Packsaddle

This is another popular spot because of how easy it is to access. It's around the corner from Fairview Ridge and is the spot to go to for those picky about lighting. You hike a mile up the Packsaddle trail and then bushwhack the last quarter of a mile to a ledge with a really nice view.

Where is this spot?

The spot itself is a ledge just off the Packsaddle Trail

To get to this spot, you will hike a mile up the Packsaddle trail. The trail itself leads to a cave.

There is a parking lot for the Packsaddle Trailhead which itself is across the street from the trailhead. To get here, drive up the Kern River Valley on Mountain Highway 99 until you get to the pin on the right on a computer or below on mobile.

You will hike about a mile on trail and then bushwhack another quarter mile off trail. The hike on trial is quite steep as you're gaining 1,000 feet in elevation in only a mile. It tends to be a very strenuous hike. For strong hikers, it will take just shy of 40 minutes to get from the trailhead to the spot. For most people the hike takes just over an hour. Make sure to stay hydrated during the steep portion of the hike! A profile of the hike can be seen below.

After a very steep one mile hike on trail, you will reach the saddle. At a certain point, you will see a clearly defined path to turn left towards the ledge. Follow this rough path until you get to the ledge. Enough people have been to this spot that there is a rough path to follow. When in doubt, follow boot prints. That being said this is a ledge and if you're not careful you could end up falling of a cliff (okay it's not quite a cliff, but it wouldn't be a good day if you fell off). Even though the path is well travelled, you will have to bushwhack a bit. Long pants and long sleeves are recommended as the brush can easily scratch.

Spotting Logistics from here

The view from the to of the ledge can be seen to the right on computer or below on mobile. For low passes, you will first see jets banking around the ridge. Some jets will climb steeply to avoid the ridge across the ledge while others will bank and yank. The latter provides quite the impressive pass!

As you can imagine, the ridge obscures quite a bit in terms of what you can see and what you can hear, so be ready for a pass at any moment! In my experience, you hear a jet on scanner for around 50% of passes. The other 50% of jets fly by with very little warning. You may hear the jet a split second before you see it. If you hear a jet call Point Alpha, you have ~3-6 minutes for that jet to get to you. For a lot of the radio calls, I don't actually hear it, but just hear static on 315.9. In all those instances, it has been a jet entering Alpha. Another note about this spot is that cars and trucks driving on the road may sound like a jet approaching.

At this spot you don't need to bring a chair if you don't mind sitting on rocks. You are also entirely exposed to the sun here. There is no available shade so either bring your own shade or have plenty of sun block on hand! Since Fairview Ridge obscures your view to the south, there is no line of sight to cell towers. You won't get any cell service here. One last note! There tends to be many critters at this spot. There's quite a few lizards around and during the spring there are flies everywhere.

Lighting

Lighting is the big upside to spotting here. No matter what time of year, aircraft are well lit until around 11:30AM for the entire pass. As the day progresses, the sun will move more to the west meaning aircraft will be more tail lit. Closer to winter, planes will just get progressively more backlit with the sun staying relatively low in the sky. In the early fall and late spring, aircraft will become toplit starting at around noon and then backlit as the day progresses. Also the closer to summer, the more hazy shots will look (not heat haze, just haze and dust in the air).

The upshot to Packsaddle is that in early fall and late spring, an 11AM pass from Packsaddle will still be well lit. At all other spots in Kern River Valley, an 11AM pass will either be backlit or awkwardly lit. If you are picky about lighting, this is the place to be in the early fall and late spring.

Pros and Cons

Pros of spotting from here:

This spot offers a high vantage point that is relatively easy to access. The bushwhacking isn't too bad and most of the hike is on trail
The view at the top is actually quite nice. You have a good vantage point of the Needles.
For a low pass, you can get a variety of angles. Some jets will bank towards you, while others will bank away from you. Usually you can always get a side on shot of a jet if it is low.
This spot has the best lighting during early fall and during the spring (I wouldn't bother spotting here during the summer as highs reach 100+). Lighting is decent until around 2PM close to winter. When it's closer to summer lighting is only decent until around 1PM.

Cons of spotting from here:

Because you're right next to a mountain, you hear a lot less. You get less audible warning for jets coming and you hear a lot less on the radio. In terms of hearing a jet coming, if you hear it well in advance, it's high. For low passes, you may hear it half a second before it pops around the corner.
- Due to this, you have to be more vigilant at this spot compared to others. For many passes, you will have no warning except for a half second of jet noise before they pop around the corner
Since low passes will be banking around Fairview Ridge, you have a very short amount of time (~3 seconds) to frame and focus on the jet
For a low pass, the jet is almost constantly banking so there is very little time to get shots at a specific angle
You are quite far from the jets in general. As the jets are in a hard bank around Fairview Ridge, they are still about a mile from your position on the ledge. Even when the jets are at the closest, they are still about a quarter of a mile from you