High Sierra Topix

That's a lot of accumulated experience in the posts so far! 2009 was a a bit slow for me in the Sierra, but that's ok
March: Yosemite - Snow Creek to Olmstead Point via snowshoe
May: Cathedral Lakes in Yosemite - lazy trip with lots of relaxation
July: Hoover Wilderness (Green Creek-> Return Lake -> Summit/East Lake)
August: Mineral King -> Little Five Lakes -> Columbine Lake

Two great trips in '09.

Mid-June: Sabrina Basin (4days), just after the weather finally warmed up.

Late-August: Cottonwood Lakes to Whitney Portal (5days), first time to the summit.... Spectacular!

Already pouring over the topos for 2010.

A light year...

Presidents Day weekend got snowed out on a Boucher-Hermit trip in the Grand Canyon, and
Late August thru Labor Day hiked the JMT

and off to a slow 2010, but have Havasupai booked for President's Day.

Steve

Ansel Adams Wilderness, Sierra National Forest:

1. Upper Jackass Lake (from Norris Creek trailhead) – 3 days, solo (Memorial Day weekend). 1st hike after knee surgery. Felt great! Total solitude after passing Lower Jackass. Tried new snowshoes. Didn't really need them, but had fun. Ice on the lake groaned, moaned, cracked and hissed whenever it was in direct sunlight.

2. The Niche, Lower Cora Lake, East Fork Granite Creek to the first crossing after the lake - 2 days, solo. Lots of snow on trail. Many places where the trail was a run-off stream. Used my new Tarptent Sublite Sil for the fist time. Awesome! No one else on trail after 1st creek ford.

3. Chiquito Lake, Chiquito Pass, Chain Lakes, Spotted Lakes, Red Top summit - 2 days, solo. Incredibly beautiful lakes! After leaving Upper Chain Lake on Day 1, didn't see another person until back at the car. Challenging off-trail route from Red Top summit to abandoned Jeep track to road leading back to trailhead. Broke out my compass for 1st time in decades! Became a 1-man cattle drive after reaching the road.

4. Joe Crane Lake – 2 days, solo. Beautiful! Lots of wildflowers. They were up to my shoulder in a few places along East Fork Granite Creek.

Ansel Adams Wilderness / Yosemite NP:

5. Sadler Lake, Isberg Lakes, Isberg Pass, unnamed lakes below SW & NW faces of Isberg Peak – 3 days, solo (Labor Day weekend). Hot daytime temps but chilly nights in my 30-degree bag at 10,000 ft. Fun, steep off-trail route to 2nd unnamed lake after crossing Isberg Pass. Windy there! So beautiful, I didn't want to come home yet.

Ansel Adams Wilderness:

6. Upper Jackass Lake (from Jackass Meadow trailhead) – 2 days, solo (November 7th & 8th). Bullet-hard snow on south shore of Middle Jackass. About 22 degrees at night. Saw a lone day hiker on Day 2. Beautful ice-encased blades of grass next to outflow stream.

Yosemite NP:

7. (Early December - Mostly on snowshoes) From Yosemite Valley to Mirror Lake up Snow Creek Trail, along the ridge on the SE side of Snow Creek, to the highest point on the ridge. - 4 days, solo. Very late start. Used headlamp on upper half of Snow Creek switchbacks. Warm days, soft snow, small snowshoes, heavy pack. Slow going. From my high point, I had views of: Coyote Rocks, Mt. Hoffman, Tioga Road, Osprey Overhang, DeGaulle's Nose, Mt. Conness, Tuolumne Peak, Cathedral Peak, Mathes Crest, and the eastern end of Cloud's Rest.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm new to HST, so I've only posted one of these as a TR.

EpicSteve-
A belated welcome to HST.
Just so you do not get confused, there is no such thing here as "Too Long" in any trail report...we like them all.
Any brief respite, any vicarious Sierra adventure retold involving passion and/ or (especially) fishing is always music not wasted on this crowd. So, take your time, maybe ramble on some...even more than your last, (I always seem to.) and keep them TR's coming, but never feel that you have to apologize for that which we all dream about daily.
Mark

Thank you so much, Mark. I love these forums! People have been so friendly and helpful with route info and I hope to eventually return the favor. And just like you, I love reading other hikers' long trip reports! It's wondeful to be vicariously teleported back to the high country! Can't help you with the fishing thing - it's not my thing anymore (though I understand and respect the passion for it and the skill involved in doing it well) - but I still enjoy reading about it and seeing the pics. My current focus is off-trail routes and getting the best pics I can with an extremely small and lightweight digital camera.

Anyhow, I don't mean to sidetrack this thread. Thanks again for the welcome and let's hear some more recaps of 2009. The ones I've read so far have got me drooling over topos again!

I spent 15 nights out on the trail last summer. My oldest son and I did the complete
Tahoe Rim Trail starting July 5th. It was beautiful but it required logistical support
from my wife since there are many dry sections on the trail. We carried 24 hours of
water at a time for 4 of the 10 days.

The first week of August I took my wife, oldest son, brother and nephew on a 5 day
trip from Horseshoe Meadows to Onion Valley. My wife and I did this section as part
of a northbound JMT trip in 2008. My son, brother and nephew haven't been to Whitney
before and I wanted a trip that would guaranty they wouldn't have acclimation problems.
We camped at Horseshoe Meadows the night before the hike and camped at Rock Creek
and Crabtree Meadows before day hiking Whitney. I have been in the Sierras in August
since 1993 and we experienced the coldest weather ever on the last two days of the trip.
Our water bottles froze up at High Mesa lakes below Forester and we encountered snow
the last two days. We decided to go from High Mesa Lakes to Onion Valley in one day
due to the cold weather. When we got to Kersarge Pass about 7PM we cold hardly
stand up in the wind at the top of the pass.

My pictures and trip details are at my web site:

http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/jeffw/o ... cking.html

Let me know what you think.

Jeff