High Sierra Trail - too advanced for us?
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:55 am
Hello all,
I've been reading these forums (and everything else I can find) in preparation for a trip to SEKI this summer. My husband and I have been planning for a High Sierra Trail trip since March, but now that it's almost here, I'm getting cold feet.
We have been dayhiking for years, but we've only been backpacking for about two years now (I'd say "Level 2," some backpacking trips using trails). Because of our work schedules, we've never taken anything longer than a weekend trip. This concerns me, as we are planning to spend 7 days hiking the HST. (We plan to spend a day in Sequoia and camp at Lodgepole to see the trees/acclimate a little before we start.) We are only comfortable with Class 1 terrain and do not do any cross-country. We are both in very good physical shape, and we don't have any problem doing 10-12 miles per day with loaded packs and elevation gain. However, we've never attempted a trip of this duration, and because we're from the East Coast, we've never experienced high-altitude hiking. We've both done what we can outside of hiking to increase our skill set (reading, taking a wilderness first-aid course, hiking with more-experienced friends). I'm just worried that we don't have enough experience for what we've learned to kick in automatically if we wind up in a bad situation.
So ... are we crazy to try the HST? We were really excited when we first got the permit, and my husband is kind of frustrated that I'm having second thoughts (he thinks we'll be fine). If you think this is too much for us, do you have recommendations for other trips in that area that would be better for our experience level? We're looking for mountain scenery and photography opportunities, primarily. We already have a hotel in Visalia two nights before we start and a reservation at Lodgepole campground the night before; we then planned to spend 7 days hiking and 1 day traveling back to LA, where we'll visit friends before flying home.
Thanks!
I've been reading these forums (and everything else I can find) in preparation for a trip to SEKI this summer. My husband and I have been planning for a High Sierra Trail trip since March, but now that it's almost here, I'm getting cold feet.
We have been dayhiking for years, but we've only been backpacking for about two years now (I'd say "Level 2," some backpacking trips using trails). Because of our work schedules, we've never taken anything longer than a weekend trip. This concerns me, as we are planning to spend 7 days hiking the HST. (We plan to spend a day in Sequoia and camp at Lodgepole to see the trees/acclimate a little before we start.) We are only comfortable with Class 1 terrain and do not do any cross-country. We are both in very good physical shape, and we don't have any problem doing 10-12 miles per day with loaded packs and elevation gain. However, we've never attempted a trip of this duration, and because we're from the East Coast, we've never experienced high-altitude hiking. We've both done what we can outside of hiking to increase our skill set (reading, taking a wilderness first-aid course, hiking with more-experienced friends). I'm just worried that we don't have enough experience for what we've learned to kick in automatically if we wind up in a bad situation.
So ... are we crazy to try the HST? We were really excited when we first got the permit, and my husband is kind of frustrated that I'm having second thoughts (he thinks we'll be fine). If you think this is too much for us, do you have recommendations for other trips in that area that would be better for our experience level? We're looking for mountain scenery and photography opportunities, primarily. We already have a hotel in Visalia two nights before we start and a reservation at Lodgepole campground the night before; we then planned to spend 7 days hiking and 1 day traveling back to LA, where we'll visit friends before flying home.
Thanks!