High Sierra Topix

No ideas at all.

Life has given me quite the bone though. Turns out I can get off of my [merchant marine] ship anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks off this summer. Most likely I'll get off June 6 through August 15th. Once I check into the Mammoth Guest House and get an early morning coffee at the Looney Bean a time or five, I'll see where inspiration moves me...

Hard to believe, but an entire 70 days for the Sierra this season. It's a bit overwhelming.

As for planned trips:

A short mileage overnight trip in June with my son (3 1/2), and possibly my friend and his son who's the same age as mine, to the Eldorado NF (Silver Fork American River/Caples Creek or Lyons Creek).

I have a 5 day/4 night trip planned with my brother and friend for the 4th of July into Emigrant Wilderness (Kennedy Meadows TH>Relief Reservoir>Emigrant Lake>Wire Lakes>Upper Relief Valley>Kennedy Meadows TH).

I've reserved a permit for a trip in mid-July from Tuolumne (Lyell Canyon TH) to Agnew Meadows.

Nothing else on calendar, but I'm going to try to see if I can sneak away for a week and check out Evolution Valley. Also, I'm sure there will be quite a few 2-night trips in Desolation/Emigrant Wilderness.

FeetFirst wrote:As for planned trips:

...

I have a 5 day/4 night trip planned with my brother and friend for the 4th of July into Emigrant Wilderness (Kennedy Meadows TH>Relief Reservoir>Emigrant Lake>Wire Lakes>Upper Relief Valley>Kennedy Meadows TH).

Please give me intel on the Wires when you get back. had a great trip there in the early 80's. I want to know how it changed over the decades.

Russ

Only firm plan so far is a week in Yellowstone in June.

Trying to schedule a long weekend to Pinnacles sometime this year.
Mostly local weekend trips. I am nursing a nagging knee injury that won't go away.

rlown wrote:
Please give me intel on the Wires when you get back. had a great trip there in the early 80's. I want to know how it changed over the decades.

Russ

Will do.

The lack of snow will make it an early year - this is the first year I've been above 12000' in the Sierra in the first half of March. By August this year, it might be pretty dry out there.

I also have a 4-5 day trip planned for the Emigrant Wilderness in the last week of June or the first week of July. Maybe the water problems won't be as bad that early in the hiking season. I've never been to the area.

My plan is to enter at Pine Valley and go to Cherry Creek, Pinagree Lake, and Big Lake, with Big Lake being the base camp. I want to visit Camp Yellowhammer and climb some peaks in the area.

Going to do a loop on the JMT northbound from Devil's Postpile to the PCT split at Thousand Island and back following the PCT on Memorial weekend.
This was the only section of the JMT that I missed in the summer of 2012 due to the big blowdown earlier that year.
And starting Aug. 2nd I will be attempting the Walkers Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt
(all on foot no short cutting).

Since I am a huge soccer fan, I have to plan around the World Cup schedule (mid June to mid July)

First, is an overnighter with the wife to Santa Cruz Island (Channel Islands) in April.

Next up, a family trip to Point Reyes scheduled for early June. I will be taking my 8 year old grandson on his first ever backpacking trip, so this one should be nice, easy & fun for him; hopefully he will be hooked for more adventurous trips down the road.

Then, in no particular order, since I will have to coordinate dates with other folks, are trips to Emigrant and/or Desolation Wilderness; Yosemite (probably up Mono Pass/Parker Pass trailhead); and my first ever trip to the Eastern Sierra (thinking about exploring either the Thousand Island Lakes or Little Lakes Valley areas).

Can't wait!

April 17 spending 5 days in the Canadian Rockies ski touring to Tonquin Valley in Jasper Nat. Park.

In mid Sept. a week long trip out of Roads End over Avalanche pass up Colby all the way to Triple Divide pk. Over Milestone into the upper Kern. Over the KK again this year down to Reflection and x-country to Sphinx taking in Mt. Brewer. Hopefully peak bagging and tenkara fishing along the way.

At some point this summer work will take me to Yellowstone and I'm hoping to spend 5 days perhaps on the west side of the Tetons or in the Wind River range as well. Hopefully in August.

Other than that lots of weekends car camping with my 3 year old daughter (turns 3 in June) and hopefully her first overnight backpacking trip.