Help me plan!

[sekihiker]

DavePloessel introduced himself to the forum in a recent post and it occurred to me that I need to do the same.

There doesn't seem to be a single explanation for what draws us to the wilderness. For many of us, there is a visceral response to the overwhelming beauty we experience. We take many different paths to experience wilderness and enjoy it. Some of us are compelled to see as much of it as we can. Some of us are motivated to visit as many places as we can so we can cross conquered trails, passes,and peaks off our lists. The challenge of reaching a remote area or climbing a difficult peak inspires many of us. Others are nourished by returning to the same spot year after year. We bring to our experiences different abilities; physical, mental, emotional. Our abilities change through time and that allows us to experience bolder adventures as we grow.

The wilderness experience is covered by a broad spectrum of activities. The experience often evolves from peripheral to more intense. Reading an adventure story set in the great outdoors or seeing a picture of the wilderness are remote experiences. Outdoor experiences range in intensity from a drive through the mountains, a cabin or hotel stay, a campground stay, a day hike, an overnight hike, a multi-day hike on trail, off trail hiking, peak bagging. At the extreme are through hiking, trail running, wall climbing, and other activities that require exceptional levels of endurance.

Having returned to CA at age 42, I adopted an aggressive plan for exploring the Sierra Nevada. I hadn't hiked there since my late 20's, and I wanted to make up for lost time. One of my goals was to complete some of the classic trips described in guidebooks, such as the John Muir Trail, the High Sierra Trail, and the Rae Lakes Loop. An exploration plan didn't occur to me overnight. The first step was a return visit to the mountains that I loved so much.

As soon as we returned to Fresno, I HAD to take a hike. Subconsciously, I chose to return to an area which inspired my interest in exploring the Sierra Nevada. Some thirty years earlier on a hike from YMCA Camp Tulequoia, I had seen a view that was forever etched in my memory. It was the deep blue ponds with surrounding emerald turf of lower Granite Basin. Having completed the Boston Marathon earlier in the year, I was in excellent shape. The overnight trip to Volcanic Lakes simply whetted my appetite for more.

Reality intruded. I had a job, albeit one with a couple of months off in the summer. I had a wife and young children that I wanted to be near. I decided I would have to section hike the John Muir Trail (JMT). On hikes with Scout Troop 152, I had already completed the 32 miles of JMT between Vidette Meadows and Mt Whitney. Completing the second leg was inadvertent. On an overnight trip up Woods Creek, I changed my itinerary. A planned visit to the lakes above Castle Domes turned into a two day trip around the Rae Lakes Loop (RLL). I now had accumulated the southernmost 45 miles of the trail with the addition of the 13 miles of JMT on the RLL. I continued northward with a hike that added the 28 mile section of JMT between Woods Creek crossing and Grouse Meadow. At almost 80 miles, that hike convinced me section hiking was not the way to go.

I have the great fortune of being married to a great wife. With her support and encouragement, I managed to hike most of the JMT, from Tuolumne Meadows to Mt Whitney later that summer. The JMT hike helped crystallize my philosophy of hiking. The hike turned into what I call a classic sampler trip. It's a trip that left me with ideas for dozens of further trips along its course. It also helped me focus on the areas I thought were most appealing to me. Since then, I have not gone on any hikes north of Mono Creek. Not that the Sierra north of Mono Creek isn't beautiful, we only have so much time, so I focus on the south.

As well as the JMT trip that gave inspiration for many of the trips I have taken since, any trail free area on a map has prompted many others.

I am an aggressive planner. I pick a challenging route, one that will require a lot of effort. I plan for plenty of extra activities in case the trip turns out to be easier than I thought. I plan escape routes in case things go wrong. Hardly ever do I kick back and read a book on a trip. It has been years since I have gone fishing. To me, there is no better feeling than the the satisfaction of reaching the day's goal and the fatigue that goes with it. "More miles, more smiles," as friend Dan Braun says. No pain no gain. Yes, I expect discomfort and the blood, sweat, and tears that are all a part of a great hike. Over the past few years, I have taken a lot more photos of flowers. Maybe this is because my conditioning is not what it used to be and I need to take more breaks.

I have been told many times that I hike too fast by people I have met on the trail and by visitors to my website. As I mentioned earlier, the wilderness experience covers a broad spectrum of activities - a night's stay at the Ahwahnee, a 12.5 hour hike of the Rae Lakes Loop, a day hike of Black Kaweah, a four day hike of the entire John Muir Trail. I say, "One man's death march is another man's cake walk." If I have to shorten the trip or abort it, that's part of the game. I've always been willing to adapt.

My trip reports are found at http://www.sierrahiker.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bill Finch

[sekihiker]

The wilderness experience is covered by a broad spectrum of activities.

Speaking of wilderness experiences, I'd like to point out the remarkable achievements of one of the moderators of this forum, Cori or SnowNymph. Her website includes documentation of almost 800 wilderness experiences with more than 50,000 photos.

[DavePloessel]

The title of this post should be "Help Me Pain!"

Dave, the areas you mention are all terrific and I understand why you'd want to share them with your girlfriend. However, Bill's proposed itinerary would have you rushing through areas that are best enjoyed over a period of days, not hours. It would feel like a Bob Burd death march and by mid trip you'd be beaten to a pulp.

Mike M.

Sheesh, some of you guys are making me question if my idea of fun is somehow twisted Odd as it may sound, I kind of like death marches... sometimes. A mix is good. A couple years ago I did a similar loop from the west side all the way over to the east side, and then back again. I was with a slow group so going west to east we only covered 8-12 miles a day and it drove me more than a little batty. Walking back solo, I took a different route and went about 25 miles a day for three days and that was just about the perfect pace for me. My lady hikes the same pace as me (well, faster), and we both enjoy long days on the trail, so I try to plan as challenging an itinerary as possible, and then adjust on the fly as conditions warrent.

Bill pretty much nailed it with his post just above this one. Long day sampler trips filled with activity from before dawn to past sunset are typically my favorite.

One itinerary I had contemplated for this trip was :

Day 1: Wolverton ---> Table meadows
Day 2: Table meadows ---> Cunningham Creek
Day 3: Cunningham creek --->Lake reflection --->Upper kern basin (Longley, then milly's, Lucy's or harrison depending on time)
Day 4: (semi-zero day) Upper kern Basin ---> Bighorn Plateau/Wright lakes
Day 5: Alpine start to try and catch sunrise on Tyndall ---> Milestone basin
Day 6: Milestone basin ---> Colby lake via midway col.
Day 7: Colby lake ---> Lonely lake via coppermine pass and horn col
Day 8: Lonely lake ---> wolverton via pterodactyl pass

This would leave us with an extra day to make up time if we couldn't cover all that ground and allows for many variations and bailouts. It has more miles (I think) than Bill's itinerary, but the long days have more on trail miles, except day 3. Does that itinerary look insane?

Sparky and old ranger, I like your ideas as well! Thanks for the input.

Sparky, just out of curiosity, why don't you feel cloud canyon is worth the hike? That has always been one of my favorite places in SeKi.

[sparky]

It is a really awesome place, but I was having a little trouble incorperating it in a loop hitting all the other spots....mainly because of elevation loss if you were to take the scenic route.

On day 2, what is your intended route from table meadows to cunningham creek? this is quite a haul

Any way you cut it wolverton -> big wet is a much more scenic 2 days than roads end > big wet.

[DavePloessel]

On day 2, what is your intended route from table meadows to cunningham creek? this is quite a haul

.

I was hoping to go over table pass to big bird lake, then down to deadman, roaring river, and up cloud to big wet/cunningham.

I've hiked cloud and deadman and the trails in both are so nice that we should be able to cover big miles pretty easy once we get back on trail trail after the CC section from tablelands-big bird-deadman. It's going to be a long day, but entirely doable.

There are so many variations available. My original plan was more like a 15 day 200-250 mile epic but the time off is just not in the cards, so I had to pare bace about 2/3 of the places I wanted to visit...

[oldranger]

Dave you can cut a couple of miles if, when you go down Deadman when you get to the last Ford before the Austin Camp drift fence (about 1 to 1.5 mi. above RR Ranger Station, you do not ford Copper Creek (yes there are two in Kings Canyon) but veer to the right and either squeez thru or over the fence (it is smooth wire) or look for the wire gate opening (be sure and close if you use the gate). You should easily find the user trail that skirts the n. end of Glacier Ridge that cuts over to a ford that gets you to the trail up Cloud Canyon (ford is near Grasshopper Meadow).

Mike

pm me if you are interested in best routes up to either Brewer (if your plan is to go up Brewer Creek the best route is not the shortcut above) or Cunningham Creeks--there are actually old horse trails but they are hard to find if you don't start out correctly.

[sekihiker]

You may have already thought of these, but here goes anyway -
On day six, I would bag Milestone then Midway and descend to Colby Lake from Midway Mtn, not the col.
On day eight, I would contour around to Moose Lake then go up to Alta Peak and return to Wolverton from there.
Looks like an awesome challenge!

[sekihiker]

A while ago, my wife said, "Hey! Lets spend a few days in New York City. We can shop every day and into the evening."
"What do you want to buy?" I asked.
She replied, "I just want to go shopping, not shopping shopping."
I blurted out, "Are you out of your mind?"
Then she said, "And you expect ME to understand why you hike 15 to 30 miles a day for 12 or 14 hours?"

[DavePloessel]

Awesome!!!

Thanks for the suggestion!

Dave you can cut a couple of miles if, when you go down Deadman when you get to the last Ford before the Austin Camp drift fence (about 1 to 1.5 mi. above RR Ranger Station, you do not ford Copper Creek (yes there are two in Kings Canyon) but veer to the right and either squeez thru or over the fence (it is smooth wire) or look for the wire gate opening (be sure and close if you use the gate). You should easily find the user trail that skirts the n. end of Glacier Ridge that cuts over to a ford that gets you to the trail up Cloud Canyon (ford is near Grasshopper Meadow).

Mike

pm me if you are interested in best routes up to either Brewer (if your plan is to go up Brewer Creek the best route is not the shortcut above) or Cunningham Creeks--there are actually old horse trails but they are hard to find if you don't start out correctly.

[DavePloessel]

A while ago, my wife said, "Hey! Lets spend a few days in New York City. We can shop every day and into the evening."
"What do you want to buy?" I asked.
She replied, "I just want to go shopping, not shopping shopping."
I blurted out, "Are you out of your mind?"
Then she said, "And you expect ME to understand why you hike 15 to 30 miles a day for 12 or 14 hours?"

That's about right!

Funny thing is I finally found a girl who thinks hiking for 14 hours is FUN. I guess she's as messed up as I am. Must be love