High Sierra Topix

hikerdmb wrote:I also used Basin Notch on my hike 2 years ago. It was easy to find and descend. While I was in 60 Lake Basin I spoke with a ranger and we discussed following the creek all the way down. He said a trail crew had done it for fun and it was doable but much more rugged than they had thought it would be. Sorry I can't offer something more specific for you. If you go that way please share some pics.

About ten years ago or so we crossed over a low point far north in the basin after mistaking it for Basin Notch. It was as the trail crew described, if they went this way. It was a very steep descent (I had to hold onto a tree while my partner looked around a rocky outcropping to see if we could make it down that way) to a creek in a gully in which we then had to climb steeply up and out of to the JMT. After, we saw the notch area south of us and how easy it would have been.

SweetSierra wrote: About ten years ago or so we crossed over a low point far north in the basin after mistaking it for Basin Notch. It was as the trail crew described, if they went this way. It was a very steep descent (I had to hold onto a tree while my partner looked around a corner just to see if it was doable) to a creek in a small basin in which we then had to climb steeply up and out of to the JMT. After, we saw how easy Basin Notch would have been.

SweetSierra,

Thank you for confirming what looks to be a resounding consensus! Nothing like a good confidence builder when planning cross-country legs. It's good revisiting this excellent website. I poked around after having been absent much of the past few years.

Kudos to giantbrookie's excellent page on "Fish Kill and Lost Lake Log". And the High Sierra Map is another fantastic resource within an already outstanding website.

Thank you all

Trip Report:

http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.p ... irm_post=7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers,

Greg

I never trust trails marked on topo maps as they were often hand entered. A year or two ago I showed on the summitpost.org site how the topo map lower trail up Shepherd Pass is grossly inaccurate by overlaying the satellite image on map. Then Bob Burd responded with a GPS track he'd made that was closely atop the true route I'd made. There are lots of other trails I know to be off also. Your software is likely a garbage in garbage out issue.

Personally as a smaller person carrying even more weight than you, I'd never consider taking on any of those 4 epic vertical rise trails in a day as you and most backpackers do and instead do so more leisurely in two. Cool to see the bighorns. Only one I've ever seen was along SR120 near Tioga Pass. IMO 60 Lakes and Rae Lakes basins though fine on many counts indeed would not make my top 20 list as the surrounding peaks are mostly ho hum. But certainly fine high country to be sure.

SSSdave wrote:I never trust trails marked on topo maps as they were often hand entered. A year or two ago I showed on the summitpost.org site how the topo map lower trail up Shepherd Pass is grossly inaccurate by overlaying the satellite image on map. Then Bob Burd responded with a GPS track he'd made that was closely atop the true route I'd made. There are lots of other trails I know to be off also. Your software is likely a garbage in garbage out issue.

Interesting. That's the first time I've had an issue using pre-configured waypoints and mapping software, but I've only used Topo North America for the past three years. For several years prior, I used BaseCamp with a Garmin GPS without incidence. I switched to Delorme because I wanted the InReach Satellite Communicator.

The Kings Canyon Trail Map by Tom Harrison does show a route similar to the one I ended up recording via GPS tracking. I submitted my findings to Topo North America but have yet to hear back from them. I recorded GPS tracks for the entire trip and otherwise the software proved accurate, even the trail over Sawmill was pretty much dead on.

One year I met Tom Harrison with his wheel used for mileage recording going up Mono Creek but the Sierra is vast and many of his maps use the same incorrect trail positions as were on USGS topos. Some of the Wilderness Press guides corrected trails but again most of their maps just copied the USGS maps. In this era with GPS all that could be corrected if hikers had a place to send in corrections for. I suggested such a few years ago but as someone not using GPS am not aware of what is going on with that.

Would be amused to see what your software shows for trails in this Mineral King area of the topo?

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=36.44986,-118.57953&z=15&t=T" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If not same do a screen capture and lets see what it shows.

SSSdave wrote: One year I met Tom Harrison with his wheel used for mileage recording going up Mono Creek but the Sierra is vast and many of his maps use the same incorrect trail positions as were on USGS topos. Some of the Wilderness Press guides corrected trails but again most of their maps just copied the USGS maps. In this era with GPS all that could be corrected if hikers had a place to send in corrections for. I suggested such a few years ago but as someone not using GPS am not aware of what is going on with that.

Would be amused to see what your software shows for trails in this Mineral King area of the topo?

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=36.44986,-118.57953&z=15&t=T" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If not same do a screen capture and lets see what it shows.

Meeting Tom Harrison, that's a unique encounter!

It is different...

This area has been on my list for a few years and your trip report makes me itch to go even more. I know it's a little late, but thanks for posting and it looked like an amazing trip.

Mradford wrote:This area has been on my list for a few years and your trip report makes me itch to go even more. I know it's a little late, but thanks for posting and it looked like an amazing trip.

It's a fun basin and well worth the visit. Cheers!

Quick contribution to an old topic: exiting via the notch to the east of Sixty Lakes Basin is pretty straightforward, see the attached track. We talked to a few people (ranger station, etc) before, and were largely discouraged ('avoid getting lost in Sixty Lakes'), but decided to look around anyway.

We bypassed the more westerly marked track in the basin, and stayed along the eastern ridge. When we got to the 'first' notch it looked like a really inviting gate out of there. A faint track shows up from time to time (found a rusted metal can & a glass jar at some point), until it became more defined directly at the notch. The steep ravine out shows clear signs of use - otherwise it would be somewhat sketchy, but the connection to Dollar lake through the forest is undefined. Or we missed the marks.

Probably should have turned east sooner to connect more easily with Arrowhead lake, but that's with hindsight (map & compass only while hiking). Definitely doable with decent footwear & a dislike of in/out hikes.