High Sierra Trail Sept 2013 Trip Planning/Help

[Saltydog]

I second Mav in recommending a high camp before the descent to Kern Canyon: Nine Lakes or upper Big Arroyo (side trips to Eagle Scout or Black Kaweah worth considering: you may find you have an extra day in your itinerary: you do have a few really short ones)

Also, I would plan on hitting the hot springs mid day (which is pretty easy from Moraine Lake) , digging a soak and then moving on to Junction Meadow or beyond. KHS can be grand central for camp

If you want to stop after Whitney, Trail Crest will definitely be Grand Central, but Consultation Lake nearby is surprisingly under used. IF you are using the bear-box strategy (which you actually can in the SEKI portion of the trail) the problem will be overnight in the Whitney Zone, where bear canisters are required

[Fishon]

Did this last summer.
Day 1: Crescent Meadow to Lone Pine Creek(LPC)
-Not a bad day, If I do it again I'm pushing to Hamilton Lake.
Hamilton Lake

Day 2: LPC to Big Arroyo
-Would like to come back and climb Black Kaweah...
View looking South-East from Kaweah Gap

Day 3: Big Arroyo to Moraine Lake
-Moraine Lake was a disappointment - no fish, just not my type of place
Moraine Lake

Day 4: Moraine Lake to Kern Hot Springs
-Big drop in elevation, lot's of rattle snakes in Kern Hot Springs.

Day 5: Kern Hot Springs to Wallace Creek
-Gain back that elevation, this was a hard day

Day 6: Wallace Creek to tarn above Guitar Lake
-Should have pushed to a spot just below Trail Crest

Tarn above Guitar Lake


Spot just below Trail Crest - No water

Day 7: Tarn to Outpost Camp
-Was fun people watching as the day hikers dragged their hurting bodies back to Whitney Portal

Day 8: Outpost Camp to Whitney Portal
-Easy day, you can smell the food in Whitney Portal for the last few miles

Have fun.

[maverick]

Hi Fishon,

Welcome to HST! Thanks for conributing to the thread with your great pictures, looking
forward to seeing you post some TR's of your own in the future.

[longri]

The great thing about the HST is that most camps have bear boxes installed.

I did this as well but ended up regretting it. It's nice to save the 2 lbs and the pack volume but then you're forced to camp where the bear boxes are. At one such location I caught a hiker trying to steal my food out of the box! He said he thought it was abandoned. After that I took my food out and tied it to a tree (I had an Ursack as a backup) about three feet from my tent. Who would have thought that other backpackers were more of a food storage threat than bears?

I'd do the HST again in a minute, if it weren't for the shuttle. Best scenario is to get a few friends to help, otherwise be prepared to fork over some $$$.

I avoided the HST for many years because of this issue. Finally I decided the best solution was to walk out and back. To add a little interest I did the return over Pyra-Queen. I was able to go to Whitney and back in five days. At a more normal pace the pack would be kind of heavy I suppose, although it should be possible to drop down to the Portal and resupply there.

It's a nice walk but misnamed.

[Wandering Daisy]

Whitney and back in 5 days from Crescent Meadow is a bit brutal! I am not sure most backpackers would enjoy Pyra Queen Col. Running through Keweah Basin would also be a shame. So many beautiful places; too little time - that is always the problem! I personally would rather out-and-back from Whitney Portal and turn around at Hamilton Lake. That way you get 90% of the most scenic parts of the trail. 7-8 days food does not add that much weight and makes for daily mileages more reasonable for "the rest of us". Incidentally, when I did my out-and-back from Whitney Portal, I went through the hassle of the lottery (paid $$ for a 4-person permit and everyone bailed on me). Turned out that because I was in mid September, I could easily have obtained a first-come permit. I would not rule out starting at Whitney Portal just because you miss the lottery.

[longri]

Hi Daisy, you're probably right. Most people would be happier taking more time. I probably should have left out my experience because it sounds like I'm blowing my own horn. The point I was trying to make was that an out and back hike (assuming you have time) is better than the alternatives of using the nearly non-existent public transportation, hitchiking for days maybe, asking too much from a friend, or paying big big bucks for a shuttle.

I hadn't really considered doing it from the eastside. Plusses and minuses. Kaweah Basin is really cool! I enjoyed it a bunch and look forward to a return visit. So fun and rewarding to walk in the Sierra. Cheers!

[dbogey]

Dave - How many days did this trip take you

Hi Cody!

I did the HST a couple years back and would offer a couple bits of advice:

First: In my opinion, Moraine lake wasn't that awesome. Instead of doing the long day from hamilton to moraine, maybe hit 9 lakes from hamilton on day 3, or camp down in Big Arroyo (the area near the junction with the 5 lakes trail is quite pretty). There are some really amazing spots there.

Second, instead of hiking from kern hot springs to Wallace creek, camp at junction meadow and make the hike up out of the kern river valley EARLY in the morning. It's a pretty brital uphill, and if you start your day at the hot springs, by the time you hit the climb, it will be in full sun/heat and pretty much just suck.

If I were to do it again and looking to do short miles, I'd go

1) Crescent meadow to Buck creek.
2) Buck to Hamilton
3) hamilton to 9 lakes/big arroyo
4) big arroyo to Upper funston
5) Upper funston to junction meadow with a break to soak in the hot springs
6) Junction meadow to crabtree meadow
7) crabtree to guitar
8) guitar to whitney and the portal

One other thing.. Shuttle services are pretty expensive. I had some fun with it and turned it into a semi loop. After hitting Whitney, I hiked back, but took colby pass - cloud canyon - roaring river - deadman canyon - elizabeth pass back. Well worth it!

[DavePloessel]

Dave - How many days did this trip take you

My schedule when i did the HST and back:

West to east, with a group of four (this was very slow going)
1) Crescent - Buck creek (late start)
2) Buck - Hamilton
3) Hamilton - Big Arroyo
4) Big Arroyo - Moraine
5) Moraine - Kern river valley (stopped at hot springs for a soak, and dispersed camped along the river sinca all the campsites were full. Our original intent was to make it all the way to junction meadow, but knee issues and group dynamics {pee breaks, different hiking speeds, etc} slowed us down)
6) KRV to Lower Crabtree
7) Lower Crabtree - tarn above Guitar lake


8) tarn above guitar - summit of Whitney for sunrise. After summiting, at trail pass the other 3 people headed down to the portal where I'd dropped a car the week before, I went back east and ended up camping just west of Junction Meadow

9) Junction meadow - Colby Pass - colby lake with some XC side trips on both sides of colby pass
10) Colby lake - roaring river - top of deadman canyon with some xc side trips up cloud canyon, towards big bird lake, etc.
11) Upper Deadman - elisabeth pass - crescent meadows

Originally I had planned on taking about 3 more days on the return trip, but I just got into a groove and kept moving. I ended up undereating and finished with about a full 5 or 6 days food left in my bag