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Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 1:12 pm
by markskor
God bless…March already…only 4 months to go. I know many here are planning summer trips already and just might be crossing Sierra paths…would enjoy meeting/seeing other HST members on the trail…putting faces to names. So, who is going where and when?

It appears that this summer, I will be doing the “Different Lake each Night - for 4 weeks” tour. This year’s master plan involves hitting the evening rise at a different lake each night….a few long, hiking days at first, then mostly short hikes, 4 – 5 miles per day the rest of the way. Sent away for two, 10-day, solo permits…mail came back… (Always subject to changes), but have tentative starting dates lined up.

Trip 1: July 8th – Start out of Tuolumne and see the Lyell, then over Donahue to Marie, then Upper Marie…maybe two nights at 1000 Island…always wanted to drop a line in Catherine too, see backside of Garnett, and a few open nights too before heading down….figure 10 days out – maybe 45 miles.

Trip 2: July 19th – (continue the master plan): Out of Mono Meadows, (Glacier Point) to Ottoway, Upper Ottoway, and then Edna. After that, am intending meeting up with a friend at Red Devil…hope to join him for a scheduled ersatz, 3 -4-day fishing tournament. This includes trying something that I failed at last year, bushwhacking down to the Merced, exploring the hidden, off-trail, fishing possibilities. Next night will be at Adair…over the crest to Obelisk…and down to Washburn. Finish off this trip following the Merced down to the Valley. Figure about 45 miles here.

On the way home, if I have time, I figured to spend a few days at Saddlebag…maybe do the 20-Lakes loop – 8 miles.
Mark

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:59 pm
by hikerduane
Signed on for a trip to AK in August, someone else, from another forum is organizing it. Six of us will be flown by bush pilot into St. Elias-Wrangell Park. WooHoo. Just a few weekend trips prior to that. I have an extra week of vacation saved up, I need to use it this year as next year I will be eligible for an additional week then, I don't know what I would do with four weeks of time off. Right now, just taking things a month at a time, just want to stay employed until August as my plane ticket is paid for already.

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:40 pm
by giantbrookie
Ah, after a week plus of (rare) clear air and spectacular views of Mt Goddard, the Great Western Divide etc., the cabin fever is pretty strong here, too. This summer's trips? The rights to my annual death march were traded away for a one week trip to Greece this past fall and a week long trip to Japan coming up (all in the name of funky rocks and such). My next 5 day death march fantasy trip will wait until 2010---possibly some variant of Pine Creek-Birchim-Chalfants-Bear Basin-Pinnacles Creek-Lower Turret-French Canyon. For 2009 I still have two short backpack trips scheduled with the entire family. One will be a repeat (hopefully 3 days instead of 2) to the off trail place where the kids made their backpack debut last year. The second one will likely be Little Lakes Valley. There then remain three categories of dayhikes (an easy matter from Fresno): category 1. GB specials: one to a certain Seki destination that is not really supposed to have fish (about 9 mi 5600' gain one way), second one will be a Dinkey medley (Fingerbowl, Island, Bullfrog, Second). category 2 (John and Judy; up and back while kids are in daycare): Cora Lake, Hobler Lake, various Kaiser W. destinations and area, various Dinkey destinations. category 3 (with kids). Hwy 41 4wd area, Hwy 168 4wd area, Saddlebag area (all of these are probably primitive car camp trips). We'll see how many of these we get to.

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 6:47 pm
by AnnieB
Yes, cabin fever is coming on strong...
I didn't get any backpacking in last summer so I am determined to hit Pioneer Basin for a week in August and hopefully a couple of long weekend trips before. It's never too early to start planning, or at least dreaming about summer.

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:03 pm
by Take-a-Hike
Past 4 or 5 years, (our only ones BPing) wife 'n I did a couple of trips per summer, except the year we went to Glacier/Waterton Lakes. Based upon last years debacle in July (NFKR to B Cap Basin in middle of worst skeeter infestation in our lives), and then the 2nd trip where wife got a bit ill and I ran her into the ground anyway,(her version), I'm scaling it back this year. Each of those trips was 7 or 8 nites out and involved some off trial stuff...which makes her uneasy. The August trip last year was ok after the first three days...but it took us three days to go from Bear Creek Div to Lake Italy..she was just under the weather and couldn't make it. Not sure what it was as we've never had issues before w/altitude or health..just one of those things, I guess.

We'll probably do a "lodge" trip around the 4th to SEKI, with a few day hikes. I want to climb Silliman and I want to get to Moose Lake area...area we missed two years ago due to my inability to read degree of difficulty on a map. The "biggie" this year will be mid Aug and since she swore three years ago after our ascent of Copper Creek trail to the outlet just below Grouse Lake in one day that she'd never be going UP that trail again, (of course going out I said I'd never go DOWN that way again--I HATE going down hill), and since I'm dying to get to Lake Basin, guess what? We're going up Paradise Valley to Bench Lake via the JMT, then over to Marion via Cartridge Pass. Basically we're doing a trip chronicled by Doyle Donohoe but in reverse (but we're omitting Muro Blanco and hopefully the broken leg). We'll exit via Windy Ridge, and State Lakes, but not sure whether to go out via Granite Pass or detour around to Kid Lakes area. That was our goal three years ago but there was a lot of snow remaining above Grouse Lake and we were afraid of that. My knees' already ache knowing they've got to take the 5000' pounding coming out, but we do the Cedar Grove lodge thing nite before and nite after so knowing as soon as we hit the lodge it's three beers and a handful of pain killers makes just about anything bearable. We'll take our time and make it about a seven night trip with a couple of nights at Marion. Actual dates are sketchy right now...but I'll probably make lodge reservations this week. Then I'll have to deal w/the NPS and their permit bureaucracy.

I say this only because of our experience the last time. We wanted an early start up Copper Creek. Made my permit reservation, knew they opened that ranger station at 7:00 (why so late is beyond me...it gets light early there in summer), but couldn't get there day before by their 3:30 or so closing time. We stayed in the lodge at Cedar Grove, were up and at the station at 6:15, no one around so I left them a note on my permit reservation form. I told them we were on our way, had a bear cannister and knew how to use it, told them the trip itinerary, left them my phone number and we were off. Other than a handful of people who passed us on the way up, (they were much younger!), we saw no one for four days til we hit the parking lot coming out. Then two days later I was sitting in the office at work, phone rang and it was a nice young rangerette who asked me how I was doing and if the trip was ok. I said it was fine, thanks for asking and if this was normal protocol. She said no, but since I didn't hang around to pick up my permit she was a bit miffed at me. [-X So we then got into the discussion as to why their policy differs from the NFS regarding the ability to phone in and have them leave a permit in a pick up box for next day early departures. After a good 20 - 30 minutes she said well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree .. ](*,) But bottom line is if they'd found us she said they would have given us a ticket.. :paranoid: . Anyway, I'll try harder this year, make no promises, but our track record last year was 100% for being checked...even in July when we were on the trail for less than one hour first day, we got asked by two young guys who were coming out after being back in there for a few days on patrol or whatever it is they do. And the August trip we got checked at the JMT junction at Edison Lake on our last day, last hour, going out, all NFS guys.
Happy Trials, errr, Trails!

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:04 am
by BSquared
In case I haven't blabbed it all over the board sufficiently yet, a friend and I are doing the JMT N-S starting 10 July. We'll meet two other friends at Charlotte Lake on 23 July, planning on getting out at Whitney Portal on 29 July (probably spend the night of the 28th at Trail Camp and climb Wotan's Throne in the early morning for the sunrise on the Whitney Wall). We're hoping to see Markskor in the Valley the night before we leave and then again perhaps near 1,000-Island around the 13th, and we'd love to intersect with anyone else on the board; if you think we might link up, drop me a line.

-B²

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 9:35 am
by balzaccom
It's still too early for us to commit to specifics, but we are considering the following trips, more or less in chronological order:

Hetch-hetchy to Rancheria and Jack Main canyon

Something in KCNP, maybe Sugarloaf and then Cloud Canyon from the Mitchell peak traihead...

Emigrant from Crabtree cabin to Wood Lake and beyond, to yellowhammer lake

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 10:31 am
by TehipiteTom
July 20 - 25, loop from Glacier Point over the Clark Range, with a good cross-country section to Adair and Obelisk--hope to catch up with Markskor for the x-c portion.

The other trip I have all planned out is in the Trinities--my first time up there. Looking forward to discovering a new area.
We'll exit via Windy Ridge, and State Lakes, but not sure whether to go out via Granite Pass or detour around to Kid Lakes area.
Kid Lakes is one of my favorite basins in the Sierra, so I would encourage the detour. Nice easy pass over from the highest Glacier Lake (sort of a use trail in portions of the route) to North Fork Kid Creek headwaters. If you can, leave some time for a jaunt out to the "Glacier Point of the Muro Blanco". Lowest Kid Lake and Lake 10,600 are my favorites. Mungoat Pass is steep on the Kid side, easy on the Grouse side; going up, just stay to the right and you'll be fine.

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 7:22 pm
by markorr
Pear Lake the last weekend of March

North Lake to Whitney Portal July 13-20, mostly via JMT other than maybe going over Thunderbolt and Potluck passes.

Probably something in the Trinity Alps in June and another trip in SEKI at some point

Re: Summer plans...crossing paths?

Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:22 pm
by Rosabella
I'm planning a N-S JMT this summer, but I can't apply for a JMT permit until I hear from our friends at the Bishop Wilderness Permit Office regarding an overnight Whitney permit application.

This summer is the 50th aniversary of the first time some of my family members and I went up Whitney! I was only seven yrs. old and fell in love with Whitney and the Sierra. A lot of my family members will be going on this trip, so I've applied for the maximum 15 people. I submitted four pages of date options - and have my fingers crossed.

Once we get the overnight dates for Whitney, I'll back up about three weeks for my JMT entrance date. Hopefully I won't have any trouble getting a permit so late. I am SOOO looking forward to this summer. As soon as I've got some dates, I'll post 'em.