Have you backpack (semi) base camped several days?

[SSSdave]

Where have you (semi) base camped at several days and what did you do there? Where are some places you think are excellent areas to do so?

Not a backcountry location where you spent a couple nights with just a single layover day that many do just to relax and recover but rather at least 2 full day times.

Since modest numbers of even experienced backpackers with a more trail orientation have never even done a layover day much less base camped I'll as someone doing this style of backpacking trips over decades, first describes what it is. This is of course similar to the parallel car camping concept of plunking down some place then using that as a base over a few days to explore surrounding natural areas. Likewise horse packer service equestrian visitors base camp when they set up a fancy camp in the backcountry and then use that to enjoy a surrounding area.

With backpacking one has more flexibility to also easily move one's camp short distances say less than a couple mile within an area and that additionl option I also sometimes do is what I refer to as semi-base camping. A fisherman might visit a high basin with several lakes and if all lakes of interest are quite close together, be content to just make a single good base camp at they use over a few days. Or there may be a few close lakes but in order to fish early or late they may need to actually camp at more than one though just a mile apart. Or a peakbagger may set up in a place like Lake Italy with plans to knock off over a few days its impressive surrounding summits. With photographers there may be significant advantages in actually being camped close to where one will be doing early or late light work to the extent that just moving a camp a half mile may be worth the bother.

It can be comforting after spending 2 or 3 days reaching remote basins knowing the strenuous effort is over and now one can relax, slow down, and move around without the burden of a heavier backpack or trail hours. When one does move, it may take a half hour to hour to pack up and then less than an hour to reach the next location and another hour or less to set up a new camp so the majority of one's day is little impacted with little effort involved. Moving camp about short distances also may provide added variety in how one can enjoy an area actually spending time living there absorbing it all.

Last year, 3 of us on an 8 day adventure, semi-base camped 6 nights in Humphreys Basin at 3 camp spots within a mile of each other. We camped in one spot 3 nights, another 2, and one night in another. Sometimes as a group, sometime solo we fished, we explored landscapes, I worked the zone for photography subjects, and we enjoyed much relaxed time just doing camp stuff like meals or simply lounging about in the shade enjoying the grand visuals. Or watching marmots and belding ground squirrels move about and play nearby. Each time we moved camp it was mid day after morning sessions enjoying our area. We would agree to all get back to camp by say 11am and then pack up, hiking off trail for less than an hour moving camp, and be set up in our new location making lunch by 1pm with a full afternoon of new adventures awaiting.

http://www.davidsenesac.com/2018_Trip_C ... 018-8.html

[rlown]

Humphreys and French basins are perfect for that.

We used to do that at Upper Mattie and Virginia Lake, but those aren't as appealing to me anymore.

[c9h13no3]

We used to do that at Upper Mattie and Virginia Lake, but those aren't as appealing to me anymore.

Why?

This is my favorite type of trip, all the advantages of backpacking with none of the weight on your shoulders everyday.

[rlown]

No fish now. All netted.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12000&hilit=upper+mattie

As it is with Upper Mattie and V, frogs have invaded my pool again. Simba loves them. Ate at least 2.

The other nice place to base camp is at Evelyn Lk on the NE side. You can fish Evelyn for days, hit townsley and even Hanging Basket.

[balzaccom]

We've done that at Echo Lake and Ten Lakes Basin in Yosemite. Also at Fourth Recess near Pioneer Basin. And Humphreys Basin. And probably more.

[kpeter]

For 35 years this was almost the only kind of backpacking I did. I had to learn that picking up camp and moving every night had its own rewards.

Here are places I have base camped, all for at least 3 nights without moving except as noted:
Dusy Basin
Humphries Basin
Sabrina Basin, several times, usually around Dingleberry
Thousand Island Lake
Ediza Lake
Duck Lake
Little Lakes Valley (just 2 nights)
Granite Park
Big Pine Lakes (5th Lake)
Charlotte Lake
Cottonwood Lakes

Numerous similar trips in Idaho, Oregon, Washington.

[longri]

I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of backpackers have done this, at least once. Although I love to walk and so usually don't have layover days, never mind multiple layover days, there was an extended period where virtually all of my trips were in this category.

[Wandering Daisy]

That is the standard method used by climbers. Base camp location was determined by what we wanted to climb. Palisade Basin (Barrett Lake) is perfect for west side routes on North Palisade, Thunderbolt, Polemonium and Sill. Sam Mack Meadow is a base for east side routes. Finger Lake a good base for Middle Palisade and surrounding peaks. We spent 3 nights at the head of Tuttle Creek and climbed Corcoran, LeConte and Langley. Sky Blue Lake is a good base-camp for Newcomb, Pickering, and The Miter. Milestone Basin at tree line to climb Milestone, Midway and Table Mountain. These are just a few examples.

I now occasionally stay two nights at one location to explore a specific area. For example, Bear Basin lakes from Big Bear Lake. Or day hike the upper part of Keweah Basin with a base camp at a lower lake. Pioneer Basin. One advantage of this is that you get to camp in a nice spot with trees, and then spend all day up higher where camping is not that great.

For more open areas, like the Upper Kern, I prefer to do short moves from one lake to another every day. I will backpack for only a few hours, set up at a new lake and then fish and explore. This way I get both sunrise and sunset at a different location each night plus do not have to haul fish for dinner.

The base-camp and day-hike method results in more overall miles, but the miles are without a pack. Now that my pack weight is pretty light, the advantage of that is less than before I had light weight gear. I do not find setting up and taking down camp that big of a deal. It is a small price to pay for sunsets and sunrises at new locations.

And I have a few times, involuntarily "base camped" while pinned down in bad weather.

[LMBSGV]

Finding an isolated basin where I can explore for a couple of days has been the way I’ve backpacked for many years, since the 1980s when my son was small. He appreciated being in a spectacular place and not having to move for a couple of days. I appreciate the opportunity to truly get to know a place. The places include:

May Lake for 3 nights when my son was 4 years old before one was required to camp in the backpackers area
Dusy Basin (we once spent 5 nights at 3 different off-trail lakes, something that would now be illegal unfortunately)
Sabrina Basin at Midnight Lake for 3 nights
Humphreys Basin on two occasions with my wife and son and another time solo
Pioneer Basin for 3 nights on the peninsula at Lake 10,862
Joe Crane Lake for 3 nights including a total eclipse of the moon
Fish Creek for 3 nights below Tully Lake, Cotton Lake, and Red and White Lake
Picket Creek Lake for 3 nights with 2 days and nights in Kaweah Basin
Sapphire Lake for 3 nights
Upper Basin off trail
Big Brewer Lake

[wildhiker]

This was the only kind of backpacking we could do when our children were preschoolers. We would pack in maybe three miles. I would rush back to the car and get a second loaded pack of more stuff that we needed. Then we would stay 3 or 4 nights and explore the area on short day hikes. Did this at Twin Lakes in the Kaiser Wilderness, Sword Lake in Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, twice in the Grouse Lakes area in the Tahoe National Forest, Lady Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, East Lake/Hoover Lake in the Hoover Wilderness, Dinkey Lakes, and probably some others I can't remember off-hand. When the kids could really walk and carry small packs (when the youngest was 5) we switched to moving trips with short mileages each day - 3 to 5 miles - and occasionally a layover day. Mileages increased as the kids got older and we started mixing in some significant cross-country. Post kids, all our trips have been moving just about every day and trying to cover more territory, which I prefer. Now that I have a grandchild (2.5 years old), I expect to start some base-camp backpacking again!
-Phil