Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

[Andrew-Brownstone]

Hey there. I am super excited to find this HST forum. What a fantastic collection of folks sharing great info in a friendly and intelligent fashion.

My 15 yr old son and I are planning a 16 night BP trip from Courtright Reservoir (Maxson Trailhead) to the end of of the road (180) in Kings Canyon NP. About 110 miles (so ~7 miles/day) almost a third of which would be cross-country (some of which will be day hikes/peak climbs without packs). Plan to fish some. Great to get a reality check from folks with more experience doing such a trip.

Experience: I've done lots of 3-5 night BP trips with my brother and sister in the Sierras almost (every summer for over 20+ years). We typically start from Thomas Edison, Florence, Courtright or Wishon. We almost always do some cross-country. This extended trip will be a new experience and mostly new territory that I've long to see my whole life.

**VERY EAGER TO GET INFO REGARDING FOUR THINGS:
1) backpacking down Gardiner Creek to Woods Creek trail (heard it can be sketchy, but if safe, it would be ideal for our trip). Advice?
2) food re-supply near Mather Pass (5 miles south or north) ??? - I've never scheduled a re-supply before. Advice?
3) transportation options for getting back to Prather ranger station (guessing I can keep my truck there for 2 weeks? - will check)
4) most reliable fishing lakes on our route. Hoping to offset 3-4 nights of dinner with fish, but we are not very experienced fishermen. ;-) foolish?

Based on lack of snow this year, I'm guessing we'll have no mozzies, no problem crossing streams, warm lakes for swimming and ... challenge finding drinking water? doubt it.

Look forward to getting feedback. --Andrew

Check out our DRAFT route map on MapMyHike: 119mi ALB Epic BP trip 2015 rev5
Distance: 119.13 mi
http://www.mapmyhike.com/routes/view/668270560
http://www.mapmyhike.com/routes/view/668270560

[maverick]

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to HST! Please start a seperate thread to ask about backpacking related questions.

[edhyatt]

Morning (well it is here)

I've not been hiding in the shadows that long here....

Great board - interesting information; I'm here to gain insight into a SHR attempt this summer. I did the JMT a few years ago and the Colorado Trail in 2013 - trip report for the latter is here:

http://www.trek-lite.com/index.php?thre ... trail.399/

I've also done a fair bit of hiking in the European Alps and Scotland, and cycling all over the world; some of that can be seen here:

http://www.scottishhills.com/html/modul ... hor_id=592

Most of the terrain I encounter is nothing like the Sierra.

ed

[maverick]

Hi Ed,

Welcome to HST! Thanks for the intro TR's!

[zacjust32]

Been reading all the advice here for a few years now as I'm trying to get into real backpacking. Being from Reedley, a 45 minute drive to SEKI, I've pretty much exhausted all available day hikes, so I'm looking to get into multi-day adventures. I bought some great used gear on craigslist and I'm hoping to get enough time off this summer to get out there. I'm a full time student at Fresno State and my summer job is working ~60 hours a week, so weekend trips are probably all I can muster this time. Looking forward to getting more involved here as I grow in experience.

-Zac

[maverick]

Hi Zac,

Welcome to HST!

[Poedog]

Hey-owdy folks, just found this site and am thankful for the wealth of information contained within. My partner and I been mountain-hopping since we met living in Durango, Colorado. We moved to Big Sur for two years, and then hopped on our bicycles last February and started pedaling East. We hit the Atlantic in St Augustine, FL 3 months later. One month later we started sobo on the AT, and finished the trail in November. Now we are in the Portland, OR area doing the work thing, saving up for another summer of trekking as much as possible through the Sierras and Rockies. Looking forward to contributing someday to the already staggering amount of knowledge here.

www.unboundroutes.com

[maverick]

Cool blog David, we also enjoy trip reports from places outside of the Sierra too, just use the "Beyond The Sierra Nevada" section
at the bottom of the main page.

[scipio]

Hello,

This site is a great resource! I recently moved back to Southern California, and am planning a couple of trips back to the Sierra this summer. I spent a couple of summers all over the area as a teenager but haven't been back since. The information in the TRs and maps has been very helpful, and I look forward to posting some of my own this summer!

Scipio

[maverick]

Hi Scipio,

Welcome to HST! Looking forward to reading about your adventures.