I'm looking for any thoughts or experiences in or near a backpacking route my friends and I are planning through the sie

[maxr22]

I think https://www.eastsidesierrashuttle.com/ may be willing to shuttle you back to your car from wolverton because they do offer a shuttle service for the HST, but it will be more than $800.

Have you used Eastside Shuttle in the last few years? Thieves. May or may not pick you up.

Nope! That is good to know.

[thegib]

Now I think your route is mostly possible. If you're in good shape, mostly acclimated, go light, know how to use your gps, have good weather, and aren't slowed down overmuch by loose rock. 1 Over Bishop pass to Dusy basin (easy first day), or to Barret (doable). 2 On trail down to LeConte canyon and up Cataract creek (easy), or over Potluck and Cirque and down to and up Cataract creek (harder). 3 Over Cataract pass and Dumbbell pass to Lake basin. 4 Over Cartridge pass and down and over Arrow pass. 5 Cross to east south of Pyramid Pk (look it up on this forum) and descend Window peak drainage - here I would forgo the very beautiful King lakes area to escape King Col - take JMT south to Sixty Lakes Basin. 5 Over Glen pass (or nearby) - I would skip going up Harrison and either stay on trail over Forester if tired of x-cntry or go up to East lake and Lake Reflection and over Little Joes. 6 I would head for Milestone pass (it's great) and skip Milestone col. Camp in Milestone bowl. 7 Either go N over Colby and rejoin your route at Colby lake, or go over Triple Divide passes and pick up your route near Coppermine Pk/pass, maybe camp at Big Bird lake, or Lonely lake. 8 Cruise through the Tablelands. 9 Easy out. Gives you one day for bad weather or r and r. I'd expect day 2 to be challenging if going Potluck/Cirque. Not because they're hard so much as trickier 'micro' route-finding. On the plus side it won't much matter how far you made it up Cataract creek. The descent of Window creek is much nicer than Secor's descent from Arrow lakes. And finally an $800 shuttle is absurdly over priced.

[snowblind]

Agree with Wandering Daisy - this seems like an ambitious trip for ppl with little XC experience in the Sierra. Most of this is class 2 but I suspect you will likely find yourselves in a class 3 situation on this route. As mentioned, King Col is often hated - and I believe taking it south will be especially hard as it is very loose on the north side.

Point-to-point also limits bailout/modification options - if you do this, I recommend dealing with the shuttle at the start of the trip.

There are many amazing, alternative routes in the area with XC options mentioned on this forum.