Maverick's 2015 Annual HST Meet-Up 7/22-7/24/15

[maverick]

Electra wrote:
I am hoping to make it this year.

Cool Dan, looking forwards to seeing you out there.

[LMBSGV]

Thanks, Maverick, for doing this. It so happens at this moment, my two main plans for next summer are either Denali at the end of July/early August or a return to Kaweah Basin and the Picket Creek lake.

For the latter, the current rough itinerary is going out of Mineral King and doing a semi-loop by going over Franklin Pass, down to Kern Canyon, up to Junction Meadow, up to Picket Creek Lake, Kaweah Basin, and return by Kern Canyon, Big Arroyo, Little Five Lakes, Glacier Pass, and back to Mineral King. I’m also curious if anyone is considering exiting Kaweah Basin via Red Spur and down to Big Arroyo.

I should have a better idea in December since we need to reserve Denali camping soon after December 1. Then there’s whether the dates of HST meet-up will be good for work and family. Right now, the dates look good.

[SSSdave]

Good stuff Hobbes. You and I have a similar mindset. Checked a few of your mileage points and they are reasonable. Mine tend to closely track those in Wilderness Press because I grew up with their original guide and learned to measure trail mileage reasonably accurately againt their numbers.

The Shepherd Pass trail is however longer than the map shows. Topo maps sometimes have inaccurate trails drawn because in the past they tended to be hand drawn from suspect sources thus not satellite based. That is especially the case where switchbacks route. In this thread I overlayed the satellite map onto the topo. It pretty much matched up to Bob Burd's GPS track. Before doing so I had measured mileage to the pass at exactly 10.0 miles but after adding all the extra switchbacks and then looking at other satellite sections of that trail higher up that didn;t match the map, it was obviously going to actually be at least 12 which Bob substantiated with other info. Someone needs to track the whole route on GPS.

http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/post91 ... rd#p910163" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This trip has me dragging several very marked up topos back out of winte hibernation. Will work on this some more in the next month and post a how to thread over in The Campfire.

So much for topos at the moment. Just received an Amazon used book am eagerly digging into tonight, "Fabric of the Cosmos".

[AlmostThere]

Yep, looks like I'm out - I'm spending a week over in the Rubies in July and won't have enough time off for a second extended trip that month.

Have fun, guys.

[Hobbes]

Following Rlown's excellent instructions, here's an excel spreadsheet that contains a rank of order of major Sierra passes & peaks. Since it contains many of the eastside passes one would traverse on the way to Kaweah basin, I'll post it in this thread.

Note: this particular file is sorted by gain per mile. If one were so inclined, it can re-ordered along other criteria, such as maximum elevation, total gain, distance, etc. Also, for peaks & passes not starting from a fixed trailhead, my starting points are somewhat arbitrary, but reflect what I believe are logical overnight spots in which to stay before embarking early next morning.

Sierra passes & peaks(2).xlsx

Sierra peaks & passes

(6.81 KiB) Downloaded 115 times

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub ... utput=html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dave, I've heard the same conflicting information and claims regarding Shepherd. In my mind, there are two distinct dangers resulting from the differing error types:

1. Underestimate the mileage and find out you have further to go
2. Overestimate the mileage and find out you've overestimated your ability

It's purely subjective and one of merely personally preference, but I naturally prefer to avoid #2. If I were to update my spreadsheet to indicate Shepherd was 12 miles rather than 9.5 - but it was actually in error (approx 25%), what happens if that error translated to a hike where I believed I was traveling 20 miles per day, but was actually only hiking 15? Then, based on this (over) confidence, I commit to a hike that really is 20 miles per day? This, of course, is the type of error one hears about occurring in run training.

Likewise, if I were to change the mileage to 12 from 9.5, it will effect the gain per mile. That is, make it seem less steep. Again, I'd rather err on my preferred side, rather than the other.

Lastly, I am aware of the distance discrepancies, and keep that in mind as a lot of this stuff is purely subjective based on weather condition, personal condition, how you are physically feeling that day, that hour, etc. For example, sometimes I can almost jog uphill @ 12k (like motoring up NAP), other times I can't figure out what's wrong me as a I keep stopping to catch my breath (cough, Forester, cough). LOL

As always, YMMV

[SSSdave]

Actually if you read what I did on the summitpost.org link, I located the trail on the satellite image, enough of which is visible to draw the new trail by carefully overlaying satellite onto topo in Photoshop. Then Bob Burd overlayed his GPS track which was even more accurate which closely matched. Once a trail is drawn on a topo including minor twists and turns, mileage can be reasonably closely totaled up even without a GPS program. I won't go into my technique herein beyond relating I break each mile up into short quarter mile segments then use the edge of a paper marked in same 1/4 mile segments marking small sections with a pencil to measure those 1/4 mile lengths on a map. Also the GPS tools crudely do so by programming as well as estimate vertical with altimeter options. In the future much better trail mileage and vertical statistics are likely as soon as communities of enthusiasts pool what is recorded by their GPS tools.

[maverick]

Hi Lawrence,

I may be interested in exiting via the Red Spur's ridgeline south into the Red Creek
drainage, and then onto the Chagoopa Plateau, but will only know if I can get the
neccesary days away from work to do this longer version once we get closer to the
trip dates.

[Hobbes]

Dave, do you know (of) Lon Cooper? AKA HalfMile?

http://www.pctmap.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He and a small team of techies developed a very sophisticated geo-logging system for the PCT:

http://www.pcta.org/2014/ultra-high-tec ... ger-19469/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Perhaps we can get him to hike up Shepherd, or even better beg/cajole him to let someone like Bob or yourself use it to map Shepherd and/or some other off-PCT trails. It would be pretty cool to finally nail down some accurate information.

From what I've read, he and his team are now focusing on the altimeter aspects to generate accurate elevation gain/loss data. All pretty cool stuff, especially for a map guru like yourself.

For the PCT/JMT and the major spur trails that he shows, I've gone ahead and updated my mileage charts. If you have a breakdown for Shepherd along the major waypoints (eg the Saddle, the Bottom, the first/last water, etc), I'll have to consider updating my crib sheets for that route.

[maverick]

Hobbes and Dave,

Thanks for posting these here, I'm sure someone will find these useful.

Dave, now that you carry the Sony A6000, and lost some of that weight off your
back, you should seriously consider putting our trip on your schedule.
I remember several years back you saying, that you would like to visit Kaweah
Basin, but it was to much work with all photography weight you had to carry, well
here is the perfect opportunity Dave.

[KathyW]

I'm in. I'm not sure if I'll start at the Shepherd Pass Trail, Cottonwood Pass, or the Whitney Trail. Kern Point and Picket Guard Peak will be on my agenda; so if anyone else is interested in bagging those peaks and wants company, let me know. I'm a vegetarian; so fishing won't be a priority for me, but I'll enjoy those lakes - especially in the morning when they are much like a mirror showing that beautiful reflection.

I'm figuring two days in, two days in the basin, and then two days out. A 6 day trip - that's a long trip for me, but a short trip for others.