x-country base camp ideas

[Hobbes]

If you had a 5-6 day trip, and wanted to hike in just a few miles (max 10) to a base camp, from which one could do a variety of x-country day trips on the layover days, then hike out, where would you think to go?

Has anyone mentioned 20 lakes? The SHR runs right through it to the east of Mt Conness. While the main trail is (very) busy, Cascade is quiet. From there, you can day-hike sections of the SHR either north or south, or simply explore the region to the east down Lundy. Of course, there's the aforementioned 20 lakes, which are themselves very nice.

Since my wife is more of a city girl, we've done variations of this plan where she takes the ferry + dog, while my son & I hightail it around the lake and cut-over some of the x-c sections to a designated meet-up location for lunch.

2011 - North Peak with the SHR over the lowest part of the shoulder. Mt Conness in the background forming the beautiful Conness lakes basin:

[giantbrookie]

basecamping at Dingleberry and exploring the Sabrina Basin

Sabrina had crossed my mind, as I've never been there myself and I'd like to see it. So some questions,
Base camps, Dingleberry is a nice suggestion, where else are some good base camps? (We can have a "moving base camp," too as someone above suggested.)
Is there readily 5-6 days worth of stuff to see back here without getting into Class 3 hiking?
How beginner-friendly is the Sabrina x-country/use-trail hiking, compared to Humphreys Basin? A friend who has been into Sabrina (although not too far in - only a dayhike) expressed concern that the area seemed a lot more "closed in" than Humphreys Basin, just not quite as "walkabout-friendly."
- Elizabeth

Compared to Humphreys Basin, Sabrina Basin offers less area to do off trail hikes in and the internal divides are steeper, so one has fewer options in terms of easy routes. My base in past trips to Sabrina Basin has been a little unnamed lake near Topsy Turvy (called "Pee Wee Lake" on the old DFG Anger's Guide maps, but unnamed on topo maps). It is just enough off the beaten track to reduce the crowds a bit; Dingleberry tends to attract quite a few campers, in contrast.

Humphreys Basin and environs is pretty unique in the High Sierra in that there is such a wide expanse of trailless country that can be traversed by easy class 1 walking, commonly over very pleasant turfy grass. In addition, it just takes just a smidge of class 2 to get you into neighboring French Canyon where there is another big bench to explore. On top of that, you have the little off trail cul-de-sacs up on the north side of the Glacier Divide that can be explored with class 1 or (more commonly) class 2 hikes, such the Lost Lakes, Goethe Lakes, Paine Lake, etc. It is also easy to find an off trail base camp on day 1 without much hiking, be it Muriel or a different destination on the N side of the creek (ie in Humphreys Basin proper), whereas the trunk base camp destinations in Sabrina Basin would tend to be on-trail and have more people.

Accordingly I would agree with your friend that, although Sabrina Basin is gorgeous place and worth visiting, it wouldn't be my first choice if I wanted to have a base to do 5 to 6 days of off trail dayhikes.

[schmalz]

I think the middle part of Mono Creek, accessed via Lake Edison, would be good for this. Each day you could go up a different recess as a dayhike. Hmmm, I kinda want to do that trip myself now.