Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

[maverick]

Hi jbinsb and williegoat,

Welcome to HST!

[Tom Perkins]

I stumbled on this group a few weeks ago while researching routes into the basins West of the Pine Creek trailhead, and I am glad to have been accepted in. I have been backpacking for close to 60 years, having started in the Lassen Park area, and have explored central and Northern Nevada, as well as the Emigrant and Hoover wildernesses, and the Northwestern parts of Yosemite Park, with a few trips to Colorado, Idaho and upstate New York sprinkled in. The Carson Iceberg and Mukolomne wilderness areas, and also the Tahoe Basin, as well. Just a few days or weeks a year. I take a lot of day hikes year-round, and believe that these short moments outside are just as rich and interesting as anything else. I usually don’t have a lot to add to an online forum, but appreciate the collective wisdom, and will try to file some trip reports or answer questions from the places I have been.

[maverick]

Hi Tom,

Welcome to HST! All of us view, experience, interpret, and enjoy nature in our own individual way, therefore everyone has something of interest to offer.

[reneekramer]

We did Minaret lakes loop 2 years ago. Started in above Devils Post Pile went to Minaret Lake overnighted. then over to Cecil then dropped down to Iceberg stayed there and did a sunrise hike to Ediza Lake and at breakfast ( no one around campers had left already). Hiked and met up with JMT and hiked to Garnet then camped at Emerald Lake ( I prefer camping there over Thousand Island) It was spectacular. There is a lot to explore around the lake and a great place to swim and wash clothes. No one else was camping there. I passed by Emerald in 1982 thinking to myself I need to come back to this lake in the future. I wanted to spend another day at Emerald to water color but we had a distressing text that came through 1. my nephew died in a car crash in North Carolina 2. Our town of Vallecito was being evacuated from the Airola fire. We hiked on through Thousand Island to Island Pass to make some calls. Evacuation was cancelled and house was fine. We went on to Davis Lake the next day we hiked back over Island Pass ( more calls) then hiked back down to Thousand Isand explored a bit and hiked onto the PCt a bit to Badger lake, very nice area to ourselves again and a lot of slab rock to lay out on and dive into the lake. We then exited via PcT high trail. So cool to see from that ridge where we had been. Ate breakfast once we got to the ridge with fabulous views. We loved this loop. It was something like 56 miles altogether. We spent 7 days doing it.

[LilyanaCarney]

Hi, my name is Lilyana Carney, I'm from Austin. I am very happy to join this forum, I would love to meet people who like to travel in the mountains as much as I do.

[maverick]

Hi Lilyana from Austin,

Welcome to HST!

[Zarka]

Hi, I have been backpacking with my wife for about 18 years, prior to that I had been on about four or five backpacks and many car camping and volunteer tree planting trips in the 1980's and 90's. We have graduated beyond the more popular groomed trails to going off trail, cross-country, and Sierra High Route sorts of trips, where people are few and the fish are immense. We bought permits to go through and around the Minarets in July, but then so much snow fell, we decided to book another trip in September, so our July trip may be cut short or changed to a circumnavigation of the Minarets or Cathedral range, or some other "lollipop" at lower elevation, followed by a higher elevation out and back in Sept. In between we intend to go to a couple of our favorite places: Bench Valley and Blackcap basin and show them to a friend. We have been gradually collecting views near/adjacent to the PCT and JMT but staying off the superhighways as much as possible, and this website is one of the best places for information. We also don't mind sharing our knowledge, and sometimes go looking for missing people in our free time (just a few weeks ago led some S&R folks across multiple stream crossings to a stranded boy scout troop in a storm at midnight). We live close to Mile Marker 420 of the PCT and often visit parts of it in the Angeles on day hikes.
-Mark

[maverick]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to HST!

[Scroach]

I found this site like many others, researching on and offtrail routes online. I've been backpacking since the early 80s. In the earlier days it usually involved carrying rock and alpine climbing gear or backcountry ski gear. Now I love off trail basins and have been focusing on those the last few years.

[maverick]

Hi Scroach,

Welcome to HST!