High Sierra Topix

Finish this sentence: "I can't believe I still haven't been to..."

(It needn't be the full list of places you haven't yet visited in the Sierra, or even a Bucket List. Just some obvious destinations that you keep missing for some reason.)

And: How are you going to remedy this problem next season?

I'll start.

I can't believe I still haven't been to...

1. Ionian Basin
2. Lake Reflection
3. Moose Lake
4. Nine Lakes Basin
5. Bench Lake
6. Marie & Davis Lakes (Ansel Adams Wilderness)
7. Top of Clouds Rest
8. Twin Lakes to Tuolumne section of the Sierra High Trail (after getting it permitted for 3 years in a row, and having to bow out for various reasons all 3 times)

How I'll remedy this next year: Plan an early-season visit to either Clouds Rest or Marie/Davis Lakes. Permit Twin Lakes to Tuolumne for the 4th time, and hope that no fires, work, etc. interfere this time. If I join an HST get-together I might have an opportunity to see either Nine Lakes Basin or Lake Reflection on the way there Plan for a September visit to Moose Lake with an old friend who likes cross-country but can never get away from work for trips longer than 3 days.

- Elizabeth

Nice idea for a thread thankyou but this person won't have anything to offer haha.

Well I passed the point of not visiting expected key Sierra destinations of interest many years ago. That doesn't mean I don't have some additional worthy places I might consider visiting but there are good reasons why, so "I can't believe", would not apply. The Sierra Nevada is a vast place with enough interesting places to fill the lifetime of any enthusiast.

For instance, on my short list of destinations I actually have detailed spreadsheet plans for is the upper Kern Basin and areas west of Taboose Pass. Really easy to understand why because they require very strenuous verticals from trailheads to reach the crest passes and are a rather long drive. Although not as much an issue for someone carrying light loads, in my case it is a staggering effort. Then too are fine destinations that are 3 plus days from trailheads that have logistical issues of limited volume of bear canisters to support adequate food. And some places like the southern Eastern Sierra like Cottonwood Basin are 400 plus mile drives from where I live. Has been much easier to visit other easier to reach places with less strenuous routes, some of which I've visited multiple times.

My list is not anything resembling a "Key places everyone must go in the Sierra" list. A common "Key Places" list would look more like this: Half Dome; Mount Whitney; Rae Lakes; Waterwheel Falls; Ediza/Thousand Island Lakes; the JMT. Yosemite, in general. Those are the famous places the guidebooks talk about and to which people initially flock. Most people on here seem to avoid them. (I do - except Ediza - can't keep away from that place.) Or we have Been There, Done That 20 years ago, and are on to more pristine and lesser-known High Sierra destinations.

To the contrary, the places I list - Moose Lake, Davis Lake during the paintbrush bloom - are often places I only learned about *here* on HST, after spending way too much time reading people's reports If a lot of the experienced people here on HST rave about a particular place - Ionian Basin - I'm inclined to believe that there is truly something special about that place. Maybe it's more spectacular than your average Sierra destination, or the photography more interesting, or the solitude more palpable, or the route-finding unusually interesting.

I call BS on the notion that it doesn't at all matter where you go, that any one destination is going to be just as interesting as any other. If that were true, we wouldn't be wasting our time here, perusing mouth-watering trips that others have done, in the hopes of some day trying it ourselves. Comparing notes. Sharing that someplace exceeded our expectations; or disappointed us. Instead, we'd just drive up to the nearest trailhead that qualifies as part of the Sierra - in the case of the Bay Area, that would probably be a low-elevation hike off Highway 80 - and do a hot, boring, viewless trek through the trees every time.

- Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth,

I can't believe I still haven't been to...

1. Ionian Basin
...

Through living a long life and having a brother who planned wonderful trips, I have been to all the places on your list. And loved them all of course. In the same spirit I have a short list of places that I should have been by now. I've never been:
over Forester Pass
across Woods Creek suspension bridge
Also I have a project to collect a small amount of snow from each of the 15 Sierra glaciers. I have
sampled these:
Dana Glacier - Mount Dana
Goethe Glacier - Mount Goethe

Scheduled for next year are Lilliput Glacier (May or June) then Mendel Glacier and Darwin Glacier (September or October)

I completely agree with your last post.
Lastly, your note about what is interesting...

Maybe it's more spectacular than your average Sierra destination, or the photography more interesting, or the solitude more palpable, or the route-finding unusually interesting.

I've noticed that Secor and others give the Enchanted Gorge a kind of thumbs down, too boring for a mountaineer. It has your list in the extreme: awesome route finding, photographic possibilities, absolute solitude. Spectacular.
-mort

To be clear oleander and this is trivial, my statement "Well I passed the point of not visiting expected key Sierra destinations of interest many years ago" doesn't mean, a "Key places everyone must go in the Sierra" list. Rather more verbosely, I was writing that any places of strong interest to this old person as someone that has backpacked over 4 decades averaging over 4 backpacking trips per year, I've already had more than enough time to visit, so have done so happily. In fact, this last decade have visited more areas I've already been to in the past versus places that are new. Even when I re-visit old favorite basins, because landscapes are so vast, I never fail to find new secrets and ramble upon new wonders.

Within the intent of your thread, as I noted, worthwhile topic for the board. And would expect many members here will have a good list that fits what you see. In any case please don't interpret my response as an indirect criticism of bothering to answer your question in the way posed.

I want to visit the Window Peak drainage where Randy Mortgensen was found. I met him in 1985 when he had my dumb a$$ buddy helicoptered out of Ionian Basin. Read the book 3 times over the last few years and don't know why, but I want to pay homage to the man.

I most likely won't happen in 2015. Maybe.

Elizabeth,

I think in comparison to most of the group here, I'm a bit too much of a newbie to have a short list of places "I can't believe I haven't been to..." Instead, I find myself with an overwhelming list of places "I need to go to and how will I get to them all!?!"

For us, it seems to work like this:

• 1. Plan hike A
  2. Execute hike A - while on hike A spot something that spurs the plan for hike B
  3. Plan hike B
  4. Execute hike B - while on hike B spot something that spurs the plans for hike C
  5. Plan hike C
  6. Read one of your trip reports - Plan hike C2 - Put hike C on hold
  7. Execute hike C2 - when are we going to do hike C - while on hike C2 spot something that spurs the plan for hike D
  8. Plan hike C or D??? So many good hikes to do!
  9. Etc...

Jimr wrote:I want to visit the Window Peak drainage where Randy Mortgensen was found.

Jimr - I, too, loved the book and have always wanted to visit this spot! Glad I'm not the only one.

Happy Hiking,
Shannon

I have been all over the Sierra but, there are still some loose ends and certainly some that are "can't believe I haven't...).

1. Lakes Basin (ie the one in Kings Canyon NP). Really can't believe I haven't been there yet.
2. Pinnacles Creek drainages (had on list for very long time and will try to take of this next year).
3. A southern E. side lake of some recent notoriety.
4. Tehipite Valley
5. Central Emigrant Wilderness (ie Emigrant-Huckleberry etc.)
6. Northern E. side lake of quite a bit of recent notoriety--will be visited with entire family next summer
7.Benson-Smedberg Lake area (have been fairly close, to Tallulah/Doe etc.)

There are other loose ends, and a few summits, too. I still find many new places to visit that are not on my "can't believe list...". In 2014 I fished 10 High Sierra lakes I've never fished before, bringing my High Sierra personal "lake list" to about 700 lakes. There are still a whole mess of lakes that are on my "want to do list" but don't qualify for the "can't believe I haven't been to" list. I find that trip planning for a given year is mix of exploring new places and going back to favorites, with more of the latter than the former.

I can't believe I haven't been to...uh...umm....Some where else than the Sierra?

I edited my post as I misunderstood the point...as usual

Cant believe list?

Bench lake/arrow peak/window peak area is a trip I have switched at the last minute a bunch of times, and blue lake pass area is another trip I have had a couple near misses on too. I cant believe I havnt done these 2 areas yet everywhere else I havnt been, I just simply hope to visit.


I was reading about the inyo canyons that drain east into saline valley....I CAN believe I havn't been there because it is so isolated, but I would like to go one day. That is one place that I would require extensive planning though