High Sierra Topix

Packtofish wrote:Very nice, I really dig the panos.

How crowded was it?

Crowds on the JMT were busy. In 2 days on the Darwin Bench, no one. On Lamarck Col, busy. McGee Canyon-no one though we talked to people who had done it the same day.

On your planning thread, from Florence Lake there appeared to be lots of people using that trail head. One pack train on Piute Pass, 2 other people around Desolation Lake in Humphreys Basin. Hutchinson Mdw to JMT, maybe 6-8 people.

Thanks for comments.

Mulepacker,

I have a 13 year old daughter who has been backpacking with me a couple of times. We go car camping(dispersed-no campgrounds) almost every weekend. She has only 2-3 friends who go camping, mostly with us. Really sad I think. I grew up with 3 sisters. We went on a 3 week tent trailer vacation for 8 consecutive summers all over western North America while growing up. One of my sisters has a 13 year old son who hates camping so my sister never goes and she misses it sorely.

I fear the day my daughter loses interest, hopefully she won't.

I count myself fortunate that my 16 yr old son loves to backpack and camp. We started him young and still the vast majority of our vacations are camping or backpacking trips. However, none of his friends backpack, a few camp occasionally, and only one has shown interest in joining us on a trip.
It concerns me about the future of wilderness, if in a few years the numbers of users drops off as us older folk visit less. I remember 20-30-40 years ago running into many groups of younger hikers; the majority of us were. I am sure it is many of the same people we are seeing out there now who have a life-long love of backpacking.

Great TR.

Terrific TR; thanks! For the record, on our "JMT" trip (TR to follow) we saw zillions of people of all ages, with weighting to the 20-40 range I'd say, although I didn't actually keep a tally. It was definitely crowded, but not with old folks like us

Any trouble finding Lamarck Col from the west? I've only been over it once (about 40 years ago), and we had a helluva time up near the top, breathlessly finding one dead-end or cliff-out after another before finally finding the right low spot.

Great report desertdawg! I think my buddy Flip and I talked to you at lower Lamark when you were on your way out. I distinctly remember you saying you took a wrong turn coming down after the Col, and what tough going it was!

BSquared

No trouble finding the Col from the west. There were people coming over it so we saw them. It looked easier staying to the south from both the east and west. It looked like you could avoid the snow from the east by staying south but no one was doing it.

Tahoejeff

Were you and Flip in the campsite just off the trail I was talking to around 6:30 or so? Did you guys find the use trail? I looked at pictures on the i-net when we got home, definitely looked easier.

Yep, that was us. It was our first night in from North Lake, trying to acclimate. Your whole outlook on things had us rolling laughing. After talking with you, we made real sure to find the use trail. I cannot imagine what you went through, wow!
Flip

Wow, what great photos. Some of them made we wish to be there right now but in Aug. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.
On a trip to Mc Clure Meadows I caught 10 med - large goldens. For that day and the next I knew I could eat all of them. I thought about catching more to give them to the ranger, but was afraid he might strongly disapprove. That night in his cabin he cooked and ate 2 of the fish and commented that he could eat 8 more (in 2 days). He and I each loved eating lots of fish. What a shame I didn't catch those fish for him.

Awsome Trip and photos. Im planning a trip this summer with a similiar route in mind. I look forward to seeing it all in person. Thanks for the post