Trip Advice July 3-10
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 5:04 pm
Hello board,
I'm an east coast resident (sigh), but I try to take at least one trip to the western mountains every year. This year I planned a weeklong trip to the Sierras, July 3-10, before everybody realized how much snow this year would feature. My dates are nonnegotiable, so my plan is to make it work. At this point I'm quite excited about it and looking at the snow as a challenge and an adventure, but I'd love to get some advice so I can have some safe, responsible, outdoor fun. I know that there's no sure way to know how things will stand in a month or so, but I figured maybe you have more insight than I do.
About my group and I:
I am a level 3 hiker. I am traveling with a fairly large group this year. The group includes several other level 3 hikers, and everybody else is young, fairly fit, and has at least a reasonable level of backpacking experience. A few of us-- although not many-- have meaningful experience hiking on snow and ice. I have some familiarity with the Sierras from a complete hike of the John Muir Trail a few years back. We will be out for approximately a week, but have a bit of flexibility to shorten or lengthen our trip by a day either way. Ordinarily I'd say that we would cover about 10-12 miles a day, but given the snow, I'd rather be conservative on the distance. We will have multiple cars, so we can set up a shuttle if need be. My primary interest is to get this group some gorgeous alpine scenery, if at all possible.
We will not be bringing ice axes or crampons, but we will have good sturdy boots and trekking poles. We are not averse to slogging through deep snow for a few hours, and we don't have any problem with snowy and icy terrain, but we will need to avoid any locations that are impassable without ice equipment. We'd prefer to spend as few nights as possible (preferably none) camping on snow, but we have no problem camping on rock.
My ideas:
The trip I originally envisioned was a simple one: Up and over Bishop Pass down to the John Muir Trail, north over Muir Pass with a side trip into the Ionan Basin, through the Evolution region, then up and out over Piute Pass. An alternate route would be heading south on the John Muir Trail, up and over Mather Pass, and out through Taboose, with a few side trips scattered in.
I have several questions about the general viability of this plan and of this area.
First and foremost: Do you expect that we will be able to cross Bishop Pass at this point in July? If not, then this whole idea is moot.
Second: What are the odds that Muir or Mather will be passable? Do you have any sense of which pass would be likely to be easier to cross? If we can cross these passes, is it safe to assume that Taboose and Piute will also be passable?
Third: If Muir and Mather are not passable, do you think we could find enough places to explore in Dusy Basin, the Palisades Lake Region, and potentially up the canyon toward Muir Pass to keep ourselves entertained for a week? Do you think the Ionan Basin would be accessible via the Black Giant, or might that be too high? Any particular water crossings that might be exceptionally hazardous to watch out for?
Fourth: Any other general advice for what we should do if we head into this region?
My backup plan was to hike in the Tuolumne region of Yosemite. I'm no longer confident that snow conditions in this region will be any better than down in the Bishop Pass area, as evidently the north is getting it worse than the south this year. Nevertheless, any counsel you could offer regarding this region would be welcome as well. Do you think it's likely that we could get over Donahue Pass and hang out in the vicinity of Thousand Island Lake for awhile? What about the areas around Vogelsang and Merced? Any more advice in this region?
Finally: If all else fails and neither of these regions are possible, do you have any backup suggestions? I momentarily considered scrapping it and going to the Lost Coast instead, but I would much rather stay in the mountains, even if we have to be a bit lower.
I know that I'm asking for specific information that's impossible to know in advance, but any wisdom you can offer would be great. Thanks so much.
I'm an east coast resident (sigh), but I try to take at least one trip to the western mountains every year. This year I planned a weeklong trip to the Sierras, July 3-10, before everybody realized how much snow this year would feature. My dates are nonnegotiable, so my plan is to make it work. At this point I'm quite excited about it and looking at the snow as a challenge and an adventure, but I'd love to get some advice so I can have some safe, responsible, outdoor fun. I know that there's no sure way to know how things will stand in a month or so, but I figured maybe you have more insight than I do.
About my group and I:
I am a level 3 hiker. I am traveling with a fairly large group this year. The group includes several other level 3 hikers, and everybody else is young, fairly fit, and has at least a reasonable level of backpacking experience. A few of us-- although not many-- have meaningful experience hiking on snow and ice. I have some familiarity with the Sierras from a complete hike of the John Muir Trail a few years back. We will be out for approximately a week, but have a bit of flexibility to shorten or lengthen our trip by a day either way. Ordinarily I'd say that we would cover about 10-12 miles a day, but given the snow, I'd rather be conservative on the distance. We will have multiple cars, so we can set up a shuttle if need be. My primary interest is to get this group some gorgeous alpine scenery, if at all possible.
We will not be bringing ice axes or crampons, but we will have good sturdy boots and trekking poles. We are not averse to slogging through deep snow for a few hours, and we don't have any problem with snowy and icy terrain, but we will need to avoid any locations that are impassable without ice equipment. We'd prefer to spend as few nights as possible (preferably none) camping on snow, but we have no problem camping on rock.
My ideas:
The trip I originally envisioned was a simple one: Up and over Bishop Pass down to the John Muir Trail, north over Muir Pass with a side trip into the Ionan Basin, through the Evolution region, then up and out over Piute Pass. An alternate route would be heading south on the John Muir Trail, up and over Mather Pass, and out through Taboose, with a few side trips scattered in.
I have several questions about the general viability of this plan and of this area.
First and foremost: Do you expect that we will be able to cross Bishop Pass at this point in July? If not, then this whole idea is moot.
Second: What are the odds that Muir or Mather will be passable? Do you have any sense of which pass would be likely to be easier to cross? If we can cross these passes, is it safe to assume that Taboose and Piute will also be passable?
Third: If Muir and Mather are not passable, do you think we could find enough places to explore in Dusy Basin, the Palisades Lake Region, and potentially up the canyon toward Muir Pass to keep ourselves entertained for a week? Do you think the Ionan Basin would be accessible via the Black Giant, or might that be too high? Any particular water crossings that might be exceptionally hazardous to watch out for?
Fourth: Any other general advice for what we should do if we head into this region?
My backup plan was to hike in the Tuolumne region of Yosemite. I'm no longer confident that snow conditions in this region will be any better than down in the Bishop Pass area, as evidently the north is getting it worse than the south this year. Nevertheless, any counsel you could offer regarding this region would be welcome as well. Do you think it's likely that we could get over Donahue Pass and hang out in the vicinity of Thousand Island Lake for awhile? What about the areas around Vogelsang and Merced? Any more advice in this region?
Finally: If all else fails and neither of these regions are possible, do you have any backup suggestions? I momentarily considered scrapping it and going to the Lost Coast instead, but I would much rather stay in the mountains, even if we have to be a bit lower.
I know that I'm asking for specific information that's impossible to know in advance, but any wisdom you can offer would be great. Thanks so much.