Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

If you've been searching for the best source of information and stimulating discussion related to Spring/Summer/Fall backpacking, hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada...look no further!
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bob adams
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by bob adams »

Welcome to the site Sam.
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roller62
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by roller62 »

OK, I have been lurking around this board for a while as it is a wonderful resource for doing things in our Sierra (Sierras? or is that improper nomenclature). I had a few small introductions to the Sierra as a kid sometime in the previous century being the youngest kid in a scouting family - camping trips to Quaking Aspen and Cedar Grove as my dad went with my older brothers on the Silver Knapsack and Rae Lakes loop. I finally got a chance in my teens to do the Silver Knapsack myself and was able to just make out real high country up north by Mineral King and wondered what it would be like up high. Just that brief foray showed me how much different these mountains were than the San Gabriels. I always envisioned myself getting back up there. But about 30 years of life happened before I could make it back, taking my kids back to Kings Canyon and doing the expected hike to Mist falls. A couple other trips revolving around mountain biking happened before I approached my 50th birthday and I started a "half-bucket" list of things I wanted to do before I before the odometer clicked over. One of those things was climbing Mt Whitney. So I trained and did all the right things and made it up on a day hike about a month before my birthday. And as I stood on the summit I made a pledge to myself to make it back up to the range of light at least once every year. To the regulars that must sound pretty thin but with my kids grown and with time and money on my hands I have made good on that pledge. I have done some amazing day hikes in the interim - twice more up Whitney, Kearsarge Lakes, Cottonwood Lakes, Alta Peak. But I realized to see and experience new places I would have to take the plunge to commit to carrying all my crap and sleeping on the cold hard ground. So this year one of my coworkers asked if I want to join him on a hike from Tuolumne Meadows down to Happy Isles hitting Clouds Rest and Half Dome on the way. So, after not doing much backpacking since the 1970's I am starting back into it.
Looking forward to getting to places I've only read about - Mitre Basin, Tablelands, 60 lakes basin, Evo, Dusy and all the rest.

Ron in San Diego
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maverick
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by maverick »

Hi Ron,

Welcome to HST! :)
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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grampy
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by grampy »

Hi -
Just registered, but have been checking out this forum since last summer. Through high school, my outdoor experience was limited to car-camping with friends. I didn’t try backpacking until my early 20’s; did a few trips in Emigrant Wilderness, as well as in the Santa Barbara backcountry and short trips in the Mt San Jacinto Wilderness.

Skipping to the present, my kids are grown and I’m now retired, so I have a lot more free time to get back into backpacking. I got to tag along on two 6-day trips last year (HST/Mineral King Loop and Rae Lakes Loop), and have planned three of my own trips this summer - East & Reflection Lakes (via Bubbs Creek trail from Road’s End), Ediza and Garnet Lakes (via Shadow Creek trail out of Agnew Meadow), and the Benson Lake Loop (out of Twin Lakes). I registered hoping to learn more about trip planning and wilderness safety, and hopefully be able to post a trip report or two. Thanks for providing such a great resource !
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tomba
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by tomba »

Welcome to this community grampy.
-- Found trash? Please pack it out. Thank you.
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hikeacross
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by hikeacross »

Hola!
Just activated the account today after recently learning about HST from a friend. Found this thread and figured I'd be a good community member and reply.
Thank you, thank you, and thank you, all for your time and effort here. Amazing community!

Know Before You Go is #1 on Leave No Trace and that is why I am here.

I lived in Tahoe for ~8 years, and was happy with summer hiking and winter ski mountaineering experiences friends and I cultivated.
I am planning a longer E. Sierra hike later in '18, and I want to get ready.
I am a certified trip leader with the Sierra Club and have a bunch of outdoor experience, just not many extended day backcountry camping experiences.

Following LNT and taking it slow makes for a safe and happy trip,
BP
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maverick
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by maverick »

Hi BP,
Welcome to HST! :)
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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tillich
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New here, having trouble

Post by tillich »

Hi,

I just joined and, though I'm excited to get started sharing info on here, I'm having a heck of a time figuring this site out. I've looked everywhere and I can't even figure out how to start a new post (other than starting this introduction). Can someone help me? The instructions on FAQ are too vague and of not much help.

Specifically, I'm trying to find people who might have travelled an unmarked route I've always wanted to do near Salt Lick Meadow (Emigrant Wilderness). How do I go about sending this message out?

Thanks! Jeremy
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rlown
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Re: New here, having trouble

Post by rlown »

tillich wrote:Hi,

I just joined and, though I'm excited to get started sharing info on here, I'm having a heck of a time figuring this site out. I've looked everywhere and I can't even figure out how to start a new post (other than starting this introduction). Can someone help me? The instructions on FAQ are too vague and of not much help.

Specifically, I'm trying to find people who might have travelled an unmarked route I've always wanted to do near Salt Lick Meadow (Emigrant Wilderness). How do I go about sending this message out?

Thanks! Jeremy
Describe your base route you want to take and post that. It is obvious you know how to do that. New topic is what you would use; If someone knows, they will comment on your base post. There isn't a way to broadcast your "message" to everyone for a reason.
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levi
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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

Post by levi »

Hi everyone! My name's Levi (so nice the handle was available), and I'm a 29yo SF native, living in Oakland, finally feeling experienced enough to get the most out of the Sierras. I wish I had done more backpacking earlier in life, though how can I complain pre-30, I guess :D Until about ten years ago, my Sierras experience was limited to drives no further on east on 108 than Pinecrest/Dodge Ridge, spending my childhood summers with my family in a cabin in Twain Harte, cooling off in the lake there and doing touristy things, like panning for gold at Columbia. A one-mile loop at Calaveras Big Trees was the only hiking I did up there as a kid, really, and I did not appreciate it at the time, preferring to skateboard at the Sonora skatepark.

First backpacking trip was in college, a guided 4-nighter to the White Mountains in NH with a dozen other sophomores. Even though that trip was pretty much heaven for me, I didn't backpack again until I was midway through graduate school, and eager to share the outdoors with my girlfriend, now wife. Since ~2013, she and I have managed to backpack in a number of interesting places, but the Sierras are our home. We've also been rock climbing for a few years, and are finally gaining experience on real rocks. We have a handful of friends with overlapping backcountry goals, like peak-bagging, and on the climbing side, someday, maybe—no, definitely—The Incredible Hulk, which we encountered on a failed attempt at Kettle Peak two years back (failed because we didn't take alpine start seriously). Anyway, I've already received a ton of great advice on the site regarding an upcoming week-long trip in SEKI (Circle of Solitude), and I'm looking forward to posting trip reports here, from here on out. Lastly, I'm hoping to gain experience with backcountry snow in the coming years... I tried out splitboarding around Tioga Pass to cap off the semi-miracle March, and I feel like winter camping is in my future.

Leaving you with a picture I took of The Incredible Hulk in Sept 2016... it's finally summer!
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