High Sierra Topix

Enough for you Russ, changed your mind, or are you still only coming if someone offers
you a helicopter ride in?

not yet. Just wanted people to know if you had some and entry/exit strategies for your permit.

on your strange update, do we have Heli support?

You bumped the thread. just asking about your permit status.

Less then a month away.

Hey all -

Due to the way that my work + personal travel is fitting in the summer schedule, I won't be able to make this trip.

But the good news for you is that I just canceled my permit for a shepherd pass entry on this Saturday, July 19. I had booked 2 spots, so if you're interested you should be able to snag them. The trailhead quota was full before.

I'll be playing on SPS peaks from Aug 11- 24 so maybe I'll run into some of you out there somewhere!

Being a week away, it would be cool to get a quick list of who's in. Sort of a post if your in, don't if your not type list.

I'm in

Me too (two?).

I'm hiking directly up Shepherd on Wed, 7/23. I grabbed a solo reservation for that date, but I still have to pick-up the permit when the IAVC opens @ 8am, which will push back my launch time to around 9am.

If anyone has an open slot for Shepherd next week, it would be nice to get added. That way, I could leave OC around 1am and be on the trail by 5-6am.

PS For those unfamiliar with the differences between NFS and NPS procedures, the FS will leave your permit in a locked night-drop (they give you the combo) if you're **not** entering SEKI or Yosemite. However, if you are going over the crest into SEKI or Yosemite, the NPS requires that you pick up the permit in person. Hence the forced late(r) start.

Alternatively, you can pick up the permit the day before before the visitor center closes @ 5pm. But then - from my perspective - that wastes an entire day traveling during the morning/afternoon. For night owls, you can get started the same night - which works well for trails like Shepherd - but decades of surfing have hard wired my internal clock to a preferred big activity push from around 6am-noon.

Was in, but now out. Look forward to the "all spots shall remain nameless" fish report Hobbes!

freestone wrote:Look forward to the "all spots shall remain nameless" fish report Hobbes!

I've been exchanging some emails with a fine gentleman from WZ. He mentioned he had fished a number of lakes in the region in ... wait for it ... 1958-1964 era. Yeah, he's 78 yo now, so he was in his 20s.

What's cool is he's a friend of Bob Rockwell - yep, the namesake of Rockwell pass & the Rockwell variation going up to R-C col. He mentioned back in those days, the 'tough guys' would get to the basin over R-C col to fish **for the day**.

Also, before the Mountaineers route became popular, and when the main Whitney trail was still unreliable, they would go the long way around to Whitney from Wallace by also going over C-R col. Yipes.

Anyway, he provided some good insight and turned me on to a few tips - hence the private exchange. I believe Jim is planning on hitting a both un-named/un-numbered lake that he mentioned held trophy GT. Well, at least almost 60 years ago.

Still, no one really goes that way, and he said he had to traverse some class 3-4 stuff to get back to his troop - he was one of the leaders, and had gone off solo during a down day - so who knows?

All I know is it's almost another 1,000' feet; depending on time/energy, I think I'll be on my way to lower WLB. (And no, it's not V lake that Ozark Flip mentioned.)

I'll be letting one permit go for Cottonwood Lks th for entry on the 20th. I'll be letting it go about noon on the 19th.

Hopefully, some are already out there and some have yet to chime in. If not, there will be plenty of camp spots, I guess.

I'm in! Have a permit for a Shepherd Pass entry on Tuesday, 7/22 and plan to start at dawn.

I should catch up to the group at Wallace Lake either on the afternoon of 7/23, or else on 7/24 if I decide to explore upper Wrights basin a lot first.

Hiking out Shepherd (or perhaps one of the x-country passes - George Creek? Vacation Pass?) on Tuesday, 7/29.

I'd be curious to know if anyone else is coming in Shepherd on 7/22 or hiking out via one of the aforementioned passes on 7/29.

Also might be interested in carpooling from the Bay Area should our itineraries coincide.

Have not yet put together an itinerary but am generally open, and so far am interested in upper Wrights basin, Williamson Bowl, Tulainyo Lake, the upper Kern basin including maybe a climb of Milestone. More into lakes than peaks, but would enjoy joining up with whomever to tackle one of the easier/funner peaks up to easy Class 3 (I heard Milestone is "fun" like that), and x-country passes also up to easy Class 3. If I had all the time in the world I'd spend several days in the upper Kern but I think time for that will be limited. Also, I hear Tyndall is a Class 2+ from Shepherd Pass area so might be interested in that. Also love photography. Not going to be fishing.

- Elizabeth