High Sierra Topix

Hello! I'll be flying into Fresno and relying on public transportation to get to Lodgepole Village and then to my trailhead at Crescent Meadow. (Taking the V-Line Shuttle from FAT to Visalia, and then the Sequoia Shuttle from Visalia to the park.)

I haven't been to the Lodgepole area before. Can I rely on the market at Lodgepole to have gas canisters? Or should I try to pick one up in Visalia, and if so, any recommendations near the Transit Center?

Also, I waited too long to book a campsite at Lodgepole and it's full the night before my permit. So is the Wuksachi Lodge. Any suggestions on a back up plan?

Thanks for your input.

Check Dorst Creek it has some availability. If my memory serves me well, someone mentioned getting a gas canister at the Lodgepole Store, there are also some Walmarts in Visalia.

Thank you! I nabbed a site at Dorst.

I do not think there is public transportation to Dorst Campground (it is about 9 miles from Lodgepole). Hitching there and back may be more trouble than it is worth. One strategy would be to plan transportation so you can ride in and get your permit before 2 PM and then shuttle to Crescent Meadow. I have reached Mehrten Creek by dark starting at 3PM. There are not a lot of places suitable to camp before Mehrten. Otherwise, I think a single person with a backpack could easily find someone in the campground who would let you camp at their site, particularly if you paid for half of it. The big issue with sharing a campsite is the extra car, and you would not have that. I have been able to get campsites first-come mid-week. Harder on a weekend.

The Lodgepole Market has standard iso-propane gas canisters. In general, the market is very well stocked with non-perishable food items and it has a good supply of gear.

If you're going to be at Lodgepole before mid-June...usually Lodgepole does a "soft-open" where only 1/3 of the campsites are available for online reservation, and the other 2/3 are shown as "unavailable." In actuality, though, many of the 2/3 are available in person on a walk-up basis.

If you'll be there later in June/July/Aug, you can keep checking for cancellations. A lot of people snag sites on speculation and then end up cancelling. If you're just looking for one site for one night, and you check every day, the chances of picking up a site are really good.

If the shuttle bus is running you can take the free bus from Lodgepole to Dorst and then take it back to Lodgepole in the morning, then catch the shuttle to Giant Forest, and then the shuttle to Crescent Meadow (yes, that's 3 buses, which is definitely not convenient). As mentioned, the Lodgepole store has canisters. One of the annoying aspects of flying into places is one has to find a store that sells canisters at the destination.

Thank you all for the advice. I’ll keep checking at lodgepole campground for cancellations and take a look at hiking in to Mehrten.

Funny, if I do end up at dorst, I think that’ll be seven buses I’ll need to take before I get to the trailhead. I found a cheap car rental for $200 for the week in Fresno. Tempting to just rent the car for convenience, even though it’ll just sit at the trailhead most of the time.

Keep checking the car rental prices too...Sometimes you snag a good price by booking early, but I often find that car rental prices start off outrageous, drop down to reasonable about a month out, and then rise back to outrageous a week out.

Also, check rental car prices for Fresno (the city) instead of Fresno (the airport). It's often double or triple to rent from the airport vs taking an uber to town and renting there.

I’ll keep an eye on those prices. I get in late on a Thursday so I’ll probably stay downtown (free airport shuttle) and then walk to the Avis Friday morning.

What dates are your trip? I'm always going up and down from Lodgepole to Fresno and may be able to help out if I'm off work. Let us know as it gets closer and someone may be able to give you a ride.