High Sierra Topix

So I am vacillating between more Pyrenees or getting back to the Sierra this summer.

Lets face it...you guys need an outlet for the winter blues...so helping me plan is good...

I'm a Level 4 Explorer...who at 57 years old has knees that feel a bit Level 2

I'm looking for some ideas based around:

1. Public transport access (flying in from the UK). I hitch-hike well (its my shapely ankles and accent)
2. Five-eight days (or fewer) between resupplies; I'll probably need to bring my Bearikade I know
3. Probably 25 days max for the whole thing
4. Off and on-trail. I do @ 10-12 miles off-trail reasonably comfortably...and can add on-trail miles to that
5. Yos Grade 4 if I must...but not too many dispiriting (for me)...Sky Pilot boulder-hop approaches
6. I like to camp high (altitude!)
7. The lesser trod is good
8. Relatively easy permit acquisition
9. It would be August if it happens

Done the JMT
Done much of the SHR

I realise that is wide open..but would appreciate links to TRs (I have looked at quite a few)...and any suggestions..??

who at 57 years old

57 years young Ed!

A list of areas you have previously visited or would like to visit would help? Are you looking to move daily or would you rather like to take your time and get to know some places more intimately Ed? Many folks spend a day, maybe 1 1/2 days in a specific basin, when at least 3 days (or much more) could be spent exploring all the nooks and crannies.

Rather than a single trip, I would suggest exploring a few areas that are relatively accessible to start....and give you lots of options.

One area that we love is the Emigrant Wilderness. There are a few different trailheads that would work, but Kennedy Meadows or Leavitt Meadows are the easiest to get to by hitching---they are right on a main highway. And from there you could easily spend a week exploring parts of the Sierra that don't see too many visitors.

You could do the same by heading North out of Tuolumne Meadows for another week or more.
Glorious county and all accessed via a trailhead on a major state highway...

If you can get to Yosemite Valley then you can take the shuttle to Glacier Point, and from there explore the Illilouette Canyon area..and Buena Vista Crest.

Your biggest challenge is transportation. Is renting a car totally out of consideration?

There are great loops out of west side trailheads in SEKI, but poor public transportation is a problem. There is good public transportation from Fresno to Lodgepole but not to Roads End. You would have to consider hitching. Once you finish a few loops on west side trailheads, it is actually a relatively short walk back to the east via Bubbs Creek (Roads End in SEKI to Onion Valley; or visa versa.) Better public access between trailheads on the east side. Not going to detail any routes now, until you figure out if the transportation issues are a deal-breaker.

Emigrant is very beautiful and lake-filled but probably does not fill your desire for high altitude and big mountains.

From the east side: (the first two may be longer than you want)

A loop through the headwaters of the Kern River, hitting all the side cirques on both sides, would be an ideal trip. This is all the great off-trail stuff you missed while walking down the JMT. Onion Meadow, Whitney Portal, and Shepherd Pass are the trailheads to consider. There are shuttle services to all three.

A loop from Whitney or Shepherd Pass- Keweah Basin, Nine Lakes Basin, Hamilton Lake, Cloud Canyon, Colby Pass back to Kern- Keweah.

A shorter one-way: Cottonwood Lakes-Sky Blue Lakes- Crabtree - exit Whitney.

Mono Creek to Mc Gee. Over Mono Pass and side trips up the "Recesses", up to Silver DIvide- JMT or HSR to intersect Mc Gee trail back to Mc Gee TH.

South Lake - Dusy - Ionian Basin (Black Giant Pass)- Martha Lake, climb Goddard, Davis Lakes to Evolution Lake- Darwin Bench/Canyon, out Lemark Col to North Lake .

Short but stunning: 3-4 day trip to see 1st through 7th Lakes. Trailhead near Glacier Lodge.

Another short but stunning: The Sabrina Lake drainage.

By the way, I would avoid trips out of Yosemite Valley and Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne in August (too hot!)- wonderful trips for earlier in the season, though.

I think the Arnot book, High Sierra Range of Light, is a great resource for stunning areas. It is a bit out-dated (slow travel suggested based on the old-school 60-pound pack!) but I have been to nearly all his prime locations, and there is not one bad one in the entire book. You may be able to find a copy for sale on the internet. You can put 2-3 of his trips together into one very nice trip.

If you are stuck with public transit, you can take a Sequoia Shuttle from Three Rivers or Visalia to Giant Forest and from there take the free park shuttle to either Wolverton or Crescent Meadow. From there, there are numerous loop possibilities that would take you to Tablelands, Nine Lakes Basin, Kaweah Basin, the Upper Kern, Milestone Basin, and others. Just do a search for those places and you’ll find lots of trip reports that will inspire many possible routes.

Also, I agree with WD about Phil Arnot's book. All the trips in that book are wonderful.

So I am vacillating between more Pyrenees or getting back to the Sierra this summer.

Thems are fighting words Ed. What's there to vacillate about?

I don't have nearly the experience of the others here, but I really enjoyed the headwaters of the Kern. I started at Crescent Meadows in Seki and ended up hiking a 100+ mile loop almost entirely on trail in 7 days. I had to forego the 2nd week of hiking due to an emergency at home, but I was blown away by the first part of the High Sierra Trail to the Kern and then by the views and isolation of the Kern Headwaters. Darwin Bench and Lakes were beautiful and Davis Lake looked amazing from afar last year, though I heard from another hiker it isn't nearly as nice when your scrambling around the Davis Lake basin. McGee Lakes is part of my planned 2 week hike for this year. In my limited experience, there are only lesser grades of awesome in the Sierra, nothing truly throw-away or bad.

I did some day hikes in the Aragon and Catalan Pyrenees last September. Nice, but I'd take the Sierra any day.

Here's an idea for you from Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite which you can easily reach by public transit from east or west side (check out www.yarts.com). I call it the Kuna-Cathedral traverse, and you can read my description from another post last summer. Go to this page and scroll down to the second (long) post:
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... 9&p=124732

-Phil

Also, another long hike in Yosemite that connects to public transit at both ends starts at Tuolumne Meadows and ends in Yosemite Valley using Rafferty Creek, Vogelsang Pass, Lewis Creek, the High Trail (don't forget to explore up the Lyell Fork Merced River), then the Red Peak Pass trail and finally down Illilouette creek to the Panorama trail to Nevada Falls and then following the horde of tourists down to the Valley. This would take me 8 or 9 days with no side trips. You sound a lot faster, which means you can do more side trips!
-Phil