Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

[C and r]

I have just turned 50 have hiked fished and backpacked all up and down the eastern sierras from Lone Pine to Sonma Pass. l have lived and worked in so. Cal. My whole life. Fishing is my main thing I have tournament Bass fished for over 30 years and started out trout fishing in the eastern sierras with my parent and grand parents was a young child. My Mom has purchased a house in Bishop a few years back for the family to use since I would spend 3 to 6 weeks a year in the mountains. I am always looking for a adventure and go more often than not solo. It is hard to find pepole that are as hard core into it as me. Most people make 1 trip with me and think I am nuts and that's the last trip they will make. That is including my family I have to tone things way back a few times a year to include them. My log in c and r is for catch and release fishing that is.

[Jimr]

Welcome C and r,
Myself, as well as many others here, I'm sure, have similar experiences with one shot hiking partners. Until this year, my best was one partner who went with me twice.

[BeforeDark]

I'm going to sound like everyone else: I've been finding great information here over the last few years and finally decided to say hi. I'm an Oregonian with multiple short- and long-term backpacking trips under my belt. Mostly I've stayed on trail, but sometimes I venture offtrail. I'm working on those offtrail skills, since the Sierra High Route is on the bucket list.

My husband and I have spent a combined 40 days and 40 nights (no, really!) in the Sierra over the last two summers and I can't get enough. My favorite location to date is a tossup between Humphreys Basin and Upper Basin: in other words, above treeline and wide open. For next summer, I'm hoping to plan a one- or two-week trip that takes in plenty of the highest of high country. Bonus points for some less-travelled trails, and maybe branching out into some of the easier crosscountry routes.

I need to hurry though: can't believe it's almost permit season!

[maverick]

Welcome to HST! Looking forward to reading your TR's to the Sierra, we also enjoy TR's from other areas of the country and beyond.

[Lumbergh21]

I just made my first post in answer to another newbies question about hiking in the Desolation Wilderness and then happened across this topic. I guess I should introduce myself. I started hiking for the purpose of fishing when I was 7 and would go out a couple of weeks each year with my grandfather into the mountains of northeast Shasta County. Later I dropped the fishing and just did day hikes along with a few mountaineering trips (nothing to wild just some off trail stuff involving crampons and an ice axe a few times). Then I hurt my right knee pretty bad and gave up hiking because I couldn't deal with the pain. Fast forward 20 years, and I started hiking again, mostly around Whiskeytown National Rec Area with a few trips around Castle Crags. My knees hurt like hell, but I kept it up and started using trekking poles. A year later I decided that I wanted to backpack and bought some cheap equipment for my first trip up into the Trinity Alps. The pack was heavy, it was a hard trip for me, but I was hooked. I've replaced just about everything since that first trip. I'm not ultra-light, but I am light. I pack for the trip I am going on, which means I don't bring along stuff there is almost no chance I will need. My base weight varies from 12 lbs to 18 lbs plus food and water depending on where and when I am hiking. 14 to 15 miles a day is fun for me, and while I have done 20+ mile days, I try to avoid it, as I tend to stop having fun around mile 16 or 17. :-)

In 2015 I started applying for a permit to hike the JMT and finally got one, starting out of TM. I met some nice people on the JMT super highway, and saw some awe inspiring sites. Now I was hooked on the Sierra, and I plan to return every year for at least a 1-week trip. I'll try to post this past year's trip in SEKI soon.

[ERIC]

Nice intro, and welcome aboard, Lumbergh21!

[maverick]

Hi Lumbergh21,

We aslo enjoy TR's from areas outside of the Sierra, like from the Trinity area too.

[JorgeGhr]

Hi, I am George. My son and I are avid backpackers from the state of Washington. We completed the Wonderland Trail this past summer!

This summer we are thinking about doing the North Lake to South Lake loop. As a kid, I grew up in Southern California, and remember yearly fishing trips to Bishop Creek Lodge, and Parchers Resort, but my family never went hiking or backpacking. I remember reading about these trails as a kid and now I am going to do it with my son!

Thanks

[maverick]

Hi George,

Welcome to HST! Please post any questions you may have about backpacking in the appropriate section. Thanks

[orisjt]

Greetings. My name is Jim, and I joined the forum yesterday after searching for hiking info. I've been camping my whole life and fell in love with the Sierras 20 years ago as a water quality and ecology scientist/researcher. My research group has conducted studies in remote mountain lakes ranging from near Mt. Shasta down to the northern border of Yosemite. Over time, my wife came out a few times at the end of trips and we would spend a few days car camping and doing day hikes. Eventually she agreed to do a backpacking trip and she fell in love too. We've hiked pretty extensively in Yosemite over the past 10 years and had one trip to Ansel Adams, mostly doing 4 night loop hikes. We've also hiked a few times in Desolation. Last year we did a section hike from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley, and this coming year we are planning Agnew Meadows to Tuolumne Meadows.

We are both ~60 yrs old and in decent shape (but live at low elevation). We are principally "on-trail" hikers and like to take our time, covering an average of 8-10 miles per day (we have covered 16 miles in a day, but only out of pure necessity). We hate store-bought trail food, so I've developed a few good recipes and dehydrate all our food at home.

Looking forward to researching our trip for this year on the forum. Thanks for hosting!