Advice for taking my 15 year old to SEKI

[Wandering Daisy]

I will be the one at odds with everyone else. I have been in the Tablelands three times and I am not that impressed. It is not "big mountain" scenery unless you count a distant view of the back side of Valhalla. It is also pretty stark and exposed. I have not been to Moose Lake. It is nice to go through as a different way out from Hamilton Lake, but spending 5 days may be too much. Pear Lake is in my opinion very over-used; not a place I would want to camp.

[FrankPS]

I would hope to get a walkup permit for the Lakes Trail and stay at Emerald or Pear Lake for the first night and then move up to the Tablelands. Or permits for the Alta Trail look like they aren't getting scooped up, so first night at Alta Meadows and then move up.

Why a walkup permit and not a reserved one? Is it too far in advance to plan the trip?

[wsp_scott]

I forgot to mention when when we are going. It looks like it will be around Monday July 8 or 9 to start.

I generally avoid crowds so a place like Pear Lake would never be on my list, but since my daughter will be with me I don't think other people will matter as much and it would probably be for just one night. Something like 1 night Emerald Lake, 2 nights Tablelands, 1 night Alta Meadow or reverse.

Looking at Dinkey Lakes, how bad are the bugs likely to be at the beginning of July? I know that amount of snow and weather and site location and ... all matter, but if you were guessing what would you say?

[scottmiller]

I second the Bear Lakes Basin/Seven Gables motion, if you want mountain awesomeness via the west. The 4WD requirement for the diversion dam is no joke; that road is tough. 4WD plus lots of clearance is really what it is. A Subaru can make it, barely. But you can get there via Lake Edison/Bear Creek. And THAT road, Kaiser Pass, is accessible to all but totally never-wracking. There's nothing like coming head-on with an RV on a one-lane road overlooking a 500-foot cliff. I hate that road.
For a no-permit, easy-peasy alternative there is always Emigrant Wilderness. I went there often as a teenager. There are plenty of people there, but there are some off-trail locations that are way less populated. In the south, Big Lake/Pingree/Yellowhammer. In the north, Ridge Lake/Iceland. Last year Plenty of granite there. I went over Big Sam, with a nice trail, but it's far enough in that we saw very few people. Emigrant as a whole is low altitude, 8,000 - 9,000; the peaks are at 10,000, and there are tons of lakes.

[grampy]

For a no-permit, easy-peasy alternative there is always Emigrant Wilderness.

To clarify, you do need a permit, but there are not any trail quotas for trips within Emigrant Wilderness.

[Harlen]

Scott, you wrote:

Since everyone seems to think Tablelands sounds good, I'm probably going to do that.

The Tablelands are great. Our favorite parts of the area are Moose Lake, and the ridge above Big Bird Lake, with the great views into Deadman Canyon. A camp pretty high up in the Tablelands (probably 2 days in) would give you access to 2 magical day hikes-- one to Moose Lake, and the second, up to that ridge above Deadman. With another day, or more effort, you could combine the hike to see Moose Lake with a circular return to Wolverton. You could camp at Moose Lake, which is an amazing place!, and then descend off-trail from Moose Lk. to meet the Alta Meadows Trail, and then west to Panther Gap, and back to Wolverton. Moose Lk. to the Alta Trail is a fairly scrappy off-trail-- not dangerous ground, but tricky routefinding.

Were you thinking of going in from the Wolverton TH Scott? We prefer the trail that goes by The Watchtower, to the trail that goes over The Hump. Good luck, we hope it goes really well. Ian and Lizzie.

[balzaccom]

In terms of mosquitoes, they tend to vary not only by week according to the season, but also by elevation. If they're bad where you are, try going higher, or lower. For your dates, July 8-12 or so, they can be bad wherever you go. We've had miserable moquitoes at 10,000 feet on those days. But that didn't stop us. Camp up on an exposed ridge, as opposed to down by the lake, to get the most from each breeze.

[thegib]

I've gone through the Tablelands 10x. I've never even visited Pear lake! I really like that I'm assured a permit (for the non-Pear lake option). I like that I can be nicely away from trails at 10-10500' after a pretty easy first day <3000' elevation gain/10 miles. The arcing shelf that holds lake 10600 and rises between the tablelands and Moose holds some great pocket lakes and views. But I use the area as a non-trail approach/finish to the real high-country - Deadman and Cloud canyons, Glacier Ridge and Whaleback, crossing the various routes about TD Peak, are sublime. Using both Tablelands pass and Horn Col allows for a better loop for these excursions.

[Gogd]

I second the Bear Lakes Basin/Seven Gables motion, if you want mountain awesomeness via the west. The 4WD requirement for the diversion dam is no joke; that road is tough. 4WD plus lots of clearance is really what it is.

Umm... I've been up that road several times, always 2WD: in a Ford Currier (mini PU), Ford Aerostar (minivan) and F150, all three with standard suspension. If there is anything big enough to impede clearance, SCE/DWP will be up there to clear the way, as that path provides access to the dam and they like it to be open when the need arises. If there is something blocking the route, likely it can just be pushed aside. That said it is a very narrow track, not for the faint of heart. I found the biggest concern is the rocks have sharp edges can leave their mark on tires. Advise depressurizing the tires for the dirt road to the dam.

Ed

[Wandering Daisy]

I would wait a bit for permits. There always are plenty of cancellations. Once you get an idea of conditions, you can make a better choice, particularly with respect to mosquitoes. Emigrant tends to be quite buggy early July unless it is a low snow year. One of the worst mosquito Hells I have experienced is 2000 McCabe Lakes off 120 July 4th weekend. In 2006, a high snow year, I tried to outrun mosquitoes going higher each SEKI trip. July1-4 out of Mineral King (few mosquitoes), July 5-12 loop through Tablelands*, Deadman (horrible mosquitoes), Glacier Ridge (not bad), Elizabeth Pass to Tamarack Lake- buggy, out Sierra High Trial, and then July 13-15 Monarch Divide (States Lake) where the mosquitoes were so bad that it was one of the few trips I actually bailed out. I could not even get out of the tent! *Tablelands were full of snow so no mosquitoes, but difficult to travel over the talus with post-hole conditions. On the other end of snowpack was 2014 and I went through Tablelands June 28-29 and mosquitoes were bad enough that you had to keep walking. Dinner was miserable. Creeks were easy to cross. Down by Emerald and Pear Lake it was a zoo with all the people.

I suspect anywhere after snow melts there will be tons of mosquitoes. In general, 1-2 weeks after snowmelt is mosquito Hell.

Although many old timers push through with mosquitoes, I would not take a teen out for their first trip in thick mosquitoes.