared.

Over the last few decades, Smith noticed, the terrain has changed.

“I was deeply hurt by the results of the Castle Fire, which we all knew about. But until you actually see them, and when you’re seeing them at a horse’s pace, when you’re going through hour after hour of just dead trees, it’s an emotional toll. I was also a little bit hurt when I got to Funston Meadow and found that the camp had been abandoned. People weren’t going there anymore. But the Kern canyon itself was just as gorgeous and beautiful as ever,” Smith said.  

Watch the full interview above. 

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