chomp
New member
For those that don't like to read. Three week hike. Kings Canyon National Park to Yosemite National Park. One week off-trail. Photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/chompat99/Hiking2009Sierras#
Short version - the trip was awesome, but didn't turn out exactly as I had
hoped.
Our first problem was that my bag got lost on the flight, so we had to
spend a night in Fresno @ 300 feet rather than in Kings Canyon @ 5000
feet. Got my bag last that first night, so we got to Kings Canyon NP
before noon the next day, and started the 7 mile, 5500 foot climb up
the Copper Canyon Trail.
My buddy Ryan was fighting a cold, so he was hurting, as was I from
the elevation. We finally topped out on the climb right around dark
and he was puking. Not a good sign. The next day we started heading
off-trail on the High Route, which was amazing. Unfortunately, Ryan
was getting more sick, not less, and that continued for the next 5
days. I ended up carrying his food, and in one instance, shuttled his
pack up a climb.
Still, the High Route was amazing - several passes over 11K and 2 over
12K. Its a lot of work hiking for the entire day off trail... deciding
on where to hike, how to get over talus, etc.. None of this was
terribly difficult, just overall more tiring by the end of the day.
Going this time of year had its advantages (almost literally no rain,
no bugs, perfect temperature), but having literally zero snow made
some of this trip a lot more difficult.
The only real challenge during this section was Frozen Lake Pass. This
way up was difficult but not technical. However, after getting the the
top, the other side was scary. It dropped off steeply and suddenly,
and the first 100 feet of the descent was very dicey. After that
initial 100 feet, it got easier, but it was a looooong hard talus
descent.
After that was the scariest moment of the High Route for me. Near the
bottom, there was another tricky ledge section to navigate that
involved us climbing back up 100 feet or so. During this climb, I
pushed off on a boulder about twice the size of a backpack, and just
as I took my foot up, it dislodged and dropped 100 or so feet before
smashing into a bunch of boulders below. Definitely freaked me out a
bit.
Anyway, we limped into Bishop CA a day late and needing to take a day
off - Ryan because he was sick, and be because I was exhausted from
carrying his stuff. During our day off, it was pretty obvious that the
schedule was throw to hell, plus the next major challenge on the high
route was Snow-Tongue Pass, with an even scarier description that
Frozen Lake Pass. So, at this point, we wimped out and decided to take
the John Muir Trail into Yosemite rather than the High Route somewhere
south of Yosemite.
I'll say, the JMT was pretty amazing even though it doesn't hold the
elevation like the High Route, and with his getting some medicine and
us being on trail, we were able to make up a ton of time. Enough time
that I was able to take a day off in Mammoth Lakes and rent a mountain
bike (and almost hit a brown bear on the mountain bike...).
The only changes we made were that we took the PCT out of Mammoth
rather than the JMT, and then instead of going into Twolomne Meadows
(a loooong boring walk a 8700 feet), we turned left and climbed back
up into the mountains via Volgelskeg High Camp. This, incidentally,
was the worst night of the trip, being that I had a 35 degree bag, we
slept outside without tents, and it got down to 15 degrees that night.
On our way into the Yosemite Valley, we took the side trip to Half
Dome, which was much more technical than I had anticipated. Those
cables are no joke. Its not rock climbing or anything, but those
cables are not there for yours assistance. You need to use them to
pull yourself up the mountain. You definitely have to have some nuts
to do that, IMO, and lots of people bailed on Sub-Dome just looking at
them. Coming down, however, was much much easier than I had imagined
since you can just psudo-repel with the cable.
Anyway, I'm a little bummed that I didn't do more of the High Route,
especially in a couple of sections where the JMT kinda sucked. (Coming
into Muir Camp, into Edison Lake and into Reds Meadow sticks out in my
head). But also, doing something like Frozen Lake Pass, while doable,
wasn't really what I consider enjoyable with a backpack.
Now that I'm familiar with the Sierra's, I plan on making future trips
out there of 1-2 weeks that involve trail and High Route. I think it
would be good to hit the trail for a couple of days, acclimate to the
altitude, then dive off trail with strong lungs and less food. Its a
beautiful area, and while its hard to compare to the Wind Rive range
since I did that hike 6 years ago.. I have to say its the most
beautiful hiking I've ever done.
http://picasaweb.google.com/chompat99/Hiking2009Sierras#
Short version - the trip was awesome, but didn't turn out exactly as I had
hoped.
Our first problem was that my bag got lost on the flight, so we had to
spend a night in Fresno @ 300 feet rather than in Kings Canyon @ 5000
feet. Got my bag last that first night, so we got to Kings Canyon NP
before noon the next day, and started the 7 mile, 5500 foot climb up
the Copper Canyon Trail.
My buddy Ryan was fighting a cold, so he was hurting, as was I from
the elevation. We finally topped out on the climb right around dark
and he was puking. Not a good sign. The next day we started heading
off-trail on the High Route, which was amazing. Unfortunately, Ryan
was getting more sick, not less, and that continued for the next 5
days. I ended up carrying his food, and in one instance, shuttled his
pack up a climb.
Still, the High Route was amazing - several passes over 11K and 2 over
12K. Its a lot of work hiking for the entire day off trail... deciding
on where to hike, how to get over talus, etc.. None of this was
terribly difficult, just overall more tiring by the end of the day.
Going this time of year had its advantages (almost literally no rain,
no bugs, perfect temperature), but having literally zero snow made
some of this trip a lot more difficult.
The only real challenge during this section was Frozen Lake Pass. This
way up was difficult but not technical. However, after getting the the
top, the other side was scary. It dropped off steeply and suddenly,
and the first 100 feet of the descent was very dicey. After that
initial 100 feet, it got easier, but it was a looooong hard talus
descent.
After that was the scariest moment of the High Route for me. Near the
bottom, there was another tricky ledge section to navigate that
involved us climbing back up 100 feet or so. During this climb, I
pushed off on a boulder about twice the size of a backpack, and just
as I took my foot up, it dislodged and dropped 100 or so feet before
smashing into a bunch of boulders below. Definitely freaked me out a
bit.
Anyway, we limped into Bishop CA a day late and needing to take a day
off - Ryan because he was sick, and be because I was exhausted from
carrying his stuff. During our day off, it was pretty obvious that the
schedule was throw to hell, plus the next major challenge on the high
route was Snow-Tongue Pass, with an even scarier description that
Frozen Lake Pass. So, at this point, we wimped out and decided to take
the John Muir Trail into Yosemite rather than the High Route somewhere
south of Yosemite.
I'll say, the JMT was pretty amazing even though it doesn't hold the
elevation like the High Route, and with his getting some medicine and
us being on trail, we were able to make up a ton of time. Enough time
that I was able to take a day off in Mammoth Lakes and rent a mountain
bike (and almost hit a brown bear on the mountain bike...).
The only changes we made were that we took the PCT out of Mammoth
rather than the JMT, and then instead of going into Twolomne Meadows
(a loooong boring walk a 8700 feet), we turned left and climbed back
up into the mountains via Volgelskeg High Camp. This, incidentally,
was the worst night of the trip, being that I had a 35 degree bag, we
slept outside without tents, and it got down to 15 degrees that night.
On our way into the Yosemite Valley, we took the side trip to Half
Dome, which was much more technical than I had anticipated. Those
cables are no joke. Its not rock climbing or anything, but those
cables are not there for yours assistance. You need to use them to
pull yourself up the mountain. You definitely have to have some nuts
to do that, IMO, and lots of people bailed on Sub-Dome just looking at
them. Coming down, however, was much much easier than I had imagined
since you can just psudo-repel with the cable.
Anyway, I'm a little bummed that I didn't do more of the High Route,
especially in a couple of sections where the JMT kinda sucked. (Coming
into Muir Camp, into Edison Lake and into Reds Meadow sticks out in my
head). But also, doing something like Frozen Lake Pass, while doable,
wasn't really what I consider enjoyable with a backpack.
Now that I'm familiar with the Sierra's, I plan on making future trips
out there of 1-2 weeks that involve trail and High Route. I think it
would be good to hit the trail for a couple of days, acclimate to the
altitude, then dive off trail with strong lungs and less food. Its a
beautiful area, and while its hard to compare to the Wind Rive range
since I did that hike 6 years ago.. I have to say its the most
beautiful hiking I've ever done.
looks killer out there... 
