Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

[maverick]

Hi Patrick,

Welcome to HST! Looking forward to reading about your LC and Emigrant trips.

[Dozer]

Hello, as a newbie, I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and adhere to the sites protocol. Sorry for not seeing this to begin with. Also, it wasn't clear to me where to post this info. So, hope I hit the right spot. Correct me if I didn't. Thanks for the direction and for the info that your site provides. All the best ~ Dozer

What level of backpacking experience do you have? Level 3 for both Sherry and I. We have both thru hiked the Long Trail and hike regularly in the northeast. Most often on trails with an occasional bush-whacking trip when we're feeling adventurous. We hike in all 4 seasons in VT.
Level 1- Minimal hiking
Level 2- Some backpacking trips, using trails
Level 3- Numerous backpacking trips, some x-country travel
Level 4- Comfortable with trail and/or x-country travel

What terrain are you comfortable/uncomfortable with? Well, as we hike extensively in the northeast, the terrain vary's from mud to mountains. This is our first trip to the Sierra Nevada Mt's so a new experience for us. I like to err on the side of caution, so class 2.
- Class 1 terrain/trail hiking
- Class 2 terrain/pass/x-country
- Class 3 terrain/pass/x-country
- River crossings
- Snow travel/Glacier crossings

What is your main interest? We want to experience the splendor of the Sierra Nevada Mt's. The HST gives us some variety of the items listed below. Finishing on Mt. Whitney will be Epic for us.
- Lakes
- Forests
- Big Mountain scenery
- Photography
- Fishing
- Climbing

How many days/nights is your trip, not including travel to trailhead? We will be hiking around the Lodgepole area for a couple of days and start the HST on 8/24. Our shuttle ride picks us up in Whitney Portal on the morning of 8/31.

How many miles did you want to do a day, any layovers? we generally are comfortable with 10-14 mile days in the northeast.

Do you have a route logistics preference: loop, out and back, point to point (which
may require 2 vehicles or hitchhiking)? just hiking the HST with a possible extended loop along the Kern river to the Lake South America Trail, back to the JMT, and then through Crabtree Meadow to Mt. Whitney.

Is there a particular area in the Sierra that your most interested in(Yosemite, SEKI
western sierra start or eastern start ect.)? see above

Will you be hiking with a dog? we like dogs, but do not hike with one.

Please take the time to use the "search function" before requesting information
there are many different subjects, and area's that have all ready have been covered
before.

Also, please start your own threads instead of piggybacking on an existing thread.
This will avoid any unnecessary confusion that may happen if the OP thinks that
other members are posting suggestions to there original question, but are really
posting answers to the piggy-backers question.
This is especially important to keep in mind when it comes to trip requests, but
should be really avoided in all cases.

[maverick]

Hi Dozer,

Thanks for the intro. This info should have been added to your post about the HST, it allows us to get a feel of your experience and then recommend areas/routes accordingly.

[Dozer]

Hah! I'm starting to catch on! I'm a quick study, so in a few months I should have this ;-p

[maverick]

Hah! I'm starting to catch on! I'm a quick study, so in a few months I should have this ;-p

No biggie, just nice to have you on board, officially.

[dandaman49]

My name is Danny, I live in Fresno CA.

I love backpacking in the sierras and do it whenever I can get time off in the summer (which isnt nearly often enough). I also work at the Fresno/Clovis Convention & Visitors Bureau, and one of our big tourist draws in the area is the sierras, so we do all kinds of promotional stuff for the national parks and the rest of the mountains. I also sit on the steering committee for the SEKi anniversaries marketing effort, and go to the Yosemite gateway partners meetings every quarter.

I love this board, its the best i've found. Very knowledgeable people contributing here.

[maverick]

Hi Danny,

Thank you for taking the time to write up this intro.

[Crossdrew]

Geezer? Geez, I think you mean me! I have lurked around this board for several years and I think I introduced myself the first time I joined but I don't really remember. So, let me introduce myself again. I am a geezer, female variety. Like most women of my generation, I started backpacking in college w/boyfriends. Women didn't pack by themselves then. I did grow up camping and my earliest memories are of camping at Lake Tahoe, with my brother & I sleeping on the front seat of the family station wagon, covered w/blankets, while my parents slept in the back of the station wagon (I guess the seats folded down) and my mother taped newspapers around the windows to achieve privacy. My 4 year old brother called "dibs' on the steering wheel (he wanted to sleep under it) and I recall thinking "He is so dumb."I was 5. I fell in love with granite on that trip, listening to a state park ranger explain about granite while I held my father's hand. This was in the early 1950s. We camped every summer, often for weeks at a time, until college.

I continued backpacking and eventually, I took my son and later my nieces. By that time we did see women hiking together. Several of my woman freiends formed a group of women who felt very daring, backpacking together several times a year. I have hiked a lot in Desolation wilderness, since it is close by, but also in the Carson-Iceberg and one of my favorite wildernesses for backpacking with children is Caribou Wilderness next to Lassen Park. It is a very lovely & gentle environment.

Don't get me wrong, I love the high country, espec. The Ansel Adams, the area around Banner Peak. Oh, and Evolution basin, Oh! And the area around Bear Creek, along the JMT. Oh, and I could go on & on

About 6 years ago,we started using llamas to get into the backcountry. Some of you may have run into us as we have been trying to finish the JMT using llamas. We are known as the llama ladies. I would prefer to just carry a backpack but my back is not up to that so we use llamas and it has allowed me to continue to backpack well into Geezerhood.

This year we are going up over Taboose Pass again to try to get a section of the JMT that we haven't finished yet (Over Mather Pass). I am slow but that isn't due to age, I was always slow as a hiker, but I love being out there and I am OK with slow progress. I will give a trail report when we finish. We went up Taboose pass last year and while very very very steep, it is also very very very beautiful. Stunning in fact. I guess I'll sign off as 'the Lurking Geezer woman."

[mfang]

Hi, my name is Mark. I live in SD and am very grateful to be so close to the Sierra!

I have been hiking for the past couple years, mostly in the northern half of the range. I love the pine forests of Little Lakes Valley, Ansel Adams Wilderness, and Tuolumne. Have made trips to climb BCS, Tom, N Palisade, and a few others, and would love to scramble in Rae Lakes/Mt Clarence King and Fin Dome, Valhalla/Eagle Scout Peak. I'm hoping to do more snow climbs in the spring/early summer months on Feather Peak, Humphreys, Gilbert, as well as rock climbs in Tuolumne, Seven Gables/Royce Lakes/Granite Park area, and Whitney/Russell/Lone Pine Peak.

This forum is such a great resource; nice to meet everyone!

Edit:
Just read first post about TRs. I don't have written ones, but here are a couple videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOEV3z7xR8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDKOFfuxXLY

[maverick]

Hi Lurking Geezer Woman and Mark,

Welcome to HST! Geezer that's a second welcome to you since you Llamas posts back in 2013.
Thank you both, for taking the time to write up these intro's, and Mark, thanks for the video links.