Tablelands route advice / critique my choices!
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 7:18 pm
Hey y'all!
I'm planning a trip to SeKi starting Tuesday, June 27 and I'd love your advice. I've done a lot of searching of the boards already, trying to piece together past trip reports, my own experience in this area, and this year conditions reports to make a good plan. But what I haven't done yet is the exact route refinement, especially on a couple parts of the trip, so I'd love your help with that!
The plan is:
Day 0: Get permit, camp at Lodgepole, day hike up Tokopah Falls to look for bears / acclimate
Day 1: Wolverton (Alta) --> Buck Creek
Day 2: Buck Creek --> Tamarack Lake
Day 3: Tamarack Lake --> shelf below Lonely Lake (day hike to Lonely Lake / Horn Col)
Day 4: Shelf below Lonely Lake --> Lake 11,200 via Pterodactyl Pass
Day 5: Lake 11,200 --> Pear Lake via Table Meadows
Day 6: Pear Lake --> Wolverton via Watchtower
Here's my CalTopo rough plan: https://caltopo.com/m/06Q2
I'll be going solo, and mostly just trying to enjoy some time above treeline looking at the Great Western Divide, so I've kept a few of the days quite short. Here are my main questions:
1. I would very much rather spend night 1 at Alta Meadows, but doing that makes backtracking to the HST connector then all the way to Tamarack prohibitively long. Is it possible to follow one of the creeks (or some other route) from Alta Meadows straight down to connect with the HST? Google satellite photos make it seem unlikely, but maybe y'all know some secrets.
2. Approx what elevation would be best to stop at along Lonely Lake's outlet to optimize views of Valhalla and the next day's journey to Pterodactyl Pass?
3. Can I pretty much contour over from Pterodactyl Pass over to Lake 11,200, gaining a bit along the way, or are there obstacles (talus, cliffs) that I need to avoid by staying higher or lower?
4. I've chosen a route that is almost all southern exposure so hopefully snow will be a non-issue... right?
5. Is my route from Lake 11,200 to Pear roughly correct?
6. Will I be traipsing through bogs in Table Meadows? Should I choose a different route to Pear (perhaps higher along the ridge to connect with the route from Moose to Pear?)
7. Should I camp somewhere else besides Pear to avoid idiots with pool floats and beers at the lake? Or is it worth it to stay there in spite of marmot and human annoyances? I can imagine I'll want a swim, and I haven't been to Pear Lake in 15 years.
8. Should I carry more traction besides poles? Microspikes? Do you think gaiters will be worth carrying too? I don't expect to see much snow I can't avoid, but...
Thank you!!
ps I think y'all know me by now but I'm a Level 3+ comfortable navigating off-trail solo. I love big mountain vistas, especially at sunset/sunrise, and I love swimming in freezing cold lakes. I've done a couple warm-up trips already this year (Deso and Yosemite).
I'm planning a trip to SeKi starting Tuesday, June 27 and I'd love your advice. I've done a lot of searching of the boards already, trying to piece together past trip reports, my own experience in this area, and this year conditions reports to make a good plan. But what I haven't done yet is the exact route refinement, especially on a couple parts of the trip, so I'd love your help with that!
The plan is:
Day 0: Get permit, camp at Lodgepole, day hike up Tokopah Falls to look for bears / acclimate
Day 1: Wolverton (Alta) --> Buck Creek
Day 2: Buck Creek --> Tamarack Lake
Day 3: Tamarack Lake --> shelf below Lonely Lake (day hike to Lonely Lake / Horn Col)
Day 4: Shelf below Lonely Lake --> Lake 11,200 via Pterodactyl Pass
Day 5: Lake 11,200 --> Pear Lake via Table Meadows
Day 6: Pear Lake --> Wolverton via Watchtower
Here's my CalTopo rough plan: https://caltopo.com/m/06Q2
I'll be going solo, and mostly just trying to enjoy some time above treeline looking at the Great Western Divide, so I've kept a few of the days quite short. Here are my main questions:
1. I would very much rather spend night 1 at Alta Meadows, but doing that makes backtracking to the HST connector then all the way to Tamarack prohibitively long. Is it possible to follow one of the creeks (or some other route) from Alta Meadows straight down to connect with the HST? Google satellite photos make it seem unlikely, but maybe y'all know some secrets.
2. Approx what elevation would be best to stop at along Lonely Lake's outlet to optimize views of Valhalla and the next day's journey to Pterodactyl Pass?
3. Can I pretty much contour over from Pterodactyl Pass over to Lake 11,200, gaining a bit along the way, or are there obstacles (talus, cliffs) that I need to avoid by staying higher or lower?
4. I've chosen a route that is almost all southern exposure so hopefully snow will be a non-issue... right?
5. Is my route from Lake 11,200 to Pear roughly correct?
6. Will I be traipsing through bogs in Table Meadows? Should I choose a different route to Pear (perhaps higher along the ridge to connect with the route from Moose to Pear?)
7. Should I camp somewhere else besides Pear to avoid idiots with pool floats and beers at the lake? Or is it worth it to stay there in spite of marmot and human annoyances? I can imagine I'll want a swim, and I haven't been to Pear Lake in 15 years.
8. Should I carry more traction besides poles? Microspikes? Do you think gaiters will be worth carrying too? I don't expect to see much snow I can't avoid, but...
Thank you!!
ps I think y'all know me by now but I'm a Level 3+ comfortable navigating off-trail solo. I love big mountain vistas, especially at sunset/sunrise, and I love swimming in freezing cold lakes. I've done a couple warm-up trips already this year (Deso and Yosemite).