High Sierra Topix

Hi there!

My husband and I are planning to head to John Muir Wilderness in a couple weeks for a 4 day/3 night backpacking trip. Right now we were planning to start at Pine Creek and go Honeymoon Lake (5 mineasy first day to acclimate)> Desolation Lake (15mi) > Merriam Lake (12 mi) > Out, but I'm a little concerned about the altitude. We live at sea level and in the past have stuck closer to 9-10k ft, and this trip puts us up above 11k. Do you guys have any suggestions for alternative trips we might think of doing? We'd like a 4 day/3 night trip in a low-traffic area, if possible, where we could snag a permit with only 2 weeks notice.

What level of backpacking experience do you have?
Level 3- Numerous backpacking trips, some x-country travel

What terrain are you comfortable/uncomfortable with?
- Class 1 terrain/trail hiking
- Class 2 terrain/pass/x-country
- River crossings
- Snow travel (ok with a little but we don't have crampons/ice axes)

What is your main interest?
- Lakes
- Forests
- Big Mountain scenery

How many days/nights is your trip, not including travel to trailhead? 4 days, 3 nights.

How many miles did you want to do a day, any layovers? 10-15 per day, no layovers.

Have you hiked at elevation before? Any prior issues with Altitude Sickness? Yes, we've hiked and slept without problems at 9.5-10k. I did have an experience where we hiked up to 11.5k and camped at 10k and got pretty altitude sick, though-- hence my concern with our plan right now.

Do you have a route logistics preference: loop, out and back, point to point (which may require 2 vehicles or hitchhiking)? Loop is best but Out and Back okay too!

Is there a particular area in the Sierra that your most interested in (Yosemite, SEKI, western sierra start or eastern start)? Flexible, but coming from the Bay Area so < 7 hour drive is ideal

Have you hiked in the Sierra Nevada before, if yes, where? Yes. Emigrant Wilderness (1 night out and back to Toejam; also 3 days with my in laws who are not super hikers from Crabtree Camp > Bear Lake > Gem Lake > Grouse Lake > Out), Hoover Wilderness (1 night out and back past Anna Lake)

Will you be hiking with a dog? Yes, 1 65lb dog.

Thanks SO much in advance!

Hi Happydsn,

Welcome to HST! Lots of new members using "Happy" as part of their screen names lately.
Since you have had issues going above 10k, maybe something on the western side of the Sierra will be a safer option. You said that your trip will not be a couple of weeks, so sometime in August. Dinkey Lakes ( https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.1455 ... o=r&n=0.25 ) should be fine by then, and is dog friendly, as is the Lillian Lakes ( https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.5528 ... o=r&n=0.25 ) area or Joe Crane Lake/ Sadler Lake ( https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.6360 ... o=r&n=0.25 ) south of Yosemite, out of Bass Lake, are great places too.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the suggestions! Do all of the trips you mentioned require mail-in permit requests? I can't seem to find the trailheads on recreation.gov -- I know some of the John Muir permits are up there, but maybe not all the Inyo trailheads are up. If so, I'll just give the ranger station a call tomorrow to see about availability. Really appreciate your suggestions!

Dana

Inyo is all online. Trailheads in Sierra National Forest are mail in only. Yosemite or SEKI is by fax. Desolation is online.

Happydsn wrote: Thanks for the suggestions! Do all of the trips you mentioned require mail-in permit requests? I can't seem to find the trailheads on recreation.gov ...

Search recreation.gov on the word Inyo, select the INYO NATIONAL FOREST - WILDERNESS PERMITS entry, then click on the INYO NATIONAL FOREST - WILDERNESS PERMITS link. That brings you to https://www.recreation.gov/permits/Inyo ... rkId=72203 . You can see each of the trailheads in the pull-down Trail list.

A map of all the Inyo trailheads is at https://www.recreation.gov/permits/map_ ... rkId=72203 .

Inyo permit rules are at https://www.recreation.gov/marketing.do ... l&backLink .

You may also benefit from the Inyo trip planning guide at https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 003592.pdf .

Hmm okay, I suppose with this short notice we will have to try to snag a walk-in permit for Ansel Adams, since we don't have time for a mail in one by July 27th. I am worried about trying the higher elevations I have a permit for, especially with the snow conditions! This should be good though, since to get a next-day permit we'll be forced to give ourselves a day to acclimate before heading in.

Do you guys think I can make a 4 day/3 night trip out of Lillian or Graveyard Lakes trails as you suggested? I am hoping to get in pretty long-ish days, 40-50 miles overall.

Thank you guys so much for these great suggestions!
Dana

There may still be patchy snow over the trail in that area. People have been rescued out of there recently. Are you okay navigating when the trail vanishes?

It's a fairly leisurely loop - I've done 3 days in there hiking around the lakes and over to Lillian. I suspect the one area over the ridge from Lady Lake will be a righteous mosquito factory going full blast, there was standing water in a dry year.

Also, roads to the trailheads in the area aren't paved. Are you okay with running your vehicle up rocky access roads?

Graveyard Lakes is an out and back unless you are willing to climb over the ridge to Peter Pande. It's a beautiful area though. A loop would be going out Goodale and coming back over Silver Pass - will be really busy with thru hikers right now.

I saw that people keep getting lost off the trail! I am hoping another couple weeks will get a little more snow melted, but I do think we should be fine navigating. We are pretty savvy with a compass.

I'm not wedded to the South Sierras if you think I'll have better luck getting in a more challenging/good/safe 4 dayer in the North, it's just been so crowded there recently, and we've done a lot of Emigrant.