Rancheria to Tehipite...X-Country?

[maddkeys]

My dad and I have decided to hike out of Rancheria to Tehipite Valley in a week. Now, most posts on here say Tehipite is 17-18 miles on trail from the Rancheria trailhead. But looking at the map, it looks like a straight shot puts it just 9 miles away from the trailhead. That seems like a lot of extra trail mileage to me, and since we're only out for 5 days, we'd like to get in and out of of the valley as quickly as possible.

So, does anyone know if this 17-18 mile figure is really accurate and how long it typically takes to cover? And has anyone ever hiked there x-country to save mileage and can recommend any good routes? It looks like the hike in is mostly forested, so not sure how effective map-and-compassing it would be, but I figure it's worth a shot to ask.

Any help is appreciated!

[Jimr]

It's 12.5 Miles from the trailhead to the bottom of TV by trail. The trail is the fastest, most direct way. X-country would be out of the question. I have a GPX file converted from my gps if you want it. It would be helpful as the trail is easily lost in certain sections.

[maddkeys]

It's 12.5 Miles from the trailhead to the bottom of TV by trail. The trail is the fastest, most direct way. X-country would be out of the question. I have a GPX file converted from my gps if you want it. It would be helpful as the trail is easily lost in certain sections.

12.5 miles -- that's nice to hear. So what's the deal with everyone claiming it's 18 miles from the trailhead?

And thanks for offering your GPX of the trip. Can you send it to me at maddkeys@gmail.com?

Nate

[maverick]

Stick to the trail, you will have enough to deal with descending to Tehipite Valley.
Jimr's 5 part TR will show you what can happen in some cases, and also how important
it is to find the unmaintained trail. Water will be an issue also with everything being
so dry. It is 18 miles with 5000 ft of climbing out back to Rancheria and some of the
switchbacks are southern facing which can get very hot, so it is important to get a very
early start and be well hydrated.
Make sure you are in good to great physically condition because the 3000 ft descent can
take a lot out of some people, and then you have the long, steep climb out.

[Jimr]

Water will be an issue, especially at wet meadow. The only water source we found was running subterranean. I was able to stick my water filter tube down into holes to extract water from the clear running stream beneath all of the overgrowth.

I'm going to send you the file as a .gpx file. It may be converted to another format using gpsbabel. A word of caution. You will see several areas recorded where I was looking for the trail. Add a waypoint beyond these areas where it becomes obvious I was back on trail. The file tracks from the Crown Valley Ranger Station down to the Kings River. You will see a waypoint marked BVY. Ignore it. It is off trail. It does not reconnect back to the trail for a fair stint. Stay on trail. There will be a fair sized tree about 400ft above this spot that has fallen over the trail. My report describes it. I was told by the SAR guys that they found the switchback before the tree, not after. Find the switchback and stay on trail. Even above the switchbacks, find the trail before moving forward.

Another word of caution:
Regardless of the mileage, it took trained SAR personnel from first light to dusk to get to us and they were flown in to Crown Valley to begin their search. Don't base your expectations on mileage.

[maddkeys]

Thanks Jimr for your words of wisdom, and for sharing your GPX. I had read your epic TR a few nights ago while doing research, and it's very cool to re-read it with your actual route in front of me.

Maverick, thanks for your pointers.

I'm hoping those SAR guys cleared up some of the switchbacks on the lower half of the descent when they hiked into the valley!

[AlmostThere]

SAR guys don't do trail work. They book it hard and fast.

[Jimr]

SAR guys didn't, but I did until the trail was lost at the tree.

[gglass]

Jimr - if you still have that GPX file, could you email it to me at greg@bciitv.com?
Thanks.

GG

[maverick]

Hi GG,

When you find some time, would you please write up an intro, thanks: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9329