South Lake to North Lake via Lamarck Col

“Is anyone flying into Sacramento for this shin-ding? I mentioned on the PNW carpool thread that I will be Ms Hospitality for Northern Cal if needed, just let me know.”

“Hey Pep - As you saw, it'll likely be me, Slugman & LadyHiker driving in to Sac on Friday. I dunno about getting much farther. It was a pretty long day just to get there from Portland.

So which way do we go? East out of Sac then south, or south then east out of Stockton through Yosemite? I guess it would be a long way around for the Stockton folks to come up to Sac just to caravan east with us. Or would it be worth avoiding Yosemite on a Saturday in July?”

“It will be my honor to put up you northerners for the night!

I don't know how those from the Stockton area will want to drive but I will probably want to go out highway 50, over Monitor Pass then down 395 (that is to say, east then south). If it makes any sense we can meet up with others along the way, or just wait till the trailhead.”

“Out of Stockton its best to go either 108 or 120. Hwy. 108 is free.”

“Hickerchic, if the time arrives and you haven't got a tent, let me know.

JVZ, 120 is free if you have a National Parks Pass.

Am I confusing this with another hike or was there some talk about a cabin up in Tahoe?”

“Hey wannabp. We're still way too YOUNG for the Golden pass so the Park pass still costs. I'm going to go ahead this year and get the pass though as I plan on hitting more NP's this year. I don't remember the part about the Tahoe Cabin but that doesn't mean it wasn't said. We can always ask to crash on Mels lawn in Mammoth.”

“I guess once we know how many are going to be in Sac, and how many will be in the Stockton area, we can sort out the caravan.

If the drive time is about the same, there's no reason not to head down to Stockton and take as few vehicles as necessary from there. If it's just four of us in Sac, we can squeeze the packs into the Cherokee long enough to get to the rendezvous.”

“This trip is going to be fun!”

“Hi wingding..all I can think of is how beautiful Mineral King was ..I tell every one who ask ..it's the most beautiful country I have seen so far..can't wait til July..woohoo!!”

“I can't wait to see everybody!!! Hodge - maybe we could fit 4 people and a normal amount of gear in your Cherokee but don't forget the laundry basket!”

“Now who in there right mind would bring a laundry basket...LOL Pepper.”

“JVZ, that's right. I did buy that NP pass to begin with.......”

“Hodge, I have a NP pass if you want to drive thru Yosemite. I went there as a seven-year-old kid in 1966. I wonder if anything's changed in 38 years? LOL.”

“Pepper - We might have to strap a pack or two on the roof rack, but we'll keep the laundry basket tucked well out of sight
;-)

Good deal on the pass Slugman... might as well bring it along”

“I'm putting the BOOTS inside the basket this time! Maybe even a few treats (read = Oregon wine, Oregon Micro-beer, etc) to be included in the basket for those that know the importance of a good, solid laundry basket!

ZVZ... Right mind? hmmmm.. The basket might come in handy to gather up any spilled gear in the event of any spontaneous maneuvers while crossing ice fields.. By the way.. note to self - bring own GPS and maps in the event of following JVZ ;-)

Trekkngirl - Can't wait to see you again!”

“I'm thinking,I'm thinking...naaa I'm blank.8P”

“LH - Those Oregon treats may be able to fit into a small space beside (but definitely below) the handy B.C. treats, in the cooler
;-)”

“wannabp - I don't recall any discussion of a cabin at Tahoe but if you want to join the party at my house you could save yourself a couple of hours of driving on Saturday (and have some fun on Friday).

I have to drop a couple of pounds and add a couple of muscles before July!!”

“Thanks, Pepper. A party sounds great. As for the cabin, look toward the bottom of page 2 of this thread. Hmmmmm.

I'm 100% with you on the pounds and muscles. In February, I started working extra and stopped walking. Somehow, even with this beautiful weather and long daylight hours, I can't switch from long work hours to walking again.”

“Since it is being discussed, I am looking to drop a few pounds and get back on the treadmill. I was happy with my aerobic condition on my hike last Saturday, but I wasn't carrying a full pack either.

Looking forward to seeing you again!!”

“I have no problem with driving up to Sac/Davis to meet everyone. Maybe jvz and whoever else is coming from our area could meet in Lodi at jvz's? Whichever route gets us there fastest is the one I'd like to take.

It'll be so nice to see everyone again!

wannabp, thank you for offering. You're so kind. :)”

“I'm trying to start off this spring in better shape than I was last year - a little less weight and a few more muscles, but work keeps getting in the way.”

“Yeah..wingding me too..I plan to put in many miles and hills before this trip..gonna be in awesome shape.. lol..mmmmmm hopefully!!”

“I am so stoked. You will get to meet kelliforkili also. You will like her.”

“Cool Phil..can't wait!!!

Where's the Naviguesser? Haven't heard anything out of him in awhile. Hope he didn't keel over on one of them snowy mountains..j/k : )”

“Work, work, work, and no time to hike. We all sound sort of the same.
Last weekend, we hiked 8+ miles on the beach and something happened to the top of my foot. It looked like a purple golf ball was going to rise out of it. Ow, and another excuse not to walk!”

“t-girl: Navi is around. I think he is very busy working. I am sure he will rise to the occasion!

wannabp: Why are you working so much? (unless you keep creating work for yourself like I do...)”

“Navi is on vacation.”

“Partly I'm creating work for myself, partly I got way behind in paperwork, but mostly our unit is down staff and I have agreed to work extra. The extra money is nice, getting caught up is nice, getting going on projects is nice, but I NEED A VACATION. Lucky Navi.”

“Yeah, I'm on vacation.
Got back home last night and still on vacation, at least until Monday.
Got to start thinking about this trip (and maybe a snow camp before then).

I'm starting to think we've planned too many hiking days and not enough party days (yap, I'm still on vacation). 8^D”

“Navi if you said snow camp I'm with Ya. I can't believe its Spring in CA already. You know this is just our version of Ponstakani Phil. We still have six more weeks of winter right? Wait.. I think I hear my snowshoes calling.”

“I got the shoes and a new shovel that needs to be tested.”

“Welcome back,Sir Naviguesser.”

“Is anyone else besides me planning on taking the "bypass" over Muir pass, past Wanda lake? I am almost certain to go the easier way due to the overall difficulty of the trip. That leaves me with an easy day and a moderate day in the middle of the trip, instead of two more tough days.”

“That's an idea I've been looking at closely.”

“Maps of Route

Trip Maps

Ionian Bypass Map”

“I'm going to head into the Ionian Basin because that's an area I've been wanting to check out.”

“Whoa tekdude, what did you use to make those maps? And is your route on there drawn by hand or relayed from a GPS?”

“TOPO! version 3.3.4, if I recall correctly. There's a drawing tool for your route that you can trace out.

What I do is zoom in to 200% then trace out the trail to include squiggle factor. I once heard that 32 segments = about a mile (+/-1 segment) or so on a 7.5' map. If you don't trace close enough, your distance marker on the map will be short.

Plus, tracing by hand is quite important if you want to overlay a number of waypoints to accurately track your mileage.”

“Same here, wingding.

The way up and out from Chasm lake looks a tad worrisome though. It'd be great if we can get some beta on that section.”

“I don't know about the route, but the maps were created using National Geographic's TOPO! state series map CD set for California. I have the Washington CD set, it is indispensable. It looks like he printed the maps on paper, then scanned them to make J-pegs out of them. Very nice. My guess is that the routes were drawn by hand following the trails marked on the maps, because if it was an actual GPS track, in some places it wouldn't follow the trail exactly. I really like the 3-D effect they have, which can be switched off if desired. If you turn the map upside down, it gives the illusion that peaks are troughs and valleys are ridges. The Nat Geo waterproof paper is also a Godsend, since it gives photo-quality images, is printable on both sides, and is "scuba-diver" waterproof.”

“My current plan is to be in better shape and have a packweight that allow me to do the side trip. I will probably make a final decision much later. My new boots and pack are definite pluses.”

“Another beautiful job on the maps tekdude !!”

“If the trip from Chasm Lake to Wanda Pass is too troublesome, we could backtrack back to Black Giant Pass and then take the JMT to Wanda Lake. I wouldn't mind doing one of the peaks in that area. I hear that Black Giant isn't too bad.”

“Very kind compliment, Hodgeman.

Figure it's the least I can do since I get to hang out with the cool kids. 8)”

“Once again I'll just leave the route choices to you locals. Just don't start without me.... HeHeHe

Is fifteen weeks too soon to start the road trip countdown??
;-))”

“Nice to see all the posts about the trip. I'm looking forward to it.”

“WD, it would be great to do Black Giant.”

“i've been looking over my schedule and i think that i can get out to the sierra for this one if there will be room for one more??

should i try to obtain my own permit??

if i fly into ontario, could i hitch a ride with one of you left coasters up to the trailhead, or should i rent a car??

this really, REALLY, looks like a cool, cool trip....i would love to be there....”

“I hate you gonzo! jk”