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giantbrookie wrote:Later in the evening as we bivouacked in the talus somewhere below Iceberg Lake (now that's another long story altogether)
Stop teasing us giantbrookie. ... We curled up in our sleeping bags between boulders on a talus ridge--we would find in the morning that we were perched just a twenty feet above one of those nice flat spots we had wanted to sleep in. It is not surprising that the SAR group thought we were associated with the injured climber given the bizarre place we were camped in.
Once in Scotland I spent a long time looking for a campground--very dark night, no light anywhere. And we were driving around tiny country roads. We finally gave up when we found a small parking lot, and slept in the car.
The next morning we discovered it was the parking lot for the campground.
I (we) found the lower part of the Taboose, Baxter, Sawmill, and Shepard Pass trails to be downright ugly (relatively). My most disappointing destination was (I can't think of one). Maybe later.
I figured it out. Take a high snow year. Go to a good place (say Laurel Lake). Go in June when there are very few good places one can go. The demand (I was an Econ Major) for desirable locations is high, the supply low. You arrive and guess what you find --- wall to wall people. Those are maybe the worst destinations.
Once I (we) were on our way to Benson and stopped on Sat of July 4 weekend. My god that was wall to wall people.
(Major secret) Go the week before Memorial day. Mid week you wont find a soul at Laurel. Ditto, after labor day and into October Laurel and Vernon are deserted.
Benson lake has been crowded every time i have been there. My favorite site at Benson is on the south end of the shore in the quaking aspens by the inlet. Theres a campsite there that has always been open for me. There is also a really cool stealth site up in the rocks along the south shore. If you google earth it you can see the big white rocks and then a bigger second set of rocks beyond them are a bunch of awesome stealth camps in those trees. Ironically they are more legal than the official sites since they are 200 feet from the water and they offer much better protection from the afternoon winds that come up the canyon.
You can make more money, but you can't make more time.
When I was at Benson Lake, I was the only one there, and I still found it to be one of the least desirable Sierra destinations. Particularly after all that "Riviera of the Sierra" hype.
For me, there is always the "time of year" variable. This variable really comes into play in the very northern Sierra and southern Sierra, at lower elevations, and on the west side. When it gets dry and its low, its not desirable for me. Areas like Jordon Hot Spring, after the Senecio has past, are not desirable; and haven't gone there in decades. And low down on the west side, once the bulbs have flowered and non-native weeds kick in, those areas are not desirable; and don't go after Memorial weekend (depending on snow - like last year, everything was several weeks delayed).
As a rule, I just spend my time, as the snow allows, going higher and higher, and it never gets undesirable. From Carson Pass to Horseshoe Mdw, above 10,000' its never undesirable for me.
Hetchy, well it's all relative. Benson Lake would be pretty darn nice if it were 5 miles from my house, but I think Maverick's intent behind this thread is what destination in our undeniably magnificent mountain range is relatively the least interesting/most overrated.
