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Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 8:20 pm
by giantbrookie
Wow, that's quite a trip in some choice country. The "false start" day 1 out of Cottonwood and your penultimate day to Humphreys Basin are some really epic hiking days--whew, one feels leg weary just reading the account. As a fishing person, I can't imagine being able to walk by some of those places without stopping, though.

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 9:09 pm
by markskor
I too would have a hard time doing that route (nice BTW) without doing any serious fishing. Personally, I would add a day or two, cut down on the miles per day, and enjoy a few trout dinners along the way.

Speaking of dinners and cooking, I noticed the twig stove, (or is that alcohol?). What do you do cooking-wise above treeline?

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:29 am
by toejam
Sounds like a great trip. I gotta do a Lamark Col trip soon. That same week, I had fire issues on the Kern River, but the Sierra Nevada are big enough to get away from the problem areas.

I can't imagine wasting hiking, swimming, & enjoying scenery time to f* with fish myself. ;)

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:39 am
by markskor
toejam wrote:
I can't imagine wasting hiking, swimming, & enjoying scenery time to f* with fish myself. ;)
Speaking for the few fishermen here...Thanks! =D>

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:44 am
by LMBSGV
I really enjoyed reading this and the photos. Having hiked a much of your route over the years, I was nice to read about and see it again.

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:41 am
by Bluewater
Thanks for your comments!

I've been so focused on exploring, climbing, swimming and trail meditation (my cure for long trail days) for so long that I have left fishing by the wayside. I agree with toejam that dealing with fish at the end of a long day hasn't seemed appealing. . . but I finally ordered fishing gear this summer, a Tenkara w/ some flies etc. I might become a fisherman yet. Those trout dinners you mentioned markskor would taste good after a few days on the trail.

It's good hear you were able to avoid the smoke around the Kern River toejam. My original plan was to do 7 days around the Upper Kern. Maybe next time.

I've seen people using twigs but I use esbit and a little homemade esbit tray 'stove'. It's works with my basic backcountry cooking, although referring to what I do as 'cooking' is probably a stretch :). 1/2 of an esbit cube boils 2 cups of water in 5 minutes with this setup. Not exactly fast by JetBoil standards so I usually stretch or wash-up in the meantime. The advantage is fuel weight and size. 1 oz of esbit is enough for 5 days. The whole thing packs inside the 400 ml titanium cup. I ordered the stuff separately or used what I had around the house but Trail Designs now offers the whole thing together.

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:58 am
by rlown
Aren't stoves w/o shutoff capabilities currently illegal along certain parts of your route at that time?

Other than that, nice report and walk. too bad you didn't have your tenkara with you on that trip. Obviously, a 400ml cup won't do much for you when fishing. But, you don't have to cook them either.

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 11:02 am
by markskor
rlown wrote:Aren't stoves w/o shutoff capabilities currently illegal along certain parts of your route at that time?
Hence my question about cooking.
Great TR and many nice pics but, maybe better not to publish the one where you are using an illegal stove?

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:01 pm
by Bluewater
What the %^$!@, maybe I could have included a few more pxts of my illegal stove. Thanks rlown and marskor for the info regarding the stove guidelines.

Re: TR: Sierra Wandering ~ 08/24 - 08/30/2013

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:51 am
by RichardCullip
What a great trip report. I envy your ability to get out there and cover some serious ground. I too have your cooking setup but have yet to try it in the backcountry. Just a few test boils in the garage. I'm finding out that I can reliably boil a cup with a 4g esbit tab but that's in the comfort of my garage in Poway, CA. How does it work out in the high country?