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HST food strategy question:

For a variety of reasons, I find we are pushing the space limitations of our bear canisters. I also notice that canisters are officially "strongly recommended" but not actually required for any of the HST proper, but only on the Whitney trail. Finally, All of the established campsites from Mehrten to Junction Meadow would seem to have bear boxes. If all this is accurate, is there anything wrong with bagging the first couple of days' food and relying on the bear boxes for a couple of days, knowing that everything else will be snug in the bear canisters for the rest of the trip?

I know this is not ideal, but just how far off the mark is it?

Although there maybe some variability in staff, when we signed for our wilderness permit, we were required to rent a bear cannister in 2009. I've met people on the trail without one. Bear boxes are at Bearpaw, Big Arroyo, Kern, Jct Meadow, but don't recall seeing one at Guitar Lake last year. We're using three this trip. I think your plan is sound. We ate a lot less than we brought. Fish food in the Kern river I suppose.

John

Hi Salty,

"Relying on bear boxes for a couple of days" does not always work. For example, one day in the middle of summer, I stumbled into a crowded Big Arroyo Patrol Cabin campsite at sunset, tired from the day's hike which had started at Mehrten Creek. At the Big Arroyo camp, the camper to bear box ratio was probably 25 to 1. Of course, being the last to arrive in camp, I found the bear box completely full. During the day I had encountered five bears between Mehrten Creek and the Patrol cabin. That evening it was MY RESPONSIBILITY to protect from bears any food I could not fit into my bear canister.

That being said, early in the season I have camped at the Big Arroyo Patrol Cabin and have been the only person there. The bear box then became my own personal storage facility! I put everthing in it!

It often seems that lengthy hikes in the Sierras can become fairly challenging problems in combinatorial mathematics (planning food rations, packaging, packing into cylinders, resupplies,etc) and assessing probabilities (depth of snow, water levels at creek crossings, weather, bear activity, number of other campers per bear box, etc).

Best of luck on the Trail, Jim

Two of us are starting from Crescent Meadown HST W-E on July 2, summitting on July 8... at least that is plan.

Feedback from wilderness desk at lodgepole is that past bearpaw we will be orienteering b/c snow is still 3-4' deep.

any trail condition reports would be appreciated.

Latest SEKI beta Scroll down to HST/Kaweah Gap and then Mt Whitney Trail.

Also a good discussion here, although no one has apparently been over Kaweah Gap yet, except maybe the BC rangers.

Doesn't look completely socked in above Bearpaw, and its melting fast. But still 60% above Hamilton as of a week ago. So yeah, map & compass, cramps & axe could be essential high up. Based on past years info, you may be making first tracks.

Bearpaw HSC is opening July 1, set back from June 24.

Creek crossings are serious, maybe even more so than snow cover. Get early start from Crescent, esp if you are going to Bearpaw 1st day.: three crossings -- Mehrten, 8 Mile and 9 Mile -- before Buck are up. Don't want to be doing them in the late PM.

For the Whitney end, a lot of TRs indicate ok conditions on the east side: apparently a lot of soft glissades from Trail Crest for early summiters. West side approach a has lot of snow down low, but the top half of the west side switchbacks are apparently clear, and a bunch of PCT hikers have been doing it so it definitely goes.

Two parties following you 7/11 would sure appreciate a conditions report from you. Have a great trip. And please post a TR.

Thanks for the feedback. As you indicate, I am cautious of the creek crossings. The wilderness desk at lodgepole stated that merhton was chest deep. I hope not since I am 6'8".

I have been looking forward to this trip for 9 months, but at the end it is about being safe.

At bearpaw if we decide to make a loop of it, how is the trail back around sugarbowl dowm and headed back to the NP.

will post a TR
Thanks

TR from a PCT hiker from his crossing of Wright Creek a couple of days ago:
================

I woke up to one of the greatest campsites I've ever seen. I was on a bluff at 10,400 feet overlooking the western range of the Sierras as the sun illuminated their tips and began to move down the slopes. I got up really early because I needed to get across Forester which was 10 miles away through really rough terrain and high altitude. I knew I was going to need all day wandering around, looking for the trail. I hoped to be able to get up Forester before it got too soft. I didn't want to spent the whole day post-holing and getting nowhere. I was out of camp by 6am and really anxious to get to town.I was only ten miles from Forester pass and only 18 miles to the side trail that would take me out of the Sierra.

After about 20 minutes I came up to Wright Creek. Normally in the mornings the creeks aren't as swollen and easier to cross, although much colder. At 6:20 in the morning Wright Creek was still raging. It's not good to have your feet wet for days at a time and mine were beginning to feel the effects of it so I really didn't want to get them wet first thing in the morning. I walked up the creek bank trying to find a fallen log or some way to cross without getting wet. The manzanita on the banks was coated with ice and I couldn't find any obvious place to cross. About 100 yards upstream I saw a spot that looked like I could jump to. A rock that was sticking up about a foot above the rushing stream. I would have to jump about 4 feet across a deep channel of 35 degree water. I'm not sure what I was thinking but I decided to go for it. With my poles in one hand, I made a jump for the rock, not knowing that it had an invisible coting of ice on it just like the bushes on the banks. When my foot hit the rock, it slipped right over it and I landed on the rock in a split. I tried to hold on to the rock but it was covered in ice and I was pulled over backwards by the extremely powerful current. I went from bad decision to a life threatening situation in the blink of an eye. The freezing water took my breath away as I was quickly swept downstream. I had to get out of the water but first I had to keep from smashing my head on a rock. I got my feet downstream and flipped over, trying desperately to get my foot or hand on something. Suddenly my leg got caught between two rocks and the current flipped me over it. I thought my shin was going to break as the current pulled on me. My leg was stuck and my back hit another rock. The current had me pinned down and I was facing upstream with the water rushing over the front of my body. I knew a had only minutes to get out of the 35 degree water. I threw my oles over the the bank and tried to get my leg unstuck and still keep from getting swept downstream again. My hands were frozen and I couldn't grab anything. My fingers were useless. I was probably yelling and I managed to thrash through and get to an overhanging bush which I grabbed onto and dragged myself onto the shore. I was safe. I had to keep moving though. I grabbed my poles and hustled up the bank and into the woods, trying to jump and run and flex all of my muscles. I got to the trail and dropped my pack. MY PHONE! AHHHH! it was in my chest pocket and I managed to get it out with my frozen fingers. I had to get the battery out! My fingers were worthless, forget the phone, I needed to get some gloves on. They were wet but at least it was something. My clothes were all dripping. I opened up my pack and at least everything was dry inside. I managed to get my phone apart. It was soaked. I didn't allow myself to think about the consequences of that. I needed to get warm. I tried to hike a while, thinking maybe the clothes would dry but in a few minutes I decided it would be a good idea to get out of those clothes. I pulled out anything dry and put it on while I hung up all of my clothes on a tree as the sun climbed in the sky. I was going to be alright; however, I was going to lose a lot of time.

I took that time to eat some food and get warmed up. My clothes took about an hour to dry and then I moved on. Losing the phone was a big deal though, it had all my maps in it. I now had zero navigational tools. I knew I could get out by going east but it really wasn't as simple as that. I still had to find and cross Forester Pass and Kearsarge Pass and I had no idea where they were and there was no real path to follow. I was hoping someone would come up behind me but from what I had seen, the closest person to me was at least a full day behind. I was going to have to keep going, blind.

I knew I had to cross another river and that the climb to Forester began after that so I just did my best to find old footsteps or marks that looked like footsteps. It was scary and much of the day I spent in despair but I managed to somehow find the trail occasionally.I came to Bighorn Plateau and there was no way whatsoever to tell where the trail went. I just guessed and got lucky. Eventually I found some tracks that hadn't been melted and I followed them all the way to Tyndall Creek. I wasted about two hours wandering around, trying to find the Ranger Station, hoping for a map or anything. There were bear boxes and I looked inside them for maps or anything that might help. The only thing I had was the section from Yogi's guidebook which gave a written explanation of the approach to Forester Pass but no maps. I got across the creek and laid out my phone, hoping the hot sun might dry it. It did help but there was a lot of moisture under the screen and I wasn't going to try to turn it on until it was totally dry. I had no idea what it looked like over Forester Pss but I was hoping that maybe I might see a fire or tents or something. I sat at the creek crossing and ate lunch, drying my feet and hoping that someone might come walking up.

Most people camp there and leave early in the morning while the snow is very hard. It was 1:30 in the afternoon when I decided to make a run for Forester Pass. The snow was soggy and the sun had been very bright for the last several days and the snow was soft. Figuring out where the trail went was an exercise in voodoo and the snow made it really difficult to traipse around looking for it. The altitude became a huge factor and once I figured out the general direction I was going, I stopped looking for the trail and just headed toward the huge wall of granite in front of me. Just about when I stopped looking for the trail, that's when I found the tracks that would get me up and over Forester Pass.

I found what seemed to be a large person's tracks and I stayed in them exactly; hoping to avoid post-holing every step for five miles. It took me about 4 hours to go 5 miles. The climb up Forester Pass was grueling. Between the altitude, the snow, the steep climb, the uncertainty and the sun, I was exhausted when I got over the pass. Fortunately, the trail was more obvious going down Forester into King's Canyon National Park.

It was about 6PM when I started down toward Vivette Creek, although I didn't know that's where I was going because I had no maps. I followed the tracks down and it looked like just about everyone took the shortcut and glissaded right down into the valley. The glissade should have saved a lot of time but the snow was soft and I couldn't really slide. I ended up having to kinda run, post-holing and crossing the wide open valley. At some point it occurred to me that I could put my phone in a bag of ramen to dry it out. Man, I wish I had thought of it earlier. I put the ramen and my phone in a ziplock and continued into the woods. The trail was impossible to find but I followed the river and saw a tent. It wasn't a thru-hiker tent but it was pitched on the only flat, dry ground I'd seen in days so I hailed them and one of them poked their head out of the tent and didn't mind me camping there. He thought I was a ranger. They were section hikers going SoBo. I figured I'd ask them if I could borrow their map from the section they just did. I was so relieved. I cooked some Idahoans and went to bed.

Ken - unbelievable tale. Wow. I think if it were me I'd not have had your strength or perseverence.

I talked to Lodgepole again yesterday and found out that not only is the Bearpaw High Sierra Camp tentatively scheduled to open on Friday, it was also scheduled last Friday and the one before. The way it was described, Mehrtens Creek sounded vitually unpassable at the moment. But, as we've noted perviously the timing and accuracy of this type info is critical to good decision making. I'm a hiker/camper with very little snow climbing experience unlike many readers and with a 7/11 departure set from Crescent Meadow, if things don't improve we may just bail erring on the side of safety.

I will be watching the HST and Whitney descent with all of you here and see where the weather and trail conditions take us.

It wasn't Ken, he just forwarded the story. If it had been Ken, we'd, well, never mind...

actually, I think it was a forward of an AsaBat forward!

If it was me, I'd be waving down at you from heaven (or up.....)

Ken: Thanks for forwarding, and thanks to the original poster. Lots of lessons here.

Some good news (for a change). I spoke to both Delaware North and the Lodgepole Wilderness desk. They are planning to open the Bearpaw HSC on Friday 7/1 (noting that has been the plan the two previous Fridays). "We'll see what tomorrow brings," was the quote.

There's no snow in sight at Lodgepole and it's been "Melted off the roads for a while."

That is good news.
Anything new on the Mehrten Creek crossing?

John: Check your PMs. If nothing shows there from me , pls let me know.

thanks

I spoke with the folks from Lodgepole today and things are looking up - sort of. The initial part of the HST has improved, the creek levels are down and it was suggested that we try for early in the day creek crossings.

The other side of the good is that no one has successfully crossed the Kaweah gap although two parties have tried and turned back. Secondly, the trail just past the tunnel above Hamilton Lake is "dicey" in parts. Lastly, the Crabtree Ranger reported that Wright Creek is impassable at the trail. They have an alternate in mind. The way I see it things are looking up.

John

I'm not sure what "impassable" means. Many PCT thruhikers have crossed it. But it wasn't easy. There are many stories of hikers being swept downstream a bit. But an 11 year old girl and her dad made it on June 17 with no mention of the creek in his journal at http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=351674

We will be prepared to spend our two allotted nights at Hamilton to try to push the route. Kearsarge has basically been stomped into passability in the last week or so, and we are prepared to do some similar work on the dicey part of HST, which I gather is just past the tunnel. Difficult is not a problem: unsafe, however is. We'll see when we get up there.

AsABAt, Salty, Jim, quis, Ken, et al. I very much appreciate your attention and entries. There have been so many weather related stumbling blocks thrown in our way this year. But, I feel that each of us has contributed something that will lead to the success of the others. Keep up the good work and thanks from VA. We'll start on Sunday and as soon as I get access to a computer when we're out I'll keep you "Post-ed."

I agree with John and can't thank each of you enough for your postings. I start the HST on 8/1 and look forward to your trail reports. Good luck!