Alta Trail (Wolverton TH) Vs. HST (Crescent Meadow TH) to Tamarack Lake

[Thebrenner]

Which TH would you leave from for a three day trip to Tamarack Lake......
Seems to be pros and cons of both the Wolverton and Crescent Meadow one.

I will be staying at Lodgepole Wednesday evening and picking up a walk up permit on Thursday am.
Will likely camp at Buck Creek (or near) the first night and then head to Tamarack Lake.
thinking that I will hike from Tamarack Lake all the way back to the TH on the last day......a long hike, yes...
!8 miles is my max for one day......I can do it, even if I don't like it.

I have not hiked from either one of these trailheads before..........what do people recommend?

thx!

[AlmostThere]

The one you can get. Crescent Meadow starts in sequoias and you won't have to walk uphill at the end as much to get back to the car.

You can always crash at Panther Creek along HST on the way out if you're too tired to finish. Or Panther Gap, on the Alta Trail. Those are the last legal campsites before the th.

[creekfeet]

Start from Crescent Meadow, otherwise you'll be kicking yourself as you head up the overgrown switchbacks of the Wolverton Cutoff at the end of a grueling last day.

[maiathebee]

Or get the best of both worlds. Start at Wolverton and then hike out Crescent Meadow, using the shuttle to get back to your car.

[wildhiker]

Coming over Panther Gap has better views - if it is not smokey! But the giant Sequoia trees along the trail at Crescent Meadow are pretty amazing, too.

I did what Maia suggested in July - hiked in from Wolverton over Panther Gap to Buck Creek and then on to Tamarack Lake (and then on to Hamilton Lake and Kaweah Gap), returning via Crescent Meadow and using the shuttle to get back to my car. Had to use 3 different shuttle lines and took about an hour. Make sure all these shuttles are still running! I thought the connector trail from the Alta trail down to the HST was in fine shape and not overgrown. There was a trail crew camped just off that trail, so maybe they worked on it this summer.

I used the "Over the Hill" trail going in from the Bearpaw Meadow area to the Elizabeth Pass trail and liked it a lot - some great views and some really nice red fir forest with very tall firs. Then I used the actual HST coming back to Bearpaw, which has some different views. Whatever you do, don't camp at Bearpaw Meadow! Of the hundreds of campsites I have used in the Sierra, I found it to be the dingiest, dreariest, darkest viewless camp ever. I was just too tired to go further, but I regret it.

-Phil