High Sierra Topix

I've been lurking and occasionally (well, very occasionally) posting here for a few years now, I guess I should check in here! I've been camping just about all my life and backpacking almost as long—lots of stuff with boy scouts, and my dad showed me around the Adirondacks pretty early on.

I moved out to Pasadena to go to grad school four years ago, and I'm trying to get out in the Sierras more often. I've done a few things in Sequoia, and did half of the JMT two summers ago. This summer I've pretty much cleared my schedule, I'm going to try to spend most of it in one National Park or another. That means I'll probably be around this forum more, so I'll see you all around!

Welcome aboard and thanks for adding content!!

and mitchellis NOT dumb

rlown wrote:and mitchellis NOT dumb

Awww, shucks!

(I'm Mitchell, in case that wasn't clear to anybody—I realized the joke isn't always clear when this username got banned from Wikipedia for being a personal attack. )

I'm not new, but I am back and lurking again! Had to thank all of the regulars (and the new people for posing the questions) for the incredible resource that this forum is. It is my number one go to for planning trips and daydreaming...maybe a bit too much when I should be working.

It was one of the recent threads that pointed me in the direction of Redwood Canyon and I was able to snag permits today for a two nighter with my 13 year old in June. When he was 11 we did Eagle Lake in Mineral King and while he loved the scenery, in retrospect his pack was too heavy and the elevation gain was a bit much for his first trip and he has been reluctant to join me again. He is showing interest again in a trip with less climbing, so I was thrilled to hear about this one.

Thank you again for all of the great info and the time that everyone dedicates to this great resource!

mitchellisdumb wrote: I moved out to Pasadena to go to grad school four years ago, and I'm trying to get out in the Sierras more often.

Welcome! Always nice to get up into the Sierra.

Where are you doing your grad work at? I'm in the area and usually traipse around up in Angeles National Forest on the weekends. It's nice to have some decent trails to hike around on that are close to home to build up stamina for trips later in the season.

brandy wrote:I'm not new, but I am back and lurking again! Had to thank all of the regulars (and the new people for posing the questions) for the incredible resource that this forum is. It is my number one go to for planning trips and daydreaming...maybe a bit too much when I should be working.

It was one of the recent threads that pointed me in the direction of Redwood Canyon and I was able to snag permits today for a two nighter with my 13 year old in June. When he was 11 we did Eagle Lake in Mineral King and while he loved the scenery, in retrospect his pack was too heavy and the elevation gain was a bit much for his first trip and he has been reluctant to join me again. He is showing interest again in a trip with less climbing, so I was thrilled to hear about this one.

Thank you again for all of the great info and the time that everyone dedicates to this great resource!

Good stuff, brandy! Don't be a stranger!

psykokid wrote:

mitchellisdumb wrote: I moved out to Pasadena to go to grad school four years ago, and I'm trying to get out in the Sierras more often.

Welcome! Always nice to get up into the Sierra.

Where are you doing your grad work at? I'm in the area and usually traipse around up in Angeles National Forest on the weekends. It's nice to have some decent trails to hike around on that are close to home to build up stamina for trips later in the season.

Thanks for the welcome! I'm studying at Fuller Theological Seminary, doing an MDiv. Almost done! It's been a long road, so my wife encouraged me to take this summer as a sort of sabbatical before starting any new jobs. She's the best. So I'm planning to spend most of the summer in one national park or another.

It really is nice having these mountains in our backyard! When I did my JMT trek, I trained mainly by doing Echo over and over again almost every morning (bright and early, before it got hot). The biggest point in Delaware is 446 feet above sea level... not really a ripe training ground for mountaineering.

Guilty as charged as a long-time lurker. Not sure when I first came across this site a few years back, but it was probably while researching a trek somewhere. I have enjoyed backpacking/hiking since my very active troop growing up would do a 50 miler every year in the Trinity Alps Wilderness area. About 6 years ago I decided to get back into it seriously, and have been exploring the extended Lake Tahoe area in earnest ever since.

Also try to do a backpacking trip in Yosemite every summer, as I love the High Sierra Camps and the ability to explore an extended time without bear canisters! I retired from a tech company a couple years ago after 28 years, took a year and a half off for 'retirement' and then went back to a 4 day/week job to help support my upcoming college funding years. Met my employer through hiking, so I was able to obtain one day a week to continue my habit.

Can't quite shake the tech/nerd part of my career so I have enjoyed documenting all of my hikes over the years on a personal website. I was getting requests from so many people about places and recommendations that I found this to be a pretty good way to point them in a direction and let them decide what they might be interested in. My site is (link removed by Admin) if interested. The biggest issue I have found with many destinations is the lack of more than casual information, which is why I enjoy sites like this with trip reports and the like.

Spent the last few summers checking out OGUL peaks, for which I am up to just about half of the 63, and last summer I trekked the entire Tahoe Rim Trail via day hikes, which was just incredibly amazing. Feel ridiculously lucky to live in such an amazing part of the world. I am constantly running into people who come here from all over the globe to enjoy our own back yard.

Thanks for the resource of this site! -- Greg

mitchellisdumb wrote:Thanks for the welcome! I'm studying at Fuller Theological Seminary, doing an MDiv. Almost done! It's been a long road, so my wife encouraged me to take this summer as a sort of sabbatical before starting any new jobs. She's the best. So I'm planning to spend most of the summer in one national park or another.

Very Nice! Lucky you with your wife giving you some time off to go play.

mitchellisdumb wrote:It really is nice having these mountains in our backyard! When I did my JMT trek, I trained mainly by doing Echo over and over again almost every morning (bright and early, before it got hot). The biggest point in Delaware is 446 feet above sea level... not really a ripe training ground for mountaineering.

I agree. Echo Mtn is OK, but it's a bit drab since its mostly shelf trail in scrub. I normally get up and hit the Mt. Wilson Trail @ 5:00 for three days during the work week. I hike up as far as I can go in an hour and then I run back down to the trailhead from my turn around point. Usually one day of the weekend (unless I have something else going on) I will start out at Chantry Flats right when they open the gate at 6:00, hike up the the Gabrielino Trail to Sturtevent Camp, up and over the Mt. Zion trail, and then catch Upper Winter Creek back to Chantry Flats. Makes a nice 8.5 mile loop with plenty of up and down to start the day.

I grew up near St. Louis where the highest point in the state is just over 1700', good walking trails out in the woods but no real big elevation gains like we have out here..

Hi Greg,

Welcome to HST!