Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Recommendation on a Sierra Trip?

Hi all - Sorry this isn't exactly Whitney specific but there is so much Sierra expertise on this board that I hope you'll forgive me....

I'm looking for recommendations on a 5 day (or so) Sierra backpacking trip in early to mid June. I'd prefer to actually get a little further north than the general Whitney area as I've spent the last few years' trips in the southern Sierra. Any recommendations? I'd be looking for something moderately challenging, but nothing too tough (all my friends have boycotted my weekend summit assaults so I'm trying to reel them back with a backpacking trip at a more leisurely pace, less snow and no alpine starts ).

I appreciate your suggestions and recommendations. Thanks!

If it's a normal snow year, you will have plenty of snow in the high country in early to mid June, and stream crossings would be problematic. I have done a fair amount of weeklong trips in Kings Canyon that went through some spectacular country, but I wouldn't want to try them that early in the year.

Mid June is definitely a wonderful time for back packing but it really depends on how many miles a day your looking to cover and if your looking to bag any peaks, traverse any real high country or are just looking for a nice stroll through the forest to some lakes.

Snow will almost definitely still be in the mix in early June, but at least access to the trailheads will be more likely (like getting up to Sabrina/North Lake or Mosquito Flat/Rock Creek.

Oh, goody! Another reason to get out the topos!

Couple of really good starting points would be North Lake (for Piute Pass), Mosquito Flat (for Mono Pass), and McGee Creek.

A nice car to car would be North Lake to Pine Creek, via French Canyon. You could follow the trail down to Hutchinson Meadow, then head north through the canyon, or head NE through Humphreys Basin and through the French Lakes area to meet up with the trail over Pine Creek Pass, then down. Nice side trips into Royce Lakes (SW of the pass) or Granite Park (NW of the pass).

From Mosquito Flat, heading over Mono Pass into Pioneer Basin and the recesses. Looked at that area from above this year when we climbed the ridge between Stanford (N) and Morgan (N), as well as alomost getting to Mono Pass (S) a few weeks ago. Not a difficult hike into Mono Pass. Looked like gorgeous country to explore.

Also looked down (same hike) into the McGee Creek basin and it looked beautiful. I'm sure you can loop it up between McGee and Convict Lake (maybe ending there with a nice dinner at the restaurant!!)

Last suggestion that might be tougher to get to if we have a good snow year is something heading south from Tioga Pass. You can prolly get in at Mono Pass (N) if Tioga is still shut down, head south over Parker and Koip Peak Passes, then drop into the lake area west of June Lake and Mammoth.

Hope this helps get the wheels spinning! Have fun planning!
-Laura

I like what Moosie has suggested but you need an axe and crampons in June to cross Mono Pass (S). If this weather keeps up, it could be into July.

You should have alternative plans for a trip this early in the year.

I agree that snow would tend to be problematic in June, particularly on the East side, where elevations are so much higher.

West side would be much more likely, or south, as you've done before.

It's true snow can bother you but I think it's worth the extra trouble because as John Muir put it "June is the land of a thousand water falls"

Mid June will have complete snow coverage (over trails) above 11,000' with occasional snow berms to 5+ feet deep across trail above 10,500. Below 11,000' you will find patches without snow that make grand campsites.

Good chance that a few passes will still have a significant cornice.

By end of July, there may be a little snow at most passes, but nothing that you probably can't get around by going a more direct route to the pass or post-holing along where the hordes before you have gone.

June also will give you a few adventures in crossing streams that will be close to full from the annual run off.

Still a great time to see the Sierra. Its a transition time in the mountains very much like November/December is at the end of Autumn.

If you don't want to stress out your friends and have them still consider you a pariah, you might reconsider going too high until toward the end of July -- on a full snow year.

Same cautions for Colorado as well.

I think a big part of snow consideration is going to based on the location you end up choosing.

Take a look at these images: these are from june 14th - 22th of this year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roguephotonic/sets/72157611383838624/

But due most likely to the lack of sunspots this year is very cold and should carry easily into next year so we may see way more snow later in 2009 then we saw this year.

They aren't updating anymore this year, and the info isn't always the most up to date in the spring, but you might find this link useful when doing your planning.

http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/trailcond.htm

As noted, keep an eye on snowfall and spring melt. The Mammoth Mountain ski web site will give you a decent idea of how the snowfall is collecting in that part of the Sierra and they have historical information so you can compare to years with which you are familiar.

If the Minaret Summit road opens up past Mammoth Mountain down to Agnew Meadows, here's a suggestion for a reasonable multi-day backpack with or without summits thrown in:

From Agnew Meadows (Mammoth Mountain 7.5-minute quad), head north on the High Train (PCT) up to Thousand Island Lake (about 10 miles). From 1,000 I. Lake, pick up the John Muir Trail and head back south past Garnet Lake to Shadow Lake. From Shadow Lake, take the Shadow Creek trail back down and across the San Joaquin and back up to Agnew Meadows. Without my topos handy, I'd guess it's 25 to 30 miles, total.

You can add in Banner Peak from 1,000 I. Lake (over North Glacier Pass) and if you turn west on the Shadow Creek Trail up to Ediza Lake, you can bag "my" mountain (Mt. Ritter) by camping above Ediza. (You can also go up Banner from that side if you like.)

For photos of the area under varying snow conditions, check out the Mt. Ritter trip reports on my web site. The '99 trip report has a good description of the "easy" way up Mt. Ritter. If it's a heavy snow year, expect things to look more like the '98 trip report.

You could also continue down the JMT and end up at Devil's Postpile and take the shuttle back to Agnew Meadows.

It's a gorgeous area (although I admit a certain bias) and well worth the effort.

Thanks so much for all the replies, suggestions, and recommendations.

I am now thinking that a July trip time will make the most sense (for general planning purposes as I continue to monitor the snow accumulations).

The North Lake to South Lake route has really caught my eye. I think I’d have to stretch the trip out another day (6 backcountry days instead of 5), but that shouldn’t be a problem.

Now to figure out permit availability and the application process…

Thanks again for all the help!

For a spectacular 5 day trip with enough challenge to build some character, consider Shepherd Pass into the Upper Kern area. Late Jun will probably entail a short traverse of the snow field near the top of the pass, but many folks will have preceeded you and stomped enough steps into the snow that a one step at a time, take your time traverse will involve minimal risk.

I would take a visit to the Galen Rowell galery in Bishop and if you see something that interest you....go there! A bottle of wine and the secor book works good too. Enjoy

The permit process is simple, unlike the one for the MMWT. Call six months before you date of entry and the permit for $5 is yours or...

Walk-in the day before or date of entry and the permit is free.

The Inyo holds back 40% permits/daily for walk-ins.

Drought years are the only exception: in '88 and '89, there was no snow on Forester in early July. I think these years were about 40% of normal snow years. We hiked the Muir from about June 20 to July 4, touching snow only once or twice for short distances (100 feet at Donohue, and some tiny patches north of Forester that could be avoided).

The good news is that these days it is not very difficult to get up to date snow info online before you pack your bags for the trip. If by April 1 the snow is at 50% of normal, I'd say double check with the locals before you bring ice gear. However, "early June" means that unless the winter is extremely dry, you'll need that gear.

Last summer, which was a normal snow year, snow was pretty much gone on passes north of Muir Pass by July 20. The only real snow of magnitude we ran into was just south of Muir Pass. There were two snow fields to cross on July 20, which was a lot more snow than I saw there in those drought years about 3 weeks earlier in the season.

Video of Snow at Muir Pass, 12000 feet, July 22 2008

and a second snow crossing below Helen Lake, which I definitely didn't have to face in those drought years. I'd think in early June this would require serious ice gear, especially on a cold morning:

Video of Snow below Helen Lake, July 22 2008


re stream corssings - water levels also vary hugly depending on winter snow amounts. I recall that in those drought years we were able to hop from boulder to boulder across Bear Creek without getting wet. No way in '08 much later in the season:

Video of Bear Creek crossing, July 18 2008