High Sierra Topix

I am researching a High Sierra Trail trip next summer and adding up the public transit option cost and I get roughly:

Lone Pine - Mohave $22
Mojave - Bakersfield $5
Bakersfield - Visalia $22.48
(Overnight motel in Visalia about $100)
Visalia - Sequoia $20

For a total $169. If you include a night in Lone Pine before the trip, that would be another $100+. (Plus the extra day off work to do all this would be a day of loss pay)

$800 for a private shuttle sounds like a lot, but even split with one other person for $400 each it is looking cheaper than public transit. The extra time and need for motels seems to kill the savings with the cheap buses.

Am I missing something? People mentioning the public transit option, but I have not read about anyone actually taking it.

Louie,

I have not taken the public transit option. But in the past I have had a family member drive me, hitch hiked a short segment, used private and public shuttles, and flown (from Lone Pine to an airfield just outside Three Rivers).

In recent years I favor the following: Leave Lone Pine in the early morning by private shuttle and travel to the Wyndham Hotel in Visalia. Then take the late morning public Sequoia Shuttle ($10) to the Giant Forest Museum. Finally, take the free Park Shuttle (three miles) to my car at Crescent Meadow. From Lone Pine, one should be able to save $200+ on a private shuttle by being dropped off in Visalia, as opposed to Crescent Meadow.

Jim

Jim F wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 8:48 pm From Lone Pine, one should be able to save $200+ on a private shuttle by being dropped off in Visalia, as opposed to Crescent Meadow.

Thanks, I didn't really consider that option, I guess I figured it would not be that much cheaper than going all the way to Crescent Meadow.

Hike a loop for $0?

Several years ago, I took the public transportation option that you first described. Some small tweaks: I had ended at Horseshoe Meadow. As I started to stagger out the road from there, the first car I saw gave me a ride to Lone Pine. I stayed overnight in Lone Pine (Whitney Portal Hostel, which was good). I had one clean shirt in a plastic bag hidden way down at the bottom of my backpack. In the morning, the bus to Mojave Jct was good. The bus to Bakersfield was good. The bus to Visalia was so-so (very slow). Inside Visalia, the transportation center was closed for the day, so I took a city bus to some lodging, and then took the city bus back in the morning. I had a hard time getting a seat on the shuttle to Giant Forest, but it finally happened at the last minute. Once in Giant Forest, I caught the free shuttle out to Crescent Meadow where my car was. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same way.

I had reached Crabtree Camp on the fourth day. I went up and down the west side of Whitney on the fifth day. Then I took the sixth day to get out to Horseshoe Meadow. It was quite a whirlwind trip.

I kept my starting pack weight down to thirty pounds. Each trail day started before dawn and lasted until the evening. I can hike a lot easier and cover more miles by starting early when it is cool.

bobby49 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2024 12:12 pm I had one clean shirt in a plastic bag hidden way down at the bottom of my backpack.

I think I would lean towards doing the transportation first, so my car, clean clothes , ect would be waiting for me at the end. I would think wearing week old clothes would not make one the most popular person on a bus, and I don't really want to carry extra with me.

c9h13no3 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2024 9:37 am Hike a loop for $0?

Also considering doing it as an out and back, perhaps only to the junction of the JMT. (I have been to Whitney before) Lots of options, but I guess I got to get a permit first.

Get a partner and park a car at each trailhead?

This is a trip I did that included quite a bit more than the HST, but only went from Whitney Portal to Precipice Lake then back. Of course, it was a much longer trip than you seem to have time for. But you may be able to figure out something similar but shorter or a similar loop from Crescent Meadow. There is a free bus between Crescent Meadow and Wolverton, so you could return via Kern-Keweah, Colby Lake, Deadmanm, Tablelands.

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