Cross country planning

[stevet]

My intro to cross-country was also on old "abandoned" routes. Examples being the old JMT route over Junction and Shepherd passes, and the old JMT routes over Cartridge Pass and then down Cartridge Creek. (the latter being horrifically overgrown 50 some odd years ago). All were described in Winnet's "Sierra South" 6th edition and are covered in the referenced Secor book.

An awesome ~ 1 to 2 week thru-route is South Lake to Whitney Portal using the SHR from Dusy Basin to Upper Basin, and then the old JMT through Center Basin Junction and Shepherd Passes, and then over Rockwell Pass into Wright Lakes basin rejoining the JMT near its crossing or Wright Creek. There is nothing technical along this route though the SHR section will give you a taste of route finding between Potluck Pass and Upper Basin.

Another good "intro" is the SHR section from Thousand Island Lake to Reds Meadow. Can use the JMT or the PCT high trail to complete an ~5 day loop.

I call both these routes "intro" as they were routes I was introduced to as a Boy Scout in '71, ' 72, AND more recently when I started doing solo off-trail treks, these are places I returned to to build my confidence before venturing further "into the wild".

[Lumbergh21]

Since some suggestions for "starter" locations were made, I'll toss in my 2 cents worth there as well. In the Sierra, the off trail/user trail route between Deer Lakes and Duck Pass (Mammoth Crest) offers both beautiful views and is pretty easy to get from one trail to the other. The only problem being the number of user trails. You can't get fixated on a trail and lose sight of the bigger picture of where you need to be headed (at least that was my experience heading from Duck Pass to Deer Lakes). Dusy Basin offers some short off trail exploration to the lakes in the basin. You could do it as a long weekend, hiking up to the basin, camping, exploring the basin on Day 2, and hiking back out on Day 3. Finally, a step up from those, IMO, but still easy enough for this old man with limited off-trail experience, would be something involving Garnet Pass to 1000 Island Lake, off trail from the north side of 1000 Island Lake to Davis Lakes, off trail from Davis Lakes to Rodgers Lakes, and finally off trail from Rodgers to Marie Lakes. Or, any portion of that. Davis to Rodgers and Rodgers to Marie is the part that is a step up in difficulty from Dusy Basin or Mammoth Crest.

[paul]

About the easiest area I can think of to try some off-trail travel is in Humphreys Basin. Stay on the trail until you crest Piute Pass, then go anywhere you feel like going, the terrain is almost all easy, there are plenty of lakes to visit, and there is just enough up and down so that you do have to pay attention to where you are and where you are going in order to reach a desired spot; but you can never go far wrong because looming in the east is always Mt. Humphreys as an unmistakable landmark.

[treks]

Thanks all for the great advice. I think I have a good sense of it now.

[Love the Sierra]

You mentioned improving your navigation. NOLS has a marvelous book all about navigation.

[treks]

This one? https://www.google.com/books/edition/NO ... frontcover

This book was really helpful. If you have any tips for classes in the California central coast or parts around the west of The Sierra, I'd be interested. NOLS does classes but they are too expensive for me. This one for first aid looks epic though.

https://www.nols.edu/en/coursefinder/sessions/16514/

[Love the Sierra]

@treks that is the book I meant, but there is a 3rd edition out now. Not sure how different it might be.
All of their books are great. I also read the lightening book. Very useful.