High Sierra Topix

zwoij wrote:
On the west side, I see there are no reserved permits for the (Pear) Lakes Trailhead. So if you are not going to camp at one of the lakes but in the Tablelands does the quota apply the same way?

SEKI has a set quota of 25 per day for the Lakes trail and all first day destinations are included in that quota, yes. Table Meadows is a fairly easy option to get to if you don't want to use a site at Pear Lake the first night.

Groups can suck up the quota in a hurry, but unlike Yosemite it's relatively easy to be first in line by showing up just before the office at Lodgepole opens. Especially on a weekday.

FYI, there's an easy route between the Roaring River area and Big Brewer Lake--leave the Avalanche Pass trail a little south of Moraine Meadow and follow the top of the moraine all the way up to the ridge where it ends, then cut over to Brewer Creek (Lake 9735 is lovely, btw) and follow the creek up. I did this in reverse a few years ago.

I like the Moraine Ridge route! I looked at your write-up Tehipite Tom.

What I'm worried about is driving all the way to Onion Valley and not getting a permit. Could we be confident of getting a walk-up permit at Onion Valley if we are there at opening time? I'm leaning towards a west side start because if not the Lakes trailhead, there are other trailheads nearby that will get us to the same area by a different route.

On the east side we could get a permit for Baxter Pass, which adds 12 miles to get to East Lake, but would let us see Rae Lakes. That would be nice, but would cut down time for cross country travel around Brewer. My friend handled routes and permitting on our trips the last couple years. Now that
I'm doing it I have learned my lesson: prepare early and get a permit early.

Could we be confident of getting a walk-up permit at Onion Valley if we are there at opening time?

There are 24 walk-in permits per day, just get to the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine early (opening) and you will be fine, especially if you have a weekday start.

maverick wrote:

Could we be confident of getting a walk-up permit at Onion Valley if we are there at opening time?

There are 24 walk-in permits per day, just get to the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine early (opening) and you will be fine, especially if you have a weekday start.

Just to be clear, are you talking about opening time the day of or the day before? Because walk-up permits are available the day before entry. (SeKi releases next-day walk-ins at noon or so; the Inyo website says "walk in permits cannot be issued more than one day before the entry date", which I take as any time that day.)

The walk-ins are released at 11 am the day before the start of your trip, so if you have the time, go a day before (before 11 am), stand in line (if there is one) and get your permit if you are worried.

I would recommend getting the permit the day before, for a lot of reasons:
[*]If you get it that morning, you're stuck with a really late start (not on the trail til maybe 9 or 9:30 at the earliest);
[*]You have a better shot at getting a permit in the first place; and
[*]You can spend the night at Onion Valley to get acclimated.

Last time I got a permit for Onion Valley, it was a Saturday and the permit was for the next day. But when I got to the parking lot, all the campsites were taken. It was 4PM. I just went up the trail to Matlock Lake and camped. I know that it was not 100% legal to do this but I was not about to drive back down the road to find a lower campsite because Owens Valley was thick with smoke from forest fires and I was already coughing from too much breathing smoke. Ended up that Matlock Lake was absolutely gorgeous! I am glad I camped there. If you get a same-day permit there are plenty of places to camp before you reach Kearsarge Pass.

If you know your exact dates, you can reserve a campsite at Onion Valley Campground at recreation.gov. So you can get the permit the day before and then go to your reserved campsite.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/rec ... 2&actid=29

LMBSGV wrote:If you know your exact dates, you can reserve a campsite at Onion Valley Campground at recreation.gov. So you can get the permit the day before and then go to your reserved campsite.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/rec ... 2&actid=29

Yeah, that's what I did the one time I went out of Onion Valley. High elevation campground, good for acclimation, and you can get a nice early start.