High Sierra Topix

Hellozz,

I will be doing a 4-day backpacking trip in a few days with my girlfriend that starts from the Little Lakes Valley/Mosquito Flats. We'll be backpacking in the backcountry and we have permits for the Morgan Pass Trail, but we're not quite sure where to go from there. I was thinking about hiking to Pioneer Basin and back could be one option. Anybody like that area? We're in good physical shape so we'd like to cover quite a bit of distance, but need to acclimatize, so within the first two days we might not get very far. We're spending one day at Mosquito Flats before we head out and from then on it's going to be 4 days. I am an outdoor photographer, so if you are able to provide ideas from that point of view, that would be awesome. All ideas are very welcome! Thanks a lot!

Jussi

Not much scenery below Lower Morgan Lake. See the other thread if you come back. Not all newbies respond.

If you're spending 4 days, Morgan Pass doesn't offer much in the way of options, unless you like to do (and are proficient at) off trail hiking. Time within the area would be best spent doing a leisurely exploration of all the various nooks and crannies in Little Lakes Valley.

LLV is very pretty, and photogenic so you may want to spend you days exploring
and taking pictures.
Pioneer Basin is gorgeous and well worth the effort to visit.
It is about 8 miles (depending on which part of the basin you visit) to get to Pioneer
Basin.
As a photographer I personally would rather go to PB, but you will not be disappointed
with LLV either.

I have to chime in here and say I agree with maverick about Pioneer Basin. If you can fit that in your schedule, do it; the vistas in every direction are among the best in the Sierra, IMHO. Still, giantbrookie's advice is spot on, too. You can't miss coming home with good memories by absorbing all you can about this special area of the Sierra. Good luck!

LLV is gorgeous, and you could easily spend several days there just soaking up the scenery. Given its local and proximity to roads it can get crowded, at least relative to other parts of the Sierra. Not much over Morgan Pass. Mono Pass to Pioneer Basin is definitely a worthwhile journey, and if not the full trip a day hike to Mono Pass is an option. Pioneer Basin is gorgeous, great scenery for photography. Keep Fourth Recess Lake as a possibility - in my opinion shouldn't be overlooked if you are hiking by. Photography-wise you almost can't go wrong in that general area.

Thanks very much for all the replies! All the suggestions are great! I will report back about our experiences.

Thought I'd write back here what happened about my trip. After driving an hour in the traffic jam from San Francisco, our car died all of the sudden in Pleasanton. This has never happened to me before and it was actually quite scary. We ended up sitting on the side of the freeway (very tight spot) for hours waiting for a tow truck to pick us up. We had to come home to wait around to see what was the destiny of our car, and after calling to the mechanic the next morning he said the time belt had broke. You're supposed to change it every 60 000 - 100 000 miles, and we had no idea! It's an expensive bill if you let it break rather than changing it when you're supposed to. So the mechanic wasn't able to fix it until the next week, which canceled our trip.

I can't really describe the disappointment from that kind of anticipation to get to the mountains from this city life. I don't know when this area is going to let me see it actually. Last time I was there, in January 2009, the weather blocked that famous vista that I went there to see (Bear Creek Spire, Mt. Abbot, Dade etc.). And I was there for four days then. It was completely cloudy the whole time. And now this! It's like I'm not supposed to see it!

Another thing to mention is that I had a strange feeling about the trip that whole day before we left. I couldn't really describe it, but I felt uneasy and like I wasn't supposed to be on that trip. I even told that to my boss at work. I'm not a religious man really, but I can't stop thinking some forces are holding me back from that place

There will be another time when I will try to go again. Maybe I'll make it then. If I won't, I might stop trying and get settled with Yosemite or something

All the best,
Jussi

Jussi,
Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I hope your car is ok after the belt change.
Don't give up on the Sierra. It's a beautiful, wonderful, experience that will make you forget all your troubles.