High Sierra Topix

Sounds good. You buried yet? In snow?:)

3 feet or so. 6 degrees this morning.

Too many of my neighbors and friends complain of the snow. But I look forward to the summer. Maybe this year the lakes will stay full, the creeks will keep flowing, and the meadows won't turn brown. Droughts suck.

I wasn't home this weekend, went snow camping by Loon Lake, so I'll see this coming weekend how much we got. A week ago, we had 22" by Saturday AM of the fresh stuff.

Having experienced most of what the HST writers here have written I have this to say. What giantbrookie wrote sums it up best! It not only sums it up best but it's what, I think, most of you will do. I believe that even if you don't want to, you'll have to.

Dave, my neighbor called a little bit ago, I work out of town, so with the snow camping over the weekend, I did not make it home. She said we received 3' or more, on top of the week befores 22". We're buried too. Plus, our snow plowman injured himself, so our private road did not get plowed all the way thru. We're scrambling for help.

I'm starting to realize that backpacking, for me, is a thing of the past. I haven't given up (yet) on backpacking, but since I can't bend my knees, it's going to be tough. Last season I hiked up to May Lake with my wife and youngest daughter. It took me a few hours up and another couple hours to get back....but I did it. Adding a backpack....not sure if I have the time to get to the places that I used to do.

I like studying maps before hikes. Especially the old USGS maps because they contain historical information like old structures, marked with a black square. Qualls Camp is one of those on a hike I did this week. Prior to the hike I googled a lot of these places trying to find if they were worth a visit. One of the few things I found on it was this post, and it didn't sound promising because you didn't mention any structures. I went anyway. Glad I did. Here is Qualls Camp:



2nd structure completely collapsed:


Nice BBQ:

A related activity is to follow some of the old wagon trails that were constructed 1845-1855 for the settlers and miners who wanted to get to California. In some places, there is now a paved highway that parallels the wagon trail, so you can go in and look for the trail without having to hike a million miles. My favorite is the Great Sierra Wagon Road which has now become the Tioga Road.

Also, go read John Muir's account of his first summer in the Sierra when he worked to herd sheep across what we now call Yosemite. After reading it, you can go to a map and start to pick out the sheep route. I found where (I think) the sheep crossed Yosemite Creek.

Taking your final breath watching a sunset with a fishing pole in your hand, from your camp next to remote mountain lake...

Is there a better way to end it?

I'm good with that ending!