High Sierra Topix

shtinkypuppie wrote: ↑Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:06 pm

The prettiest on-trail route off the HST, in my opinion, would be to continue north up the Kern river all the way to Lake South America, then wrap around Caltech Peak (take the trail to Tyndall or cut across X-country) and hop over Forester, then go out Kearsarge.

I'm having a hard time mapping this route on caltopo. I follow you up until you get to Lake South America but then i don't see the trail that wraps around Caltech Peak on the map. Any advice?

CeloTX wrote: ↑Thu Jun 24, 2021 6:45 am I'm having a hard time mapping this route on caltopo. I follow you up until you get to Lake South America but then i don't see the trail that wraps around Caltech Peak on the map. Any advice?

head south to the Upper Kern-Tyndall Cutoff then north on the JMT. it's possible that cutting over the hill earlier (say around 11700') would be faster than staying on trail, it'd shave 2-2.5 miles off and (from memory) looked like pretty easy cross country.

When you are in that specific area, keep your eyes open for signs of bighorn sheep. At the last time that I was there, I saw sheep tracks all around. Bighorn sheep prefer areas where there are no humans around.

Ooo going to look at the map for this Kern River/Lake South America/Caltech Peak route, I hadn't considered that...! Probably going to stick to this-way-dummy trails on this trip. But never say never...

Thanks this is great intel.

Re: summit-and-return if it sounds like that is an option I might consider it, having never been to the top. But going to see how the fast/food equation pencils out on the ground...

Aaron,

This is what I mean by the Kern River headwaters route I described. Red is the usual HST. Blue is the re-route, taking you up to Forester Pass for an eventual exit via Kearsarge/Onion Valley. The purple line is the cross-country cutoff that saves you a couple of miles.

This is really super.

I am going to scrutinize this!

Post-trip report: I want to to thank shtinkypuppie for the suggestion to go up to Upper Kern Basin and cut cross country en route to Forester, that was a stunning itinerary, I am keen to get back to that basin and see how far off-trail I can get nearby. The valleys to the west (I think Thunder Mountain?)... hmmm....

I ended up camping Bearpaw (thunderstorms + only sites left too exposed at Buck Creek) then 9 Lakes Basin then Moraine then Whitney Creek after blissful stop at springs...

...then took the suggested route to the basin and next day visited Lake SA and cut over to the JMT.

In those 3 days saw one person at dawn getting water in 9 Lakes, and then a dad/son at the springs briefly. But north of there until the JMT not a soul. High point of the whole week for sure. Dropping back onto the JMT social scene was a shock. I am super glad I opted out of Crabtree/Guitar/Whitney.

Next topic to research: Golden Bear Lake and Center Basin...