High Sierra Topix

Hello,

I'm 43 year old hiker from Slovenia. I'm quite fit, doing a lot of cycling and hiking in the mountains. I have done some hikes last year in Sierras and really enjoyed, so I'm returning this year for some more serious hiking, at least for my part.

I will start JMT NOBO on 8/23 from Cottonwood Lakes trail. I count on finishing in 15 days at Happy Isles. Afer that I still have one week time before returning home from San Francisco Airport. I have to catch a plane at 19.45 on Friday 9/13.

I have a permit for High Sierra Trail for 9/7 and I was thinking to do a loop from Crescent Meadow to Mt. Whitney, returning via Colby pass back to Crescent Meadow. I think this is doable in 7 days? I can still left out Colby pass and return in the way of approach. Any other suggestions for way back to Crescent Meadow? Maybe Black Rock pass and continue oh Theodore Solomon's Trail?

But I'm also wondering to cancel HST permit and do some trail in Yosemite, since I will be already there and save some time on transport to Crescent Meadow, which will take me approx 1 day.

There is also option to stay a week longer on JMT and do some side trips.

What do you think? I would prefer high mountain scenery over trails at lower elevations.

The northern part of Yosemite is lovely, and you won't see any of that on the JMT. Look at a loop up out of Tuolumne Meadows: Glen Aulin to Cold Canyon, over to Benson Lake, over Seavey Pass, up Herrick Canyon, and then Rock Island Pass, Burro Pass, Matterhorn Canyon...and back. Lovely area.

High Sierra Trail out and back is possible in 7 days. Highly recommend the hike over Colby and down Cloud Canyon then the "hard left" and up Deadman Canyon over Elizabeth Pass finish by retracing the HST from Bearpaw to Crescent Meadow.

Should you choose to stay in the Yosemite area, the SHR from Tuolumne to Duck Lake makes an excellent 5-6 days.

I think of the JMT as more of a highway that gets you close to places, but you need to exit the highway and take some side roads to see the really cool stuff.

Here's my suggestion: Modify the JMT to add destinations along the way. The JMT skips right over things like: Palisade Glacier, Giant Sequoias, most glacial lakes (MacClure Lake, Big Pine Lakes 1-3, Finger Lake, Conness Lakes are the main ones I know, there's others on the east side). If you like fishing, I'm sure there's primo fishing spots I'm leaving out.

And yeah, Northern Yosemite is great. But I'd say if you only see stuff off the JMT, you're blowing right by a ton of great areas. It doesn't make sense to hike the JMT, and then backtrack to places that are just off the JMT that you missed the first time through.

How would you get from Happy Isles to Giant Forest to do the High Sierra Trail? Will a car be magically waiting for you? Otherwise, it's probably an entire day - or more - on public transit (various buses). Better to spend the time adding days to your John Muir trail hike to see more places along the way, or doing the northern Yosemite loop suggested by balzaccom. One nice thing about the northern Yosemite loop is that you will see very few people compared to the John Muir Trail. After you arrive at Happy Isles, walk or take the shuttle over to the Wilderness Center to pickup your permit for the northern Yosemite loop and then take the 5 pm YARTS bus up to Tuolumne Meadows, where you can camp in the backpacker's campsites at the campground. The store will still be operating on 9/7 (closes for the season late in September) and has a pretty good stock of backpacker groceries and supplies, or you can mail a resupply package to the post office (in the store) - see https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail ... -resupply/ .

By the way, we did a nice dayhike last September from Vrsic Pass in Slovenia. Very nice mountains, and much wilder than the Dolomites in Italy, where we had been hiking for several days.

-Phil

Thank you all for suggestions. I'm will probably look into northern Yosemite loop. Last year in June I did a day hike to Barney and Peeler Lake from Twin lakes and like the area. I assume that landscape is similar?

@wildhiker Plan was to catch a 11:15 am bus from Yosemite Visitor Center to Fresno. Rent a car, resupply, have a nice dinner, laundry wash and sleep in Visalia. Next day in the morning, I would drive SNP to pick up Permit and start a HST from Crescent Meadow.

Really glad to hear that you have been to Slovenia, where did you go from Vrsic? Prisojnik, Mojstrovka, Slemenova Spica? It is a very nice area, but a bit crowded in the summer. If you ever visit Slovenia in the future, please contact me and can give some nice suggestions for hike in the mountains.

Domen

Hi Domen,
Would highly recommend extending your JMT hike by a week and do some side trips.

In SEKI: Wales Lake/Wright Lakes area, Upper Kern Divide, Sixty Lakes Basin, Amphitheater Lakes Basin, Ladder Lake, and McGee Lakes, are few locations worth exploring.

In the central Sierra: Orchid Lake, Vee Lake, Grinnell Lakes, Minaret Lake to Lake Ediza via Cecile/Iceberg Lake route, you could continue cross country all the way to 1000 Is Lake.

In Yosemite, instead of going all the way down Lyell, consider head towards the Cathedral Range, where there are numerous areas to visit.

Hi Maverick,

thank you for really nice suggestions, amazing landscapes. I will look into it. Since you are a Pro photographer, Is there a web site where I can see your photos from Sierra's?

Since you are a Pro photographer, Is there a web site where I can see your photos from Sierra's?

PM sent.
Also, it is Sierra, no "s" needed, it is the singular and plural form in one.

The suggestion to take in and enjoy more sights along the JMT is good. If you care more about a straight-on trail experience you can take the shuttle out of the basin back to Tuolumne and then do the next five days 75 miles continuing on the PCT to Sonora Pass/Kennedy Meadows, and then spend the rest of your time making it back.