need advice on HST solo with some off-route options
Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2016 5:38 pm
Hi all,
I'm planning a solo week on the HST this summer and am looking for some advice from you experienced folks on some possible HST detours.
My planned start date is 7/20 but this is somewhat flexible as I'll be shooting for a walk-up permit the day before at Lodgepole. I've got 8 nights to spend in the backcountry, including my last night at Whitney Portal, so 7 nights on trail/off trail.
First, I'm pretty comfortable with off-trail navigation. I don't mind some snow crossing but I am not planning on bringing microspikes, so if passes are snowed over it might be iffy. River crossings are okay to a point, but anything flowing enough to sweep me away is something I'd prefer to avoid.
I'm good with 10-15+ mile days but since I have so much time I don't plan on doing super high-mileage days. I will probably have time for a layover day or two, options for which I'll bring up later...
So the first question is an easy one: Which campsites are most scenic coming out of Crescent Meadow for my first night? I was planning on avoiding the crowds of Bearpaw so was looking at 9 Mile, Buck or Lone Pine creek. From Google Earth, it looks like the views are actually best at Bearpaw, but I believe I read that the backpacker tent sites are back in the woods without much/any view. 9 Mile Creek looks like it could be good but if those sites are in the forest too, maybe I'm better off just heading to Bearpaw.
Night 2 I plan on spending at Precipice Lake. After that will depend on the weather and snowpack: If the weather is stormy/sketchy I will just continue on the trail. If weather permits I am looking to head up into 9 Lake Basin and over Pyra-Queen Col into Kaweah Basin. I might take a layover day to hang out and hike around the basin and soak it all in.
Leaving Kaweah Basin I am looking at two options:
1. Over Kaweah Pass, down Chagoopa Creek and picking up the HST again to go up Kern Canyon.
2. Follow the stream south of Picket Creek down to Colby Pass Trail to pick up HST at Junction Meadow. (I've read in The High Sierra: Peaks - Passes - Trails that Picket Creek waterfalls/cliffs out on the way down to the Kern-Kaweah River. Anyone care to comment?)
Does anyone have experience with either of these routes? Is coming down either going to find me bushwhacking for miles in thick willows, getting cliffed out, post tricky route-finding challenges? If I come back to HST on the Kern-Kaweah am I going to find an impassible swollen/whitewater river in late July? Will the passes be blanketed in posthole snow and sketchy snow-bridges? I would definitely miss not being able to taking a dip in the Kern hot springs but am I missing out if I skip Kern Canyon? By accounts I read it's not a spectacular section of trail. It's definitely appealing to me to stay high up in the sub-alpine basins.
My other option for layover day is at Wallace Creek. If I take a layover here and explore Wallace Lake or Wright Lakes, which option is more scenic? Or Willow choked? Or am I missing some other good option for a layover day with nice mountain views, lakes and streams?
Thanks for any advice and I hope to see you all on the trail!
I'm planning a solo week on the HST this summer and am looking for some advice from you experienced folks on some possible HST detours.
My planned start date is 7/20 but this is somewhat flexible as I'll be shooting for a walk-up permit the day before at Lodgepole. I've got 8 nights to spend in the backcountry, including my last night at Whitney Portal, so 7 nights on trail/off trail.
First, I'm pretty comfortable with off-trail navigation. I don't mind some snow crossing but I am not planning on bringing microspikes, so if passes are snowed over it might be iffy. River crossings are okay to a point, but anything flowing enough to sweep me away is something I'd prefer to avoid.
I'm good with 10-15+ mile days but since I have so much time I don't plan on doing super high-mileage days. I will probably have time for a layover day or two, options for which I'll bring up later...
So the first question is an easy one: Which campsites are most scenic coming out of Crescent Meadow for my first night? I was planning on avoiding the crowds of Bearpaw so was looking at 9 Mile, Buck or Lone Pine creek. From Google Earth, it looks like the views are actually best at Bearpaw, but I believe I read that the backpacker tent sites are back in the woods without much/any view. 9 Mile Creek looks like it could be good but if those sites are in the forest too, maybe I'm better off just heading to Bearpaw.
Night 2 I plan on spending at Precipice Lake. After that will depend on the weather and snowpack: If the weather is stormy/sketchy I will just continue on the trail. If weather permits I am looking to head up into 9 Lake Basin and over Pyra-Queen Col into Kaweah Basin. I might take a layover day to hang out and hike around the basin and soak it all in.
Leaving Kaweah Basin I am looking at two options:
1. Over Kaweah Pass, down Chagoopa Creek and picking up the HST again to go up Kern Canyon.
2. Follow the stream south of Picket Creek down to Colby Pass Trail to pick up HST at Junction Meadow. (I've read in The High Sierra: Peaks - Passes - Trails that Picket Creek waterfalls/cliffs out on the way down to the Kern-Kaweah River. Anyone care to comment?)
Does anyone have experience with either of these routes? Is coming down either going to find me bushwhacking for miles in thick willows, getting cliffed out, post tricky route-finding challenges? If I come back to HST on the Kern-Kaweah am I going to find an impassible swollen/whitewater river in late July? Will the passes be blanketed in posthole snow and sketchy snow-bridges? I would definitely miss not being able to taking a dip in the Kern hot springs but am I missing out if I skip Kern Canyon? By accounts I read it's not a spectacular section of trail. It's definitely appealing to me to stay high up in the sub-alpine basins.
My other option for layover day is at Wallace Creek. If I take a layover here and explore Wallace Lake or Wright Lakes, which option is more scenic? Or Willow choked? Or am I missing some other good option for a layover day with nice mountain views, lakes and streams?
Thanks for any advice and I hope to see you all on the trail!