High Sierra Topix

windknot wrote:I don't want to hijack GB's great thread but thanks for the very timely report on the Sphinx basin, Dave. I was planning on a 4-day trip exploring the Sphinxes and Big Brewer for mid-September, and now I'm wavering between that and a Woodchuck Country trip. I still want to do both, it's just a question of which one I'd rather do this year and which one I'll have to put off until next. A nice dilemma to have, to be sure.

Matt

The Sphinxes and Big Brewer certainly don't have as big fish as Woodchuck (bigger Sphinxes and Big Brewer have rainbows that top out near 15" with decent numbers in the 12" range) and are quite a bit harder to reach (big elevation gain coming out of Road's End), but they are a much more ruggedly alpine area than Woodchuck Country which is your basic subdued west slope type setting. If scenery is the main focus, I'd pick the Sphinx area, whereas if lunkers are the target, then Woodchuck is the way to go.

Thanks for the report. I'm slowly exploring the southern Sierra.

Get some pics up please of those fish!

giantbrookie, those are some huge backcountry trout, and wonderful photos! Gracias so much!

Thanks for posting pictures! Truly some huge fish.

Matt

NIce post; very helpful.

I'm dreaming of a Tunemah - Tehipite route for this summer, and was wondering if you know of anyone who's dropped down from the lakes east of Tunemah to Goddard Creek and on to Simpson Meadow. Seems like a nice alternative to Tunemah "Pass." I am thinking of starting from Rancheria, then Crown Basin, Blue Canyon, Dykeman Pass, and so on. Maybe 8 or 9 days. Yes, there will be fishing...

Anyone? Bueller?

baghwan wrote:NIce post; very helpful. I'm dreaming of a Tunemah - Tehipite route for this summer, and was wondering if you know of anyone who's dropped down from the lakes east of Tunemah to Goddard Creek and on to Simpson Meadow. Seems like a nice alternative to Tunemah "Pass." I am thinking of starting from Rancheria, then Crown Basin, Blue Canyon, Dykeman Pass, and so on. Maybe 8 or 9 days. Yes, there will be fishing...
Anyone? Bueller?

I certainly haven't heard of anyone who has done this which was one of the motivations for scheduling it last year. I must admit that there was some degree of relief when the ranger told me that I couldn't go to Tehipite because of the fire there (that burned nearly all summer). I guess I had wondered why I'd want to fight my way through the brush only to reach a trail (Middle Fork) versus spending more time in trailless country as it turned out once I was turned away from Tehipite. I suspect, but don't know for sure, that the descent from the lowest of lakes I visited (east and below Tunemah) to Goddard Creek should be doable without exceeding class 2. By descending to Goddard Creek (instead of coming the other way) this probably means that one would have to improvise a bit given that there will be some vanishing points. Once reaching Goddard Creek there are some reports and written descriptions--the gist of which is that from the Enchanted Gorge confluence downstream to the Kings the brush is heinous. How heinous? Ah, this is hard to judge. How does it compare to Muro Blanco? Or the Bermuda Triangle highlights such as Kendrick Creek Canyon (Edyth Lake)? I don't know because those writing about it didn't give a point of comparison. If I had a longer trip (say 8-9 days instead of the 5 days I had) I wouldn't hesitate to try and find out.

the good ol days

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3090&p=32148&hilit=hoffman#p32148" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dave -

Do you annotate the Google images directly in the program or take a screen shot and annotate them in another program.

Bill

sekihiker wrote:Dave -

Do you annotate the Google images directly in the program or take a screen shot and annotate them in another program.

Bill

Open Photoshop, screen shot with mwsnap 3, <ctrl A><ctrl C>, open new in Photoshop, <ctrl V> then draw lines, add text, resize.

Note as a late June 3-day warmup backpack to a 9-day mid July trip we will do over Sawtooth Pass in SEKI may hike this route into Chimney and beyond. Will likely carry some of these printed out GE images along for reference as am thinking of cross country night hiking the first 1.5 miles to about 8700. A challenging down in the forest route even during the day. That would make more certain we will easily on by noon reach would a Woodchuck Lake chuck wood if a Woodchuck could chuck wood. Will catch the brook trout that flipped off GB's hook.