High Sierra Topix

With the permit window in prime season right now I imagine a lot of people are making their summer trip plans. The "What is your route planning like?" thread got me thinking about it - I spend a lot of my 'down months' planning my summer adventures and it looks like several other people do the same. I get a lot of inspiration from this site so I am curious what adventures other HST members are planning and if I'd cross paths with anyone this summer.

I don't have everything set in stone yet but I'm looking at trying to squeeze in the following this summer:

June: A couple of overnighters in the Yosemite/Emigrant region to get my 'trail legs' back and acclimation going. Any good overnight suggestions are welcome - I usually stick to relatively straightforward on-trail stuff for my June trips and plans can vary based on snow conditions, but I'm open to anything. It's usually a Sat morn drive out, hike, stay one night, Sun morn hike out and drive home kind of thing.

July: Probably a couple of three dayers - I still want to get out towards Vogelsang and do the Vogelsang/Fletcher/Parsons trifecta. Maybe something out of Leavitt Meadows (fishing all the lakes back there or Tower Peak, depending on conditions). I also want to do the 4x4 up to Coyote Flat and climb Cloudripper just because the name is so freaking cool. But I won't be able to do all of those...

August: Week long trip around Miter Basin. Lots o' peak bagging and fishing. Wheee. That is the only permit I've booked. I may bookend that trip with a couple of acclimation overnighters - I usually head towards the Tioga Pass region of Yose and do Conness or Dana before a trip like that.

September: Horton Lakes - as a basecamp to do Basin and Tom. Probably Labor Day weekend, I imagine this is less crowded than other trailheads. Later in September, if weather cooperates, Palisade Basin to do Sill and North Pal.

Just a suggestion for Leavitt Meadows. It's about 8-9 miles to get up to Fremont Lake...so that's a good hike on the first day. I would make it a four day trip. That allows you to hike up the valley the first day, then hike to Dorothy, Cinko or some other lake on day two. Then you have two days to get back out again. '

There's a trip log on that one on our website...

Kern River Canyon this summer, probably early August. Planned to do it last year, but just couldn't get away. First summer I've missed a Sierra trip in many years. I'm still grumbling about it. I'll do 8 or 9 days solo this year. I want to fish the Kern and Tyndall Creek, and, hopefully get into Milestone Basin, too. Not sure yet how I'll put it together, but I want to bag Shepherd from the east.

Well, I've mentioned it a few times, so some may be getting sick of me mentioning it...but I'm headed in July to do a Bear Lakes Basin trip based off your report from a couple years back, calipidder. Before that I hope to do a 3-night trip and the top candidates for that trip are Hoover Wilderness and the Silver Ridge area.

I'm always thinking about trips for the future. I had a blank wall in my new apartment that needed covering, so I did this:
Every day I find a new place I want to explore.

R, I actually have a notion for an overnighter some June weekend as a warm up that requires no permit and relatively short drive. Thus a Friday after work drive up tossing bags out near roadside along SR88. In the morning from east of Carson Spur, a backpack lugging view camera down to one of the heavily granitoid glaciated ponds below volcanic Castle Point near Caples Creek. Never been there but rather on domes east of Kirkwood Lake. Probably very few people have seen any of those several ponds. Although the crosscountry hike down isn't far, it obviously requires some map work to avoid steep slabs. Will get plenty of exercise hunting junipers on all the domes beyond the hike in.

I had two elaborately detailed 9 and 10 day photography trips planned lugging my 4x5 but given the droughty weather have removed one into the upper Fish Creek of Silver Divide early August and the other over Taboose Pass mid August. The drought is going to have significant affect on aesthetics like wildflowers especially the Pierson's paintbrush that often covers turfy timberline meadows so I don't want to waste the immense effort of going into those places with the kind of weight I carry only to be disappointed. A photographer needs to be more patient the larger his tool. Thus am considering other possibilities, even some out of state destinations. To size up how droughty most all The West is right now this 6 month percent of average precipitation map is enlightening:

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/anomima ... 6mPpct.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And then the same but the last 3 months which are more important is rather sobering:

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/anomima ... 0dPpct.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With the rainy season about over many areas are going to appear quite dry unless we get a big season ending Pineapple Express event. I've been driving up SR88 to Kirkwood for skiing this last month and snow depths roadside are so low, if it continues like this anything but totally shady areas may well fully melt out by late May and by late July grasses will be browning. I've got 5 weeks of PTO to burn.

Forget any of our lower desert areas this spring. Utah plateau country looks passable on the 6 month, but the 3 month has been quite dry. New Mexico has been wet but there is nothing there I'd drive that far for. Although the near Pacific Coast zone from our redwood parks north to BC has been modestly below average, they still have received quite a lot of rain especially recently. Mid May might burn a 9 day week up to Prarie Creek Redwoods SP and nearby coastal areas. Would like to get in some on the beach tenting out from the Matole.

And this might just be the year early July to do a 9-day trip I've had planned but never seemed to fit in, into Emigrant that goes as far as Lertora Lake since mosquitoes will be way down in that usually very buggy realm and stream crossings will be easy. Then late July might do the 9-day trip I've had planned over Graveyard Lakes into the Minnow Creek headwaters lakeland that I hadn't expected to do for a couple years. More of a fishing trip that my bro will certainly go for. So all these ideas are at this point very tentative.

I have a route planned out that tours northern yosemite. I dont have my maps near but I would like to run it by you guys.

Well with this drought so far Carrizo is out for my Spring trip, darn. Maybe Valley
of Fire in March or April for a week.
Places where wildflowers would be of emphases will be off the calendar for this year.
Hopefully the weather gods will bring a good monsoonal flow during the summer this
year, which will then bring thunderstorms, and clouds, making a lot of places just as
interesting without the flowers.
A re-visit of Goddard Creek/Ionian Basin are planned for August, and Kaweah Basin for
July or Sept, depending on the snow.
Observation Lakes Basin and maybe Hester Lake is my other 8-9 day trip planned for this
season.
If the season really starts early, than a 5-6 day trip to the Peter Panda area would
also be on the plate.
Some shorter 3-4 nighters are also in the mix to various places of photographical interest.

I like to do one trip per month. This year the plans are:

1) June. 4-5 day trip along Kibbie Ridge to Many Island/Boundary Lake area, as per my thread elsewhere.

2) July. Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne.

3) August. A 7 day loop through the Idaho Sawtooth range--the backpacking region of my childhood.

Carne_DelMuerto, I love the "wall art." I actually have the same thing going on in my office at work. I make sure they know where my mind really is.

While I love having the various digital options for mapping, I end up doing majority of my trip planning with my wall maps.

Still wanting that 8-10 day out of Pine Creek and into Granite Park, Bear Lakes, Royce, and possibly French.

Some talk of doing Fish Creek from duck pass and back up through the SJ to postpile.

I really want to do a couple fast overnighter to 2 day trips to some remote lakes. This means the beer stays in the truck. Not sure how I will survive.