Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

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Lumbergh21
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by Lumbergh21 »

Wandering Daisy wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 8:48 am I always wondered why Roper chose to start and end at opposite sides as well as ends of the Sierra. Since he never presented ANY information regarding the logistics of his route, I think he just thought everyone should figure this out on their own. As for Skurka, some of his routes in other locations are thru-routes, not loops. He does, however, put a bit more thought into the logistics.
I think that's exactly what Roper thought. The impression I get both from his Sierra High Route book and from other things I've heard him say, is that he doesn't care. I think he was just putting together a route connecting places he had enjoyed during the large amount of time he has spent in the Sierra. A route that wasn't difficult - at least not by his standards - and stayed in the high Sierra as much as possible rather than than the pass and valley JMT.

I don't do many "through hikes" as I'm usually solo, so I try to make loops or "lollipops" whenever possible while still seeing what I hope is interesting country. At the same time I certainly see the appeal of a through hike. The only part I don't like is getting from one end to the other by car/bus at the beginning or end. Resupply logistics and planning the hike in general have been simple for the hiking that I have done so far and are part of planning and supplying a loop hike same as a through hike.
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gregw822
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by gregw822 »

Yeah, well, few of us live close enough to trailheads get there without driving, anyway, so a shuttle is nothing more than an additional step. Pick your trip, work out your logistics, and go. Do that. That's all there is to it.
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

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I have found a little road hiking can help close loops and make the trek more interesting. One particularly nice one is on the Evolution loop where you start at North Lake and come out at South Lake. Instead of having two cars, when we came out at South Lake, we continued down the road to Parchers, picked up a few cans of beer (that was all they had that was of interest to us) and continued down the road to the Tyee Lakes Trail. From there we hiked up to one of the Tyee Lakes, spent the night, fished for runt brookies, and enjoyed our beer. The next morning we crossed Table Mountain (which is interesting and kind of cool), and came down to Lake Sabrina. From there it was a short hike to our car at North Lake. It was a nice bonus to the whole Evolution loop. We didn't see a soul on Table Mountain, as I suspect it get ignored by people that are headed to more exciting things at Piute or Bishop Passes.

I've also gone into Hoover at Levitt Lake (leaving our vehicle near Highway 108) and come out at Leavitt Meadows. From the meadows TH, it wasn't that bad of a hike up back up 108 to the car. I did leave my pack with my partner at Leavitt Meadows.

I wish that I could find a few more hikes where I could make a loop by doing a few miles on the road. Does anyone have others? I for one would like to hear about how one could close a loop and make an interesting trip.
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c9h13no3
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by c9h13no3 »

Ikan Mas wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:23 pmI wish that I could find a few more hikes where I could make a loop by doing a few miles on the road. Does anyone have others? I for one would like to hear about how one could close a loop and make an interesting trip.
Any pass that crosses the Sierra is easy to do this with, Tioga especially. In one trailhead, out the other. Yosemite is so easy to hitch in, you probably wouldn't have to hike the road or even fuss with a bike.

North Lake/Sabrina/South Lake, Mosquito Flat to McGee Creek/Pine Creek could also be stitched together by bike, but the road segment isn't trivial.
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Lumbergh21
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by Lumbergh21 »

Ikan Mas wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:23 pm I have found a little road hiking can help close loops and make the trek more interesting. One particularly nice one is on the Evolution loop where you start at North Lake and come out at South Lake. Instead of having two cars, when we came out at South Lake, we continued down the road to Parchers, picked up a few cans of beer (that was all they had that was of interest to us) and continued down the road to the Tyee Lakes Trail. From there we hiked up to one of the Tyee Lakes, spent the night, fished for runt brookies, and enjoyed our beer. The next morning we crossed Table Mountain (which is interesting and kind of cool), and came down to Lake Sabrina. From there it was a short hike to our car at North Lake. It was a nice bonus to the whole Evolution loop. We didn't see a soul on Table Mountain, as I suspect it get ignored by people that are headed to more exciting things at Piute or Bishop Passes.
After having to "flee" the Creek Fire last year, I want to get back and attempt a North Lake/South Lake Plus hike again. Good to know the potential hike from South Lake to North Lake or vice versa has some interesting scenery.
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TurboHike
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

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Ikan Mas wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:23 pm Instead of having two cars, when we came out at South Lake, we continued down the road to Parchers, picked up a few cans of beer (that was all they had that was of interest to us) and continued down the road to the Tyee Lakes Trail. From there we hiked up to one of the Tyee Lakes, spent the night, fished for runt brookies, and enjoyed our beer. The next morning we crossed Table Mountain (which is interesting and kind of cool), and came down to Lake Sabrina. From there it was a short hike to our car at North Lake.
This sounds like an excellent plan. Did you specify Tyee Lakes as an overnight destination on your North Lake permit? Get a separate permit? Just go for it? Sincere question, wondering how to approach road hiking within a trip and not run afoul of ranger rick.
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by ironmike »

Bishop_Bob wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:56 am I'm confused why someone else should care how I plan my hiking logistics.
On HST, apparently everyone cares.
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Ikan Mas
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by Ikan Mas »

The North Lake to South Lake trek I did was in 2012. I probably permitted the Tyee Lakes as part of the trip, but can't remember for sure. Trails were not quite so heavily controlled back them.

I went back and looked at photos from the trip and both Tyee Lakes and George were very nice. I kind of wish I had spent some time fishing at George Lake.

The summit of Table Mountain is a flat moonscape, and rather peculiar. Different from anything I have seen, as it was so flat.
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by TehipiteTom »

The two times I did trans-Sierra trips (as a Sierra Club trip leader) they each had mirror opposite direction trips, and I arranged for people from the two trips to trade vehicles close to where they lived so everyone walked out to their own vehicle. Additional driving time: minimal.

Walking across the greatest mountain range in the lower 48: priceless.

(The Rockies are a bunch of sub-ranges, not a single range.)

And by the way, it wasn't a big-name route. We did maybe 4 miles on the JMT; the rest of the time was on sparsely-traveled trails down the Middle Fork Kings (on one trip) or over the Monarch Divide (on the other).
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Re: Stop doing car shuttles & thru hikes, you dummies!

Post by SSSdave »

Generally, the most efficient way to reach many of the best crest region basins and experience those places over the most days is with out and back or lollypop trips. As malathebee related out and back itineraries don't have to be the boring repetitions many novices expect they will be. If they are paying attention interested in those environments and not just interested in some athletic challenge or narrow interest. Spend a couple days reaching our best crest zones then semi base camp moving short distances between chosen camp areas.

For instance reach Humphreys Basin in a day or two and move around to different crest area lakes and French Canyon lakes before the one or two day return. So out and back ball of yarn.
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