High Sierra Topix

• Not having to drive so far from wherever one lives else possible hours on the road versus on the destination have little balance over just 2 days. For this person that is 4 or 5 hours max.
  
  Any national park destinations or the still few national forest destinations that demand standing in front of a person for a sermon at a ranger station at 8am or later Saturday mornings on trail departure days make getting enough hours in at destinations for activities rather hopeless. Conversely being able to get a short notice wilderness permit at recreation.gov then having it set up for a night box pickup on the evening of a drive in is ideal. And that can leverage a night hike in too in order to really have a day.
  
  Mileage and time on the trail is short so after one gets to wherever, they are still lively and have enough time to enjoy themselves both on the hike in day and the next morning. This requirement eliminates a lot of backpacking destinations that are long one day efforts. Of course the more ultra-light the more strongly conditioned a person is, the further that can be.

SSSdave wrote: A good example of that is Pioneer Basin at 11 miles and 2700 feet vertical going in. Unlike many destinations where it is up the first day and all down on the return, because of the crest one has to climb all the way back up 2k going out. So yeah possible for not much more than a peak bagger's endurance challenge.

schmalz wrote:Also, one other random note:

These types of trips really highlight the inadequacies of the permit system. In a nutshell, getting a walk in permit for a trip like this is a huge pain, since you have to wait til 8AM to begin the process of waiting to get one etc. For example, for my Finger Lake example, if I show up in Lone Pine at 8 on a Saturday to get a weekend permit, I will probably not be on the trail until 9:30ish. That is a huge chunk of the day wasted and it can really limit where you can go.

So, I usually only try these trips now if I can reserve a permit ahead of time for a destination that is not in a NP so that I can pick it up in the night drop box. That way, I can hit the trail by 7AM on Saturday and give myself a full day and a half in the mountains, which can really go a long way if you plan the trip right.

SweetSierra wrote:

SSSdave wrote:

Since none of you answered Oleander's question about Ruby Lake, that gives me a chance to toss out that it often seems like I'm about the only one on this board that uses topo's plus Google Earth much in threads? I'm betting some of you despite the fact we talk about it often have never installed the free Google Earth application?

Thanks Dave. I was the one who mentioned Ruby Lake as a possibility. I'm glad to know that it's more well traveled than I thought I was. It makes sense, considering many would stay after crossing Mono Pass. My impression (wrong) was that it was more of a climb than day hikers (or backpackers) would want to do if the start is Little Lakes Valley TH.

schmalz wrote:

SSSdave wrote: A good example of that is Pioneer Basin at 11 miles and 2700 feet vertical going in. Unlike many destinations where it is up the first day and all down on the return, because of the crest one has to climb all the way back up 2k going out. So yeah possible for not much more than a peak bagger's endurance challenge.

Can't say I agree with you here. Last time I was there I was able to pack up camp in the morning, hike out, and I was home by 5PM. 11 miles with 2700 feet gain/loss isn't that big of a hike. If you are only out for 1 night and the weather forecast is favorable, you don't really need to haul in a ton of gear or food either.

ERIC wrote:I think SSSdave's pack weight might be partly to blame for the difference in opinion here. IIRC, he packs considerably heavier than maybe most on here do.

Steve_C wrote:Out of Tuolumne Meadows, the Elizabeth Lake trail takes you to Elizabeth lake. From there, you could climb x-c toward Johnson Pk. The unnamed lake there has a sandy beach. I'm not sure it qualifies as to the 4-mile distance from TM, but it would make a really nice place to camp. If one spent two nights, the ridges and peaks would make a nice day hike.

gmap 4 link

Looking at the YNP trailheads map, you would probably need a Rafferty Creek permit (24A), since Elizabeth does not meet the distance requirement. But the lake I am referring to is definitely outside the "dispersed camping" arrows of Rafferty and Cathedral Lakes (21).