High Sierra Topix

Sorry Mav, maybe we can agree to disagree. I enjoy the Sierra plenty, but I also find it monotonous as a result of the geology and climate. It is beautiful, no question, and easy to travel in, and I have a life-time of great memories, but it is all of a type in my mind. Others will obviously disagree, and beauty is in the mind of the beholder, no point in trying to argue that, I was just stating my opinion. But that wasn't the point of your post anyway, and not a necessary part of what makes the discussion interesting.

No arguments from me MK, just send me some plane tickets down to Torres del Paine
for 2 weeks and we'll call it even.
Oh, and make sure we fly over Atacama, check this out http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/977480" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Did you get a chance to fly over this beautiful area?

TehipiteTom wrote:

dave54 wrote:Anywhere south of tahoe, including tahoe itself.

Whuh...? I agree with you about Tahoe (it kills me that so many people think of Tahoe as synonymous with "the Sierra"), including Desolation Wilderness...but everything worth seeing in the Sierra is south of Tahoe, not north. Seriously: what on earth is there to see up that way.

Whats worth seeing between Tahoe and the White granite of the Sierra? (Range of Light) Well.. I'll show you.
This:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

And this:



It is really ironic how people acuse us thru hikers of going too fast to see anything and i feel like you must have missed something cause that area is beautiful beyond words! (IMHO)
Hey this is all about opinions and I respect yours.
For my own opinion:
Seeing the "range of light" and then passing through that dark crumbling landscape from Dorothy lake pass north to the Tahoe Rim and then seeing it all switch back to granite in the Sierra buttes makes you realize how lucky we are to have all of it.. even the bits we thought we wouldn't like.
In 2,665 miles on the PCT there was not one mile i did not like.

Hetchy, that view in the second photo looks familiar, it was taken near the
Granite Chief area right?

It sure was! Thats Lake Tahoe making that reflection in the distance. The Tahoe rim was so beautiful and different than anywhere i have ever been. The PCT shares the Rim Trail for about 48 miles. There was a lot of ups and downs after leaving Desolation then the trail starts climbing out on these long exposed ridgelines. You can see forever up there. I found it very moving how the landscape changes so quickly as you hike through. I think the section from Dorothy Lake Pass in Northern Yosemite to the Sierra Buttes (Sierra city) goes through some of the most varied terrain I had seen since the PCT in Socal.
It turns out that the rim Trail is very similar to some of the hiking along the PCT near Etna summit in Northern California. Up there the trail contours mountainsides and you feel like an eagle drifting over a lanscape of peaks and tiny lakes and islands of trees.
Anyhow Granite Chief is beautiful and i did not see a single hiker for days in early July!

Wife and me stayed in Tahoe 12 years ago, and did several hikes, this
was one of them, great views, and a fun hike.

Getting a bit off topic here guys –


Just my 2¢
Mark

markskor wrote:We all have seen them, passed through them often, but to include the entire Tahoe area as one is ludicrous at best…smacks of someone who needs to get out more.
Just my 2¢
Mark

Well, it's all subjective. But I'll stand by my dismissal of the Tahoe area: there are too damn many people, too much of the landscape is too developed, and the mountains around there aren't as spectacular as those further south. Sure, there are spots where you can take a great picture (as Hetchy ably demonstrates), but not so many spots where there's mile after mile of jaw-dropping beauty (as there are in, say, KCNP). The cost/benefit ratio of fighting bumper-to-bumper traffic to drive to a parked-up trailhead so you can hike to a modestly pretty lake just doesn't work out for me.

YMMV, of course.

sirlight wrote:I am sure that I will get a ton of flak about this one, Mt. Whitney has been the least desirable for me. Yes, the views are spectacular, but the crowds of "non-backcountry" people made it unpleasant. Everyone at the top was whipping out their cell phones and trying to make calls. It was just not what I had imagined. My entire trip on the HST was a blast. Then I hit trail crest and it was all down hill (so to speak) from there. Still, if you are a hiker, it's a must do at least once.

I have to go along with this post. It is hard to enjoy the the beauty of Whitney- too many people for me....major distraction- in 37 years, I have been there 2x, don't care if I ever go back, and there are many other places I would love to go back to....

I'm with you, richlong8,

Although it was many years ago now, I still remember the fact that 200 +/- folks were on the summit the same day I made it up there (I did a count), and that was before rationed permits. It hasn't gotten any better. Still, I can't complain that more people now know and love the high sierra. I was always for that; but I wish we could distribute that excitement a little better? And I don't mean rationing the experience. . .okay, I'm hopelessly naive, but WTH?