Trip planning Great Western Divide traverse Sept 2014
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:44 pm
Planning for my 2014 Sierra trip to SEKI is well underway.
We will be a party of 2, are experienced and competent at x-country travel and have done 3 trips together in the Sierras, this will be our fourth trip together. We are comfortable with class 3 -4 but prefer to stay at class 3 when in remote areas. We average 20 miles/day on trail and 10 off-trail but have the stamina to do longer days if necessary. This year we are bringing a fishing rod and hope to fish, climb some peaks and spend more time on photography. So camp sites with good vistas for golden hour shooting would be advantageous as are lakes with fish.
I have the following itinerary in mind, it's ambitious I know. But there is lots of room to improvise along the general route, with peak bagging options if we are feeling strong. I'm hoping to incorporate a shorter day into a stay at Lake Reflection if possible but if the time is short that can be dropped and we can go directly from Thunder Pass to Longley. I've also sketched out an alternate route over the KK via Harisson as I's like to cross that pass but this is not the priority, Thunder Pass is the preferred route.
Thoughts? suggestions? Our acclimatization strategy will likely raise some concerns but in general we plan to spend two nights below 10k before sleeping high and to go progressively to higher altitudes during the day. We will consider sleeping below Glacier Lake on Day 2 if necessary. We were successful using this approach on two previous trips to the Sierras.
I would appreciate some thoughts on the merit of the traverse into the Picket Creek as well as routes to do so. My drawn lines for that segment are very vague. I hope the terrain dictates a clever route.
Map here: http://caltopo.com/map?id=4K4E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Itinerary below:
Sept. 12: Fly to SFO, drive to Princess Campground, 5,900' elev in SNF
Sept. 13, Day 1: Pickup permit at Roads End, Hike over Avalanche pass (~10,000') to camp at Roaring Brook ~7,400' elev
Sept. 14, Day 2. Deadman Canyon or Cloud Canyon to Glacier Lake
Sept. 15, Day 3.
Option 1 Climb Triple Divide Peak, then cross Milestone Pass and ascend Milestone Peak camp in upper Kern
Option 2 Climb Triple Divide Peak, then hike up in to upper Kern Kaweah drainage and cross into picket drainage, return to camp near base of triple divide/Colby trail. Resume with Milestone Option following day
Sept. 16. Day 4 Cross Thunder pass and down to Lake Reflection
Sept. 17. Day 5 Cross Longley, ascend South Guard and traverse to camp near Big Brewer Lake
Sept. 18. Day 6 Climb Brewer and North Guard Either stay in same camp or cross Sphinx to camp near Sphinx Lake
Sept. 19. Day 7 Climb Francis Farquar and descend to RE or camp at Sphinx Lake
Sept. 20th Day 8 Exit to Roads End, drive back to SF
We will be a party of 2, are experienced and competent at x-country travel and have done 3 trips together in the Sierras, this will be our fourth trip together. We are comfortable with class 3 -4 but prefer to stay at class 3 when in remote areas. We average 20 miles/day on trail and 10 off-trail but have the stamina to do longer days if necessary. This year we are bringing a fishing rod and hope to fish, climb some peaks and spend more time on photography. So camp sites with good vistas for golden hour shooting would be advantageous as are lakes with fish.
I have the following itinerary in mind, it's ambitious I know. But there is lots of room to improvise along the general route, with peak bagging options if we are feeling strong. I'm hoping to incorporate a shorter day into a stay at Lake Reflection if possible but if the time is short that can be dropped and we can go directly from Thunder Pass to Longley. I've also sketched out an alternate route over the KK via Harisson as I's like to cross that pass but this is not the priority, Thunder Pass is the preferred route.
Thoughts? suggestions? Our acclimatization strategy will likely raise some concerns but in general we plan to spend two nights below 10k before sleeping high and to go progressively to higher altitudes during the day. We will consider sleeping below Glacier Lake on Day 2 if necessary. We were successful using this approach on two previous trips to the Sierras.
I would appreciate some thoughts on the merit of the traverse into the Picket Creek as well as routes to do so. My drawn lines for that segment are very vague. I hope the terrain dictates a clever route.
Map here: http://caltopo.com/map?id=4K4E" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Itinerary below:
Sept. 12: Fly to SFO, drive to Princess Campground, 5,900' elev in SNF
Sept. 13, Day 1: Pickup permit at Roads End, Hike over Avalanche pass (~10,000') to camp at Roaring Brook ~7,400' elev
Sept. 14, Day 2. Deadman Canyon or Cloud Canyon to Glacier Lake
Sept. 15, Day 3.
Option 1 Climb Triple Divide Peak, then cross Milestone Pass and ascend Milestone Peak camp in upper Kern
Option 2 Climb Triple Divide Peak, then hike up in to upper Kern Kaweah drainage and cross into picket drainage, return to camp near base of triple divide/Colby trail. Resume with Milestone Option following day
Sept. 16. Day 4 Cross Thunder pass and down to Lake Reflection
Sept. 17. Day 5 Cross Longley, ascend South Guard and traverse to camp near Big Brewer Lake
Sept. 18. Day 6 Climb Brewer and North Guard Either stay in same camp or cross Sphinx to camp near Sphinx Lake
Sept. 19. Day 7 Climb Francis Farquar and descend to RE or camp at Sphinx Lake
Sept. 20th Day 8 Exit to Roads End, drive back to SF