High Sierra Topix

Sparky wrote:
I dont have any plans of yet, a new SO has taken priority. She has never backpacked
before or been to yosemite so i plan on BPing there with her early summer.

Hi Sparky,

What ever you decide on, just make sure you do not take your SO at the height of
mosquito season, otherwise they will never go again.
Also make it as easy as possible, 20 Lakes Basin or Little Lakes Valley comes to
mind, and though LLV is super easy, the views will have your SO hooked, and
yearning for more, which is what you want, right?
If your SO feels strong than day hiking up towards Mono Pass, great overlook on
the way up is worth doing, as is hiking towards the southern end of the LLV.
Remember that the hike is about your SO, and not about you, which is something
we guys forget sometimes. Comfortable sleeping bag & mattress, good food, warm
clothing, and mainly an attentive SO, all makes for a great trip!

Thanks Mike

As for early season at Jennie Lakes, I suspect the snow should be cleared by late May. You are right though that the bugs will likely be awful.

I plan to take advantage of this summer by doing the Rae Lakes trip with some folks 6/30 - 7/4. I am hoping Glenn Pass will be open then. I guess you can apply for permits starting tomorrow (3/1). Does anyone know if the permits fill up pretty quickly for this trip? 1st choice is starting on the Woods Creek trail, 2nd choice is the Bubbs Creek trail. It looks like there are 25 spots per day per trail and 18.75 (75%) of these spots are reservable. Does anyone know how competitive these spots are? Do I need to fax in the reservation or is mailing it pretty safe? I'm applying for 8 people, btw.

8 people? popular trip and holiday weekend plus dry year. If it was me I would make reservations. If max number of reservations are already made then you are likely to be SOOL by my calculations. You might take a chance if you can get reservations for part of your group. Don't know how SEKI works but if walk up permits are issued a day before then you would have to have someone arrive a day early if you can't make reservations.

When I used to hike out of Cedar you used to get your walk up permit on the day you started. Then they gave you the talk. then it was 9 am before you could start and every trail was dusty/sandy, and it was hotter than h---! starting at 5,00ft. elevation. I thought the permit process back then was pretty stupid. As a front country ranger back then I would wrangle a permit a couple of days early and start hiking on my friday after work, the trails were dusty/sandy and it was hotter than h---! After busting my butt for an hour and a half I would take a beer/water break, then continue hiking til after dark. I could go farther after work back then than I can go in a whole day now.

Mike

Jimr wrote:I think I'm set on Tehipite Valley, up and back from Rancheria in four days. Do I need a roll of chicken wire to keep the marmots away from the hoses and wires?

When I did Tehipite I took 5 days: 2 in, 2 out, 1 layover to explore the valley. 4 days would have been too aggressive (much less fun) for me; YMMV.

oldranger wrote:8 people? popular trip and holiday weekend plus dry year. If it was me I would make reservations. If max number of reservations are already made then you are likely to be SOOL by my calculations. You might take a chance if you can get reservations for part of your group. Don't know how SEKI works but if walk up permits are issued a day before then you would have to have someone arrive a day early if you can't make reservations.

When I used to hike out of Cedar you used to get your walk up permit on the day you started. Then they gave you the talk. then it was 9 am before you could start and every trail was dusty/sandy, and it was hotter than h---! starting at 5,00ft. elevation. I thought the permit process back then was pretty stupid. As a front country ranger back then I would wrangle a permit a couple of days early and start hiking on my friday after work, the trails were dusty/sandy and it was hotter than h---! After busting my butt for an hour and a half I would take a beer/water break, then continue hiking til after dark. I could go farther after work back then than I can go in a whole day now.

Mike

Yeah, I wasn't inquiring about making reservation vs not reservations. Of course I'm going to make reservations. I'm inquiring if it makes a difference between mailing in the application on 3/1 vs faxing it in. I don't have a fax machine so to fax it I would have to go to FedEx Kinko's tomorrow which is kind of a pain. Are these spots so competitive that the wilderness reservations fill up on the first day and mailing in the application is stupid?

Ok so If it was me (and given my experience trying to get a reservation out of Tuolumne meadows the first day they were available for the date I was interested in) I would find a friend with a fax and start trying to fax at 1201 tomorrow morning. Anybody who wants a reservation anytime during the summer will be trying to get through. All you need is one or two multi person parties to get in ahead of you to miss out on your reservation.

Mike

Aside from a few shorter trips (starting Memorial Day, if the dry winter holds) and a trip up in the Cascades with my son, I'm planning to do a 6-day solo trip in SeKi, probably in early July. Current plan is a mostly off-trail Tablelands loop (Lodgepole-->Little Lakes-->Crescent Lake-->Box Canyon-->West Ferguson-->Moose Lake-->out).

But I'm also toying with the idea of a shuttle trip (for which I'd obviously need someone else along) from Big Meadow to Roads End, mostly following the route of Brewer's party in 1864. It's a less highlight-intensive trip, but I need to do it sometime before 2014, and if the creeks are low that might make this year the best shot.

So, still thinking about it...

Looking at 4, possibly 5 pack trips of various duration, but I typically end up doing less than I have planned just because other ideas for family activities always pop up.

All depends on the actual snow pack at the time, but I'm thinking of a lower elevation overnighter (maybe 2 nights) in May. That little trip troll that gets in my head this time of year is arguing for a trip to a small stream reported to have one of Californias rarest of trout sub species. Its low elevation (~7,800') could make it open even earlier, but the streams are off limits in this area until 4/28.

Looking at a 5 day trip in June with my son up the So Fk of the San Joaquin to visit that little lake at the end. If it snows much more the So Fk will be too high then, and we will option for some lakes in the general vicinity. Hoping to get an early peek at some goldens.

July is looking like the month for my bigger trip of the summer, an 8 day trip out of Wishon with a friend at work into KCNP. In August I will do the family camping trip to Mono Hot Springs for 4 nights, and then do a 3 or 4 day trip with my daughter and possibly son somewhere around the Silver Divide. Thats likley it, but I wouldnt mind doing a September trip in search of those fall spawning brookies or browns, but who knows.

On a side note, I find all of the talk about it being too late to get permits in various areas a bit amusing. I havent backpacked out of the east side since 2001, in fact I have only even been on the east side 5 times since then and two trips were winter ski trips. I know alot of you dont like the west side trailheads because of the extended forest sections, etc, but I havent made a reservation in over 10 years and have never missed my alloted trail head or trip even once. I'll admit my schedule allows me to start off on Thursdays or Fridays quite often, but the thought of all the permits being gone already doesnt really seem that appealing. Just saying!!!

Going to be in colorado for a family reunion, so im planning a hike there. I researched informationon the area via the internet. I remember I used to just drive to a national forest in the road atlas, buy a forest map and go from there. Its nice to be able to zoom in on topos, gps to the trailhead ect...and pictures!!! Im going to do a loop in the Flat Top Wilderness in kind of NW central CO. Looks cool with some lakes....

Ill be doing my annual yosemite trip in june....might be may this year!

I really hope i can squeeze in more trips....i live in riverside county so i have big drives.