talusdancers

Talusdancers on Mt. Whitney

Filed under: Trip Reports — talusdan @ 3:14 pm

Guitar Lake

Filed under: Uncategorized — talusdan @ 8:17 pm

Mid-July Conditions

Filed under: Uncategorized — talusdan @ 1:55 pm

Posted a bit after the fact, but I thought I’d describe how summer conditions seem to be evolving this year, at least in the Yosemite Sierra. As many know, what looked to be a decent winter early in the year ended up being not so great in terms of snowfall when the tap was more or less turned off a couple months early. Consequently, the summer season began a bit earlier than usual, with much of the high country snow melting out at least a few weeks early than average - this followed by early plant growth, wildflowers and, of course, mosquitos.

I was in the Tuolumne area for a short pack trip to the Young Lakes area more or less in mid-July. The Tuolumne Meadows campground had already been open for awhile and there was no snow left there. The trail to Young Lakes (and to other places I day hiked at similar elevations) was completely snow free. I saw some snow banks in a few places above 10,000 feet.

The mosquitos at Young Lakes were awful - as bad as I’ve seen. That is bad news if you happened to be there in mid-July, but this is perhaps small good news in that the hatch may end earlier than usual and leave us with fewer mosquito problems in August and later in the season.

Dan

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High Sierra Trail to Mt. Whitney Expedition

Filed under: Upcoming Trips — O. @ 12:35 am

A permit for 10 has been reserved.

Sunday, August 3
Three vehicles drive to Whitney Portal, leave two vehicles, third vehicle takes all drivers to Three Rivers (in the Sierra foothills, east of Visalia), 800′, 5-6 hours drive from Whitney Portal. Other vehicles may drive directly to Three Rivers, 4 hours from the Bay Area, 3.5 hours from LA, motel (Comfort Inn, 2 rooms reserved).

Monday, August 4
Drive to Lodgepole (1+ hours from Three Rivers), pick-up permit.
Drive to Crescent Meadow, 6680’ (just a bit from Lodgepole), park cars
Hike to 9 Mile Creek, 7500’, 8.8 miles, camp. Standard bearbox.

Tuesday, August 5
Hike to Hamilton Lake, 8200’ 7.7 miles, camp. 3 bearboxes (2 standard and 1 large).

Wednesday, August 6
Via Kaweah Gap, 10700’, hike to Old Big Arroyo Patrol Cabin, 9500’, 5.9 miles, camp. Large bearbox.

Thursday, August 7
Via Chagoopa Plateau ca. 10500’, hike to Moraine Lake, 9302’, ca. 8 miles, camp. Large bearbox.

Friday, August 8
hike to Kern Hot Springs, 6900’, ca.7 miles, camp. 2 standard bearboxes, concrete hot tub.

Saturday, August 9
Via Kern Canyon, hike to Junction Meadow, 8080’, 7.8 miles, camp. Standard bearbox.

Sunday, August 10
Via JMT, hike to Crabtree Meadows Ranger Station, ca. 11000′ 8.1 miles, camp. Bear boxes.

Monday, August 11
Via Trail Pass, 13700’, hike to Whitney Summit, 14494’, 7.9 miles, camp; or hike down to Trail Camp, 12000, camp.

Tuesday, August 12
Hike out to Whitney Portal, 8600’, 11.6 from Whitney Summit, 6 miles from Trail Camp.
Drive to Lone Pine, post-hike pizza.
Drive to Three Rivers (5 hours drive), motel (Comfort Inn, 2 rooms reserved)

Wednesday, August 13
Fetch cars at Crescent Meadow (2 hours round trip),
drive home to Bay Area (4 hours drive)

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