High Sierra Topix

I honestly do not remember.

As a child I remember hiking solo off trail in southern Cal. Wandering for hours through the brush and scrambling over rocks just to see what is over the hill. My parents worried, of course, and called the sheriff at least twice.

When I first moved to the real mountains I just continued the same. I never felt constrained by trails. After a while I realized I felt more comfortable solo off trail than I did, say, walking through a large city after dark. I felt like I was in my element. Sleeping alone miles from any trail or camp, with my wife not really knowing where I am, never bothered me (or her. After a few years of marriage she just accepted my absences, although I still do not know if it was resignation or confidence).

Although my long multi-day treks are largely over (knees), I continue long solo trips on my mountain bike. I start out in the early morning without a plan or itinerary, and go where my front wheel takes me, returning to home at dusk.

Although not lengthy, it was my first real travel offtrail - the year was 2007, in the basin above Sabrina Lake -it was after hiking in to Blue Lake, then further on trail to Midnight Lake. The next day, we climbed the ridge between Midnight Lake and the basin holding Hungry Packer Lake. After spending a night at Midnight Lake, we hiked down along the shores of Topsy Turvy Lake, then up past Pee Wee Lake, and then through a narrow gap and then down a gully to the Emerald Lakes, where we joined the trail down to Blue Lake. The offtrail travel was easy, but it seemed so untouched, and raw, and - you know what I am talking about.

My first solo backpacking trip I completed last summer; some here have viewed and read my post on this forum. It was such a good time, but could have been so much better without the smoke from Kings Canyon fires. Such a good time, I look forward to an extended variation of it this year.

Herm

guess i'd like a definition on "off-trail". I think every fisherman or hunter just points somewhere and then goes. They find it, nice, as do I. They don't and maybe get's fogged in, they bivouac. In the sierra, I've been cross country since i started in ~'78.

For me, I don't like solo.. I don't mind others that do. I did kinda do an off-trail/solo on Thanksgiving in '82 up on Carson pass towards Round top. Found two people who didn't know where they were, and needed to be guided out the next day to their car. Nice game of cards, some blackberry brandy, and then got them back to their car.

My first cross-country was my first trip to the sierra, about 15 yrs old (42 yrs ago!) from LeConte canyon to Ladder lake. I don't remember for sure my first solo in the sierra, I know I was still a teenager, I think it was a trip to the minarets - Lake Ediza and 1000 Island.

My first cross country dayhike in the Sierra was probably whatever peak in Yosemite my dad led us up sometime around 1966 or so. My first cross country backpack was probably 1972 to Bright Dot Lake with my dad on a trip that we climbed Morrison and Baldwin and collected lots of nice calcite. I have done very little solo hiking and zero solo backpack trips in the Sierra or California; I did several solo dayhikes of the up and back from home variety and the solo dayhike from a basecamp during a longer backpack. I took several solo backpacking trips while working in Montana in the summer of 1980 (Bitterroot Wilderness) and these are the only solo backpacking trips I've ever done. I guess I've always liked backpacking with people, so the only solo backpacking trips I did were by necessity because I was basically on a work assignment working alone out of a cabin far from town and didn't have anyone I was hanging out with. The oddball thing is that for many years I enjoyed the few times I would do solo hikes (usually a peak bag) as a part of a backpack trip with others. I also really enjoy those little solo dayhikes I have been doing for the past several years.

My first cross country trip was with Lee Starke up Copper Creek to Grouse, over Goat Crest, down to Kid Lakes, over to Glacier, then out. At that point of time in my life it was my greatest adventure. I kept trying to read the topo and relate it to Lee. He got to chuckle and laugh a lot on this trip.

My first solo trip was 2 years earlier. I hiked up the river from Forks of the Kern. I kept trying to read the topo with almost no success. I didn't see anyone for the first 2 days.

Here is Lee at out campsite at Grouse (or Kid) and me on Goat Crest over looking Kid Lakes.

Tom
With the snow it is hard to believe that horses have gone over this pass. As did my wife and I on our 3rd backpacking date before we were married. Oh my gosh that will be 30 years ago this summer!

Mike

Can't remember first cross country. My parents didn't want me going on solo trips as a minor, so the day after I graduated from high school in 1983 I set out on a two week, 1000 mile solo bicycle tour. A few days after returning from that I went on my first solo backpack trip, which was also mostly cross country. This was over the July 4 weekend.

I went from South Lake, over Bishop Pass, then kept high along the backside of the Palisades until I reached South Fork Pass. Down the Middle Palisade Glacier to Glacier Lodge, and back up into the Big Pine Lakes Basin for a final night. I think I took a total of 5 days. Between Bishop Lake and Glacier Lodge I didn't see a single person. Between Bishop Pass and the foot of Middle Palisade Glacier I didn't set foot on anything other than snow or rock (including walking across a lake).

First X-country you ask?

My first backpacking trip (coincidentally, it was the entire JMT), The leader got off trail somewhere above Wanda somehow, and we had to do a quick 4 or so miles off trail, back into Evolution Valley. Thought it was no big deal then..sort of exciting actually. Even the leader stated afterwards that all the great backpacking trips should always include a bit off trail - How was I to know differently?

Now if Mike (OldRanger) is leading, that's another story.

Mark

Bite me!

Mike