High Sierra Topix

Dear all,
My wife and I are planning a backpacking trip for 8 days. I would say that we are intermediate level hikers. We were planning on doing the hike from Vermillion Valley resort to the Yosemite valley. But after reading some of the trip reports I am now second guessing our plan since there might be snow and rain all along the trip. Its not much hiking when its raining and the tents are all wet. Do you guys think its a good idea of go ahead with our plan? The second option is to travel south on the JMT. Do you guys think there will be less rain and snow if we did the lower half of JMT?
thanks for your advise

You're way into Fall now. Please fill this out. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4205

Weather will play a big part that time of the year, and so will locked gates if a storm happens.

The JMT south of Vermillion would be even more sketchy because it is more remote and higher altitude. An 8-day trip in late Oct. in the high Sierra is pretty risky. Alternatively, what about the Grand Canyon? Or the Lost Coast. Or something in New Mexico?

If your heart is set on the Sierra, it would be wiser to do two 4-day trips that do not go over major passes and that have trailheads that remain open. One suggestion is to do Sabrina Basin (I just did a trip report on this) and then drive out and down to Glacier Lodge and go in North Fork of Big Pine (First to Seventh Lake). You can bail out in half a day on either of those routes.

The issue is that weather forecast are not reliable 8 days out. Even if you were at lower elevations, if a storm came in I personally would not think sitting in the tent in rain with short days and long cold nights very pleasant. A 4-day forecast is more certain. Emigrant Wilderness and Yosemite also have some low elevation trailheads that would not likely get snow and shut down. Incidentally, you cannot park a car anywhere along Tioga Pass road after Oct 15.

If getting back home to get to work is important, better not. snowing now... if it snowed enough and closed Kaiser for the season you would ruin your car leaving it there all winter. all resorts on Kaiser Road are closed for the season and when there is snow the road is for snowmobiles.

when I checked the weather service yesterday, it looked like the southern Sierra is predicted to get more snow than northern. So south on the jmT is probably putting you at more risk if you have no winter gear or skills.

anywhere you go, you need chains or cables for your car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Kulki,

Welcome to HST! Would highly recommend that you reconsider going in for that length of time, October is the most dangerous month, weather seems stable for 4-5 days, then a storm drops down from the north, dropping a foot of snow on you. Unless you carry a Delorme, which allows you to get the forecast, you will not be aware of a weather change, unless you can read the skies (clouds). Also, if you get hit by a storm, the trails could be blanketed with snow, could you navigate your way out from any location along your route, without a trail? Will you have adequate clothing and footware to deal with such conditions? Will you be prepared to hunker down for a few days, and melt snow for drinking water, depending on your location, if need be? Footing will be precarious, especially over rocky areas, and over morning ice, a potential for an injury is very high under such conditions.
One of our more experienced HST members perished in the Sierra in Oct 2012, so heed the warnings/cautions people here are giving you.

Marie Lake (short distance from Rosemarie Meadow)

You could hedge the weather risk by doing two four day trips out of Vermillion/Lake Edison. This would allow a weather check for days 5-8. You could reduce weather risk further by establishing base camps with easy egress. Two intriguing (at least to me) base camp possibilities are Rosemarie Meadow and above Graveyard Meadow--day hike into the higher lakes and terrain if the weather holds and if it doesn't, all downhill at relatively lower elevation to get out.

Thank you very much for all your feedbwck. Based on your suggestion I have decided not to do a backcountry trip now. We don't mind travelling any where in the country. Do you have suggestions on where we could go this time f the year?

WD mentioned the Lost Coast. There's also car camping at the redwood state parks: Humboldt, Prairie Creek, Del Norte. Jedediah Smith. Humboldt and Prairie Creek especially have extensive trail systems. One can spend days hiking the trails at Prairie Creek. Further south, there's Point Reyes and Pfeiffer Big Sur. Getting a site on a weekday at Point Reyes at Sky Camp and Coast Camp should not be a problem. If you want suggestions for specific sites at Point Reyes, PM me - I live in West Marin and go there often.

Wandering Daisy wrote:Incidentally, you cannot park a car anywhere along Tioga Pass road after Oct 15.

Not true. The parking restriction is only in effect within Yosemite National Park. You can park overnight at the turnout just east of the pass to take off on backpacking trips out of Tuolumne using the Dana Fork trail or climb up the Gaylor Lakes trail from the entrance station parking lot and access the northern section of the Sierra High Route. Farther down the road you can park at Tioga Tarns to access the lakes above Bennetville or at the Saddlebag turnoff to hike into 20 Lakes Basin.

Another high country trailhead with no parking restriction for Yosemite-bound backpackers this time of year is Virginia Lakes. You start out at above 9800 feet and the park boundary at Summit Lake is less than seven miles up the trail. The road to the trailhead has remained open all winter for the past four years.

Go to the desert! Death Vally, Grand Canyon, Mojave, Anza Borrego, Joshua Tree, Saline Valley, and there's tons of cool places to visit on eastern Sierra back roads and lots of small wilderness areas everywhere also. You can get pretty deep and remote in the desert in your vehicle, to where it's more akin to backpacking than car camping.

I don't do a lot of desert backpacking....Overnight is my limit if there is zero water. Usually have fun day hiking/exploring by vehicle. Bonus points if you stumble upon an underground desert party!