Trips for 2010

If you've been searching for the best source of information and stimulating discussion related to Spring/Summer/Fall backpacking, hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada...look no further!
User avatar
TehipiteTom
Founding Member
Posts: 953
Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:42 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by TehipiteTom »

Woo-hoo! Just (as in minutes ago) got a promotion that means another week of vacation...so I should be able to expand my plans some...
quentinc
Topix Expert
Posts: 890
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:28 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by quentinc »

LMBSGV:

As a reluctant new member of the 50+ crowd, for me what I see eroding is my ability to go all out for 5+ days in a row. Last summer, I did 4 trips that duplicated the first day of trips taken in prior years, and on every single one, I went further on day 1 than I've ever done before. Most of that was based on sheer willpower -- "trying to prove that I still can" (in the words of Jerry Lee Lewis). But on my 6 day trip to Kaweah Basin I had to take an unplanned and very gentle layover day on day 4, because I was wasted. It was still a nice day, but I didn't get to see quite as much as I had hoped.

Still, I think endurance is something you can maintain for quite a while as you get older, so long as you're diligent about training. Speed is another thing -- I'll never be as fast as I used to. But I still usually end up passing the kids that whizzed by me earlier in the day. :)
User avatar
dave54
Founding Member
Posts: 1327
Joined: Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:24 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: where the Sierras, Cascades, and Great Basin meet.

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by dave54 »

My reluctant concession to age is I had to start a three day weightlifting rest schedule rather than the alternating 2 day. I just don't recover as fast as I used to. :(

On the outdoor side, I can do about 2 really hard days, then need a light day or a layover. The knees just aren't what they used to be. This suits me fine. I no longer want the 'If this is Tuesday it must be Pine Mountain' type of itinerary. I am just as happy lingering in a particularly nice spot for an extra day or so enjoying the outdoors. No itinerary is just fine too, I have been known to stop at trail junctions and flip a coin to see which route to take.
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~
Log off and get outdoors!
~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=
User avatar
oldranger
Topix Addict
Posts: 2861
Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:18 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Bend, Oregon

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by oldranger »

Whoa Fellas!

This is a thread about next summers plans! Not about a few punk kids whining about turning 50. Take it from someone eligible for social security--it doesn't get any easier! Just do it! :D

Mike
Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
User avatar
ndwoods
Founding Member
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:48 am
Experience: N/A
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by ndwoods »

Congrats on the promotion Tom!!!!
I'm thinking of something different. Of course the usual High Sierra trips. But...Several years ago, about 15 I think, I did a backpack in the Ventana. I went to an area that had been my favorite and it was totally changed and destroyed...discovered. I never went back. Previously I would do 2-3 early season trips in the Yolla Bolly's and the Ventana before the High Sierra opened up. No, those areas don't have the grandeur of the High Sierra...but the wildflowers are in a class all by themselves. And the stars still shine overhead there. So...I think it's time to revisit. I was thinking 3rd week of April for China Camp to Pine Valley....the lupine are always at their best then...so thick you can smell them for a long ways! Any other suggestions...an hr from Santa Cruz say....mostly just overnighters to start with. But I'd like to do 2-3 again.
http://ndeewoods.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
calipidder
Topix Regular
Posts: 205
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 3:00 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Above 10k
Contact:

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by calipidder »

We're in the middle of buying a house right now so most of my end-of-year dreaming time has been spent dreaming about painting and refinishing floors as much as it has the sierra. I usually have my summer planned by January 1 - definitely falling behind this year. At least I have this and other threads to troll for ideas. :)

One trip rolling around in the back of my mind is some kind of 7-9 day loop out of mineral king. Mr. calipidder has never been back in there and he wants to join me on one of my week long trips this year. Only criteria is that there is good fishing and we get to pass by Precipice Lake (he's never seen it in person, just via my photos and trip reports. If I go by there another year without him he'd kill me). Probably up into 9 Lakes Basin. Need to sit down and figure it out - suggestions welcome. I've only been in that area when passing through on the HST, one time making a loop that came out via Rattlesnake Canyon over Franklin Pass. Looking forward to exploring the less populated terrain.

I have 6 weeks of vacation to play with so I'll probably be sitting down soon to figure out where else to do.
User avatar
TehipiteTom
Founding Member
Posts: 953
Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:42 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by TehipiteTom »

ndwoods wrote:Congrats on the promotion Tom!!!!
Thanks! :)
Previously I would do 2-3 early season trips in the Yolla Bolly's and the Ventana before the High Sierra opened up. No, those areas don't have the grandeur of the High Sierra...but the wildflowers are in a class all by themselves. And the stars still shine overhead there. So...I think it's time to revisit.
Always kind of wondered about the Yolla Bollys. Haven't been up there yet, largely because (as you say) they don't have the grandeur of the Sierra...but the wildflowers might make it worth the trip. Got any recommended trips/destinations there? (Passenger vehicle, so no 4-wheel trailheads--if that makes a difference.)
User avatar
ndwoods
Founding Member
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:48 am
Experience: N/A
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by ndwoods »

I love the Yolla Bollys! I love the Marbles and the Trinity Alps as well! My son had altitude sickness so bad he almost died once in the Sierra. For many years we had to backpack the lower elevations and we made the most of it! We learned to snow camp in the yolla bollys and every year we did several trips in those northern wild areas. That was however 25+ years ago...:). So things could have changed. But, even still...one favorite in the Yolla Bollys was not on the west side, but on the east side out of Corning. It is a little loop that goes by long lake and then square lake. In between the two lakes is a ridge that is lovely flat hard pack sand that is dry of snow early season! Gary would sunbathe on the ridge while the kids and dogs and I would slide down the snow covered slopes on either side. At each lake there are spots you can camp with views over the whole valley below and ranging from Mt Shasta to Mt Lassen. One night Gary and I sat up in our bags propped up against a big tree from midnight til 3am...while the kids slumbered on nearby. Across the valley was the most incredible lightning storm (clear skies over our heads) that literally ranged from Shasta to Lassen. We saw bolts of lightning, sheet lightning and multiple bolts in that storm continuously. It was probably the most "Ah..., no AWESTRUCK" moment we have ever had backpacking...and we've been backpacking way too many years to mention here. Those northern mountains actually were part of the Sierra many many years ago...and gradually got separated. Thus, they have many of the same granite outcroppings and flora and fauna as the Sierra. Need I say more?
http://ndeewoods.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
gary c.
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1479
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:56 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Lancaster, CA

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by gary c. »

oldranger wrote:Whoa Fellas!

This is a thread about next summers plans! Not about a few punk kids whining about turning 50. Take it from someone eligible for social security--it doesn't get any easier! Just do it! :D

Mike
maybe this will help some of us at that 50's turning point put things in perspective :nod:
http://videos.sacbee.com/vmix_hosted_ap ... id=2293952" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude."
-- Lionel Terray
User avatar
balzaccom
Topix Addict
Posts: 2952
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:22 pm
Experience: N/A

Re: Trips for 2010

Post by balzaccom »

Hey! I'm 57, wife is 56. We did over 100 miles with packs last summer, and another 100 on day hikes. And I also logged 5500 miles on a road bike.

Now that the kids are grown and out of the house, we have more time for this kind of stuff, and we love it! Embrace it!
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-R ... 0984884963
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot] and 146 guests