High Sierra Topix

Hi Chris,

Welcome to HST!
You'll really enjoy Parker Pass and the Young Lakes. We all here are looking forward
to reading your TR's when you get back from these wonderful adventures.
TR's of Henry Coe, Big Sur (Ventana), and Point Reyes are all welcome to be posted in
the "Beyond the Sierra Nevada" section at the bottom of the forum page, no matter how
old.

Hello! Longtime lurker and very infrequent poster. I've had Maverick help me out with some info years ago in the Lion Lake Pass area, and finally getting around doing a loop from Crescent Meadow, up Elizabeth Pass, along the ridge line to Coppermine Pass, down Cloud Canyon, over Colby Pass, Kern River, Moraine Lake, over Keweah Col, then home.

Its great to hear peeps trip reports, and I should repay the website with one from this trip. BTW my name is Steve, and I'm from Sacramento.

Hello All! My name is Kris. I'm a bonafide lurker here from time to time. My most sincerest apologies. I get out multiple times a season but have never contributed a TR. And yes I have gleaned some fishing info. I usually pick an area on maps that look promising and are remote and then dive into this website to see what additional info i might be able to find (if any - and sometimes there isn't). I've been hiking into the backcountry long before I found this site and consider myself and bit 'old school' in that I'll just go for a destination with little to no knowledge of the area. I have hiked into many, many destinations throughout the range and consider myself a relative wealth of info (like many of you do...and are.) I have contributed 'two cents' from time to time but no TR's and that fact pulls on me every now and then. No excuses, however, I do not have a camera, never have, and have always thought TR's with photos is the best way to go. Pathetic excuse, I know. I will have a TR coming soon from a Northern Yosemite Trip done in the beginning of May into some amazing country on and off trail... and I brought a disposable camera! Now the delay is in getting the film developed (not as easy as you'd think anymore). Thanks to all who have contributed and I look forward to officially joining those ranks soon.

Thanks for starting this thread... Pulled a lot of us out to the open. I'd also like to express my appreciation for those that take their time to provide information that helps a lot of us less inexperienced with our planning for enjoying the Sierras.

I've been reading this forum for approximately one year. All of my life I have loved being up in the mountains and have spent a lot of time outdoors in Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Death Valley and other places less often. It wasn't until two years ago that I had the chance to get out further than the crowds usually travel on the Lakes Trail in Sequoia (although I now understand that many consider a trail such as that "crowded"). Since then I have day-hiked the Lakes Trail three other times and done it overnight one other time as my first backpacking experience. Needless to say I didn't know what I was doing. I brought along with me 5 other friends with no experience and only one of them in any kind of adequate physical shape. That time my backpack weighed around 90lbs.

I am married with three children so the wife and I don't get many opportunities to backpack. We do take the children on smaller day-hikes but have yet to find a hike that is easy enough and interesting enough to get them as interested as we are in backpacking. They love camping but we all know its not the same.

My wife and I have only done Emerald Lake (one night), Ostrander Lake in Yosemite (one night) and just this last weekend Cottonwood Pass / Chicken Spring Lake / Lower Soldier Lake /New Army Pass / Cottonwood Lakes (two nights) as backpacking trips but plan to do at least one a year until the children are old enough that we can get away more often. It was when planning our backpacking weekend last year that I discovered this site and really enjoyed it not only for my learning and planning but for living everyone's journeys when we don't have a chance to be out there. We are not near as experienced as many on the forum and I will only be able to provide one trip report a year it seems but I will contribute when I can... Starting with a trip report from this last weekend as soon as I get a chance to.

escro,
As you can certainly glean from prior threads, there are some extremely nice spots for backpacking trips that are also quite easy to reach with kids; my wife and I often host novices and try to tailor the trip to their skill set. Among our "go to" spots are the Rock Creek basin between Bishop and Mammoth and anything in the basin beyond Saddlebag Lake up near Tioga Pass. In addition to there being day hiking, fishing and "swimming" opportunities, the scenery in those areas is pretty sensational for being that close to the trailhead (for Saddlebag the advantage is you can take a boat for the first stretch, too). So, don't let the kids' diffidence scare you off....once the bugs are gone in August, these areas are incredible!
cg

Great thread. Nice to see people coming out and talking. I just recently joined and posted right away. Thanks to all the wonderful members, I have received great gear advice.

Speak up if you have a question. Your question is unique to your trip.

New guy here. Im sheperd from Fresno. Ive been hiking, camping and fishing the sierras casually for years. This year I might actually have time to do a few longer more interesting hikes.

Great forum, love the fishing and trail reports! I'll try and put up a Spanish Lake TR as soon as I can get some more of the pics sent to me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Hi Esco,

Welcome to HST! All TR's to HST are highly appreciated by all of us!

Hi Sheperd80,

Welcome to HST! Looking forward to reading your Spanish Lakes TR.

Hello all!

I'm 27, have been hiking and camping since I was a kid, but only about a year ago decided to take the plunge into backpacking. I am very happy to say my first trip will be in two weeks from now to the Cottonwood Lakes area for 3 days/2 nights.

While at lake Mary in Mammoth a few years ago, I was fishing from shore and had to listen to a pontoon boat full of loud, inebriated vacationers. I then started to think that even the beauty of Mammoth Lakes wasn't the escape that I needed, and that I have to get further away from the crowds to experience true tranquility.

I have been spending the Winter / Spring carefully researching and gathering my gear with careful consideration. I am probably going to do multi day trips, but plan to do Whitney, and even the John Muir Trail someday.