All packed up but where to go?

[Wandering Daisy]

Does anyone else get "paralysis by analysis", ending up all packed up and still unable to decide between a dozen possible routes? How do you solve this problem? All I seem to do is figure out another route, and add confusion to the matter. The freedom of solo backpacking seems to be a double-edged sword. Were I going with someone, I would have to set dates and a route, and commit to it.

My pack is ready for a five day trip, 24 hours to take off, and I am as undecided as I was before I even started thinking about this trip! I have a nice loop figured out for Desolation, but OMG, this is the third time I have done it, and NO new miles at all. Good loops out of Twin Lakes with some new stuff, but that area is on the cusp of mosquito hell and that damned $$ parking fee. Go up the Merced and try to get into Hutchings, but I have done the in-and-out miles on the Merced multiple times. Good possibility of going into Minarets from Rush Creek, but again, third time on that route. All new route in Marble Mountains, but a bit too unknown to do solo.

[bobby49]

Sometimes I go into areas where I've been before, but I always put in some new miles on some offshoot trail so that trips are never exactly the same. If I need motivation to decide one way or another way, I read over my old trip reports to recall the good spots, and I review my old photos. That generally gets new juices flowing.

[SSSdave]

Backpacking trips can require complex decisions, especially for the more experienced. I usually make complex detailed plans with as many options as could happen. The most common reasons to a change from Plan A is weather. The next most common is my physical condition on that day as to how much effort I feel like making. Next most common issue is conditions I find along routes.

Last summer on my 7-day Laurel Creek backpack that had no layover days planned, I spent the whole trip after day one, base camping at the same spot because it was so stormy. I also took one look at Mono Creek at the Second Recess ford and as expected dismissed that option. For this person, the more detailed a plan I would describe as based on "analysis", the more likely it will be followed with at least one of its options. That noted, many of my trips roll out successfully like clockwork so have considerable confidence in analyzing and planning.

From reading your many TR's, your planning is shallower thus any decision for changing generally not as sized up so may need to brainstorm decisions more when they arise. You also go on many more spur of the moment trips that may not have much supporting motivation. It takes a lot of motivation for this person to suffer through the exertion of lugging around heavy pack loads so my threshold is high to even get out the front door. I had expected to drive over to Mono Basin for a road trip last Wednesday however weather forecast changed to windier conditions than I was willing to gamble with.

Also amusing along the same vein that I've kidded you about in the past is a tendency to sometimes keep rambling all day, not being satisfied to stop and make a camp as though you are too curious about what you might find ahead if your intended camp zone somehow is lacking versus expectations.

[Wandering Daisy]

Going to get near 100 degrees here by Wed or Thurs, and THAT is plenty of motivation for me to go out! Plus hubby is doing his own trip (houseboat on Lk Shasta with his kids, grandkids and ten dogs; the antithesis of peace and quiet!) so no added guilt on my part about leaving him home alone. With a dozen very well planned trips on my computer, the problem is not any one trip's planning, but choosing between them.

It will be the maiden voyage for a new pack. After packing and unpacking many times, it still feels very foreign and cannot say I am 100% pleased with it. But that is how I felt about my current pack when I first tried it. LOL. I decided to go close, Desolation, so if the skeets get horrible, or the pack kills me, I can just bail out and go home.

[rlown]

Somehow, I think you'll have more fun than your hubby.

[tarbuckle]

Funny, I was going to suggest the Marbles. I'm going through the same thing. Right now I'm deciding between a route in the Marbles or Russians. Do I want to take the more scenic route and encounter lots of people? Or take my off trail route that's less scenic but I'll have more seclusion? I better hurry up because I'm leaving Tuesday

[rightstar76]

Tarbuckle, people vs. seclusion. Depends on plusses minuses. I like people and scenery so I would choose number one. I also don't like going off trail alone. But if I wanted seclusion and was not worried about being by myself, I would choose number two.

[Hobbes]

Head to Meeks bay campground. Take a beach chair. You can hang out all day, swim (take goggles & fins) and generally relax. If you get antsy for hiking, the Tahoe to Yosemite TH is across the street. Or, day hike to/fish any of the lakes above in Deso. Or, take your pack for a night or two.

I spent most of the summer there after college - and before starting a job in SF - while studying for the CPA exam.

[Wandering Daisy]

LOL, here I am Sunday AM and still at home! A little more checking last night and lo and behold, they changed the fees at Desolation. Now, they charge a $10 "processing fee" on top of the $5 per day, $10 max. A one-time 2+ night trip now would costs $20, each time. Well, I was on the fence to begin with, so not worth it to me. Needless to say I am a bit ***'d about this sly raising of fees.

So now I am back where I was a day ago. Tomorrow AM early I will leave; the drama and indecision continues. Check in later to see where I landed!

All you guys going to Marbles, write up trip reports!! I am definitely eager to hear what you have to say. I am reluctant to solo there since I have never been. Just as much the long drives on poor roads to the trailheads as the hiking itself.

[Tom_H]

You've done almost everything in the Sierra and the Wind River Range. If you'd like, I could draw up some map routes in Uncompaghre, CO and the Pecos, NM.