Trip Advice -- 6 day, 2 person trip
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:17 am
Hello HST,
I am hoping to tap into a bit of this community's knowledge for assistance in planning a six-day trip I plan to take with my wife in mid-to-late-August. I have a few possible itineraries in mind, with one front-runner. I'd love any comments or advice that you might have regarding the feasibility of the plans, sights not to be missed, potential alternative destinations, etc. I have read many fabulous trip reports in the archives here, and they've helped to inform my thoughts about where to go.
About us:
Backpacking experience: Level 3, numerous backpacking trips, some cross country. Most of our cross-country experience involves peakbagging, or exploring off-trail portions of basins or drainages that we've accessed largely via trails.
What terrain are we comfortable with: Class 2 terrain for sure, some easyish class 3 with limited exposure is doable. Both of us generally handle altitude well, although of course there are no guarantees.
What is our main interest: Big mountain scenery and lakes, mostly. We also want to push ourselves a little bit with some cross-country travel; a major goal is to visit and explore an off-trail basin. Bagging a peak and/or a cross-country pass would be icing on the cake. Beautiful campsites are a plus.
Days/nights: 6 days, 5 nights. We will have to pick up our permit the morning of the first day, and will have to drive back home after hiking out on the sixth day.
Miles/day: We are both capable of hiking 15 miles and several thousand feet of ascent, on-trail, in a day, probably more if we push ourselves. We'd probably rather not go quite that hard every day. Full layover days are not necessary, but we do want to explore our surroundings rather than just blaze down trails as fast as possible.
Route logistics: Loops or lollipops are always nice, but we can be flexible.
Area: Probably SEKI or adjacent, as we're coming from the south and like big mountains. No dogs.
The areas I've been thinking of are:
Wright Lakes and Wallace Lake area. Something like: Hike partway up Shepherd Pass trail the first day, then go over Shepherd Pass, over the ridge between Tawny Point and Mount Tyndall, and camp somewhere among the Wright Lakes on day 2. Climb Tyndall via the southwestern slopes on day 3, then descend and move camp in the direction of Wallace Lake. On day 4, head up to Lake Tulainyo and explore the area-- maybe climb Barnard, or Morgensen, or climb the Russell-Carillon pass and climb Mount Carillon, depending on what seems most feasible and interesting. Mount Russell is probably out of our range. Spend days 5 and 6 heading back out via Shepherd Pass. I'd LOVE to cross Russell-Carillon Pass and exit to Whitney Portal, but it's too late to get Whitney Zone permits, so that probably won't work. Lots of off-trail here, but it's so high and barren that it seems like navigation should be fairly straightforward. Something like this is currently the leader in the clubhouse.
Ionan Basin area via Lamarck Col: I've always been fascinated by this area, and it meets the "off-trail basin" and "cross-country pass" requirements. Downsides are that I'm just not sure that we'd have enough time to see everything I'd want to see in this area-- I'd love to climb Mount Goddard and the Black Giant, to at least peer down Goddard Canyon and the Enchanted Gorge, to spend a day wandering the Ionan Basin. Maybe best saved for a longer trip in the future.
Mount Kaweah and the Kaweah Basin: Looks incredible, but accessing the Kaweah Basin looks like it may be dicey given our level of experience. The various passes seem challenging, and I'm not sure that we have the route-finding ability to navigate our way in via the eastern creeks.
Deadman Canyon / Cloud Canyon / Tablelands: Also looks very cool, but a little shorter on lakes and big mountains. Haven't quite pieced together an itinerary that looks like it hits as many highlights as consistently as some of the options further east.
Mount Langley / Miter region: I'd love to do a trip up one of the Army Passes, up Langley, to the Miter Basin, over Crabtree Pass, and out via Whitney Portal. Sadly, again this requires a Whitney permit that I may not be able to get. Maybe it's doable as a loop-- Army to Miter to Crabtree and back over Army, with a side-trip to Langley on the return. Downside is that we've been in this area before, although not up Langley and not deep into Miter.
Sixty Lakes / Gardiner Basins: Look very cool, and probably appropriate for our experience level. I've done the Kearsarge trek a few times already, so a little less excited to do it again.
Palisade Basin / Upper Basin / Split Mountain: Great looking option, except I'm already tentatively planning on trying for Split in July. If those plans change, maybe this comes back on the table.
Edit: Sorry this is so long!
I am hoping to tap into a bit of this community's knowledge for assistance in planning a six-day trip I plan to take with my wife in mid-to-late-August. I have a few possible itineraries in mind, with one front-runner. I'd love any comments or advice that you might have regarding the feasibility of the plans, sights not to be missed, potential alternative destinations, etc. I have read many fabulous trip reports in the archives here, and they've helped to inform my thoughts about where to go.
About us:
Backpacking experience: Level 3, numerous backpacking trips, some cross country. Most of our cross-country experience involves peakbagging, or exploring off-trail portions of basins or drainages that we've accessed largely via trails.
What terrain are we comfortable with: Class 2 terrain for sure, some easyish class 3 with limited exposure is doable. Both of us generally handle altitude well, although of course there are no guarantees.
What is our main interest: Big mountain scenery and lakes, mostly. We also want to push ourselves a little bit with some cross-country travel; a major goal is to visit and explore an off-trail basin. Bagging a peak and/or a cross-country pass would be icing on the cake. Beautiful campsites are a plus.
Days/nights: 6 days, 5 nights. We will have to pick up our permit the morning of the first day, and will have to drive back home after hiking out on the sixth day.
Miles/day: We are both capable of hiking 15 miles and several thousand feet of ascent, on-trail, in a day, probably more if we push ourselves. We'd probably rather not go quite that hard every day. Full layover days are not necessary, but we do want to explore our surroundings rather than just blaze down trails as fast as possible.
Route logistics: Loops or lollipops are always nice, but we can be flexible.
Area: Probably SEKI or adjacent, as we're coming from the south and like big mountains. No dogs.
The areas I've been thinking of are:
Wright Lakes and Wallace Lake area. Something like: Hike partway up Shepherd Pass trail the first day, then go over Shepherd Pass, over the ridge between Tawny Point and Mount Tyndall, and camp somewhere among the Wright Lakes on day 2. Climb Tyndall via the southwestern slopes on day 3, then descend and move camp in the direction of Wallace Lake. On day 4, head up to Lake Tulainyo and explore the area-- maybe climb Barnard, or Morgensen, or climb the Russell-Carillon pass and climb Mount Carillon, depending on what seems most feasible and interesting. Mount Russell is probably out of our range. Spend days 5 and 6 heading back out via Shepherd Pass. I'd LOVE to cross Russell-Carillon Pass and exit to Whitney Portal, but it's too late to get Whitney Zone permits, so that probably won't work. Lots of off-trail here, but it's so high and barren that it seems like navigation should be fairly straightforward. Something like this is currently the leader in the clubhouse.
Ionan Basin area via Lamarck Col: I've always been fascinated by this area, and it meets the "off-trail basin" and "cross-country pass" requirements. Downsides are that I'm just not sure that we'd have enough time to see everything I'd want to see in this area-- I'd love to climb Mount Goddard and the Black Giant, to at least peer down Goddard Canyon and the Enchanted Gorge, to spend a day wandering the Ionan Basin. Maybe best saved for a longer trip in the future.
Mount Kaweah and the Kaweah Basin: Looks incredible, but accessing the Kaweah Basin looks like it may be dicey given our level of experience. The various passes seem challenging, and I'm not sure that we have the route-finding ability to navigate our way in via the eastern creeks.
Deadman Canyon / Cloud Canyon / Tablelands: Also looks very cool, but a little shorter on lakes and big mountains. Haven't quite pieced together an itinerary that looks like it hits as many highlights as consistently as some of the options further east.
Mount Langley / Miter region: I'd love to do a trip up one of the Army Passes, up Langley, to the Miter Basin, over Crabtree Pass, and out via Whitney Portal. Sadly, again this requires a Whitney permit that I may not be able to get. Maybe it's doable as a loop-- Army to Miter to Crabtree and back over Army, with a side-trip to Langley on the return. Downside is that we've been in this area before, although not up Langley and not deep into Miter.
Sixty Lakes / Gardiner Basins: Look very cool, and probably appropriate for our experience level. I've done the Kearsarge trek a few times already, so a little less excited to do it again.
Palisade Basin / Upper Basin / Split Mountain: Great looking option, except I'm already tentatively planning on trying for Split in July. If those plans change, maybe this comes back on the table.
Edit: Sorry this is so long!