Planning for Solo Mid-Sept High Sierra Trail Trip

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longri
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Re: Planning for Solo Mid-Sept High Sierra Trail Trip

Post by longri »

franklin, that cracked me up. I've had similar anxiety attacks in the mountains. It's only fun if it's fun, and for travelling alone you have to be in the right state of mind. Sometimes you aren't. And truth be known, it isn't purely anxiety. You can die out there if the wrong things happen.

But maybe pack a little whisky on your next trip or go "solo" during a busier time.
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longri
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Re: Planning for Solo Mid-Sept High Sierra Trail Trip

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Wandering Daisy wrote:...I have walked to Hamilton Lake three times in one day - once with a heavy pack full of climbing gear.
Did you climb Angel Wings?
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Re: Planning for Solo Mid-Sept High Sierra Trail Trip

Post by Wandering Daisy »

No, we were going to climb Hamilton Dome (there is supposed to be a nice 5.7 route). We also had our eye on a beautiful crack on the west flank of Stewart. Unfortunately it was too early in the season and the crack was a waterfall and Hamilton Domes were still too wet. We got one pitch up the unclimbed crack and retreated totally soaked with water.
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franklin411
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Re: Planning for Solo Mid-Sept High Sierra Trail Trip

Post by franklin411 »

Hi all,
I'm back to civilization! I ended up going back to Lodgepole Sunday and found that most of the weekenders had already left, so getting a site was no problem. It was actually a great experience--my neighbors turned out to be 4 girls from UC San Diego who were about my age, and their neighbors were 3 guys from Orange County, so we all hung out around the campfire. I figured I owed myself a summit, so I did Alta Peak yesterday. FANTASTIC trail! So much nicer than the HST from a purely technical standpoint--wide as a sidewalk, not frustrating at all (all up, followed by all down), and mostly nice soft dirt instead of rocks. I covered the 14 mile r/t from Wolverton in 5.5 hours--the trail was so fantastic that I ended up running most of the way out.

So ya...I took this trip to see if I liked multi-day solo backpacking, and I found out I don't. I'll give finding a friend for a multi-day trip a shot (haven't tried it so I can't say I won't like it), and I know I can do an overnight backpacking trip when necessary to see something really cool. But car camping/dayhiking is where it's at for me!

Thanks again for all your advice!
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