High Sierra Trail

“I like the sounds of that. Thanks Mari - We'll look forward to hearing more details for sure”

“After the Big Arroyo water crossing, I don't think they would have as muc trouble with the other water crossings.

Interested in Wallace Creek and in the amount of snow on the ground from Crabtree Ranger Station to Guitar Lake.”

“yes, that was yesterday. i just called dow and they weren't in yet. i'll try again around 6:00
I can't wait to hear from them as well but for different reasons”

“Who's this Mari chick?

Phil, I just got home but I can quickly give you some info. Big Arroyo creek was probably our easiest crossing. The trail was flooded along the Kern River. Whitney, Wallace and other creeks were full bore. Some people needed additional help to cross those creeks. As for snow, there is nothing much of snow from Crabtree to Guitar. Some exists but very passible and will likely be gone within two weeks. There is some snow on the lower switchbacks of the west-side of Whitney but passible via careful foot placement or climbing up the talus bypassing snow. Even more snow on the east-side of Whitney but enough people have packed down a trail through it. Or you can glissade. WHAT FUN THAT IS!!!!

CountZro, Precipice is frozen solid under a layer of 3 foot snow. The chasm just after the tunnel is a vertical sheet of ice. You will need crampons to get across or you can squeeze under the ice,via a small melt water tunnel, soaking yourself in snowmelt. That's what most of us did. BRrrrr!
Started to encounter snow between lower Precipice and Precipice. Route finding was hampered but we forged ahead. The gap was clear and about a mile of snow must navigated down to Big Arroyo.

Mozzies are getting active!”

“Great Trip! and a fun adventure. It was great to see all my old friends and meet new ones. I hope everyone got home safely.”

“We're home. We barely got Fritz and Shiprunner to the airport shuttle on time. Apparently, I just rolled over and hit the 'off' button on the alarm this morning. Jerry woke up 10 minutes before departure time!!! Just another in a long line of near misses........ Did Matt get to the airport on time?

Fritz said he would post a trip report on Tuesday. I'm going to start going through my photos now.”

“Thanks Steve for the double "E" ticket adventure ride. You must have some pull with the "Higher Power" caus more then twice a day we were saying "OH GAWD". Thanx Rockman for being planted like a telephone pole in the creeks and preventing some of us from becoming downstream trout bait. jb”

“This time all my flights were on time and I had no delays getting home. Now I just need about 24 extra hours in the next day to recoup before work tomorrow.”

“Great to hear you're all home and safe. See some of you next wknd. Can't wait to hear from forward scout wannabp..8).”

“it's great to hear you're all back and had a great adventure. I'm looking forward to more trip reports and the great pictures you all took.”

“Got home no problems - even arrived 10 minutes early !!

Thanks geologyguy for an amazing trip and adventure - one of the best trips I've done. I look forward to another trip next year !”

“Sounds like an adenturous trip! Glad you had a great time!!”

“For all who were not on this trip, you missed quite the adventure. I think all the obstacles made this a more exciting trip, except for the mosquitoes. Had a great time with everyone.”

“This morning, my perspective is that it's good to get right back on when you fall off a horse -- if that makes sense to anyone.......... Yep, it was quite adventurous. And my fellow hikers are the best, the very best. I'd trust you guys with my life. Again.”

“Here is the link to my pictures up until the point when my camera got wet.

Mark's Pictures”

“Great shots Mark!”

“Great job w the pic's! Maybe I should look at them again, but I am amazed you guys didn't run into more snow than I saw. I was in Desolation Wilderness last weekend (northern Sierra, only 8,000 - 9,000 ft. elevation range), and we hiked (plodded!) across 2 ft. deep snowfields in "the valley" for miles!

Don't get me wrong, I'm GLAD for your sake that you guys didn't encounter more, just surprised!

Looks like a GREAT trip, I wanted to get in on this one but couldn't make it work with biz, but will definitely make the HST some time!”

“Thanks for posting the pics Mark - Looks like familiar faces in familiar places :-))”

“glad everyone had a great trip!

great pics Mark!

yo Rocky! how'd you do with the poles?

did everyone wear crampons? And for those who did bring them, did you really need them?”

“Attaboy Mark! Me likey the pictures. :) I'll get mine up in a day or two.

HC5, I had the poles in the car but couldn't stomach the thought of hiking with 'em so I left 'em. Poles are for the weak! LOL!”

“Hey, RM, didn't you have one pole?

Wanderer, just because he didn't photograph the snow doesn't mean it wasn't there. From Precipice Lake to Kaweah Gap and down into Big Arroyo was all snow with some rock islands. But still, less than up north here. I think it melts faster in the south.

I like your pictures, Mark.”

“Great Pics Cubfan, looks to me like there was plenty of snow! Glad you all had a great trip.”

“I have the trip report about 75% complete. Look for it later tonight...hopefully....

Some of my pics are up.”

“Outstanding photos Fritz!!”

“Yes - very nice. That snow chute looks so innocuous now.....”

“Nice photos, Fritz. You have an eye. A couple of those stream crossings looked a bit gnarly. Interesting that some chose to bypass walking ON the log, was it unstable or just too skinny?
Where was that chute? Above Hamilton, near the tunnel? That also looks gnarly, a spot I would not want to cross without ice ax and crampons.”

“Great pics Fritz. Bet you and Ian were tired when you arrived home. Long days travel from Lone Pine to Crecent Meadow to Sebastopol. Couple hours sleep then off to the airport shuddle. Took me a couple days to adjust.”

“Wow, lots of familiar faces :)
Great pics guys!!!”

“Fritz, fantastic photos! Is that the result of the foreground mantra? I'm goin' start chanting today.

Paige, I can't walk over wiiiiiiiiiiide logs. The people ahead of us decided they couldn't do the log, too far and too skinny. So they crossed a bit upstream where three of them went down. I tried straddlling and scooting across, but I could see I'd be hanging upside down before I was five feet out since my feet were dragging in the current. Rockman thought of the clutch-and-walk method. It was great!”

“Most Excellent pics, Fritz!”

“Wanna, I believe I said to lean on the downed log...not hug the thing for dear life! LOL. Looks like you two are trying to carry the log. :)”

“gonzo and I went over the log. Mind over matter, and a complete disregard for human safety are all that is needed.”

“finally, my pictures”

“Very good, especially no. 35 !!”

“Cool photos, brings back memories of an awesome hike.”

“LOL at Rockman. We WERE hugging the log for dear life. If I'd known what was ahead, I might have considered carrying it along.

Matt, I wish I'd seeen that balancing act. I hope Mrs. Matt, the Web, doesn't read that post about disregarding human safety. )Have you thought about Denali? McKinley and Denali.)

I'm through day 3 of my photos. Didn't the rest of you have to go back to work Monday? I put in 12 hours yesterday and came home a zombie.
last edited: 7/13/05 9:24:30 AM”

“i got in late last night....had a great time in long beach....

thanks to everyone who made this wonderful trip possible....glad to hear that everyone made their connections on time!!

i will post my photos soon....this was a trip that we won't soon forget, i think!!”

“Thank you all for posting your pictures..I have really enjoyed looking at them. I want to do this trip next summer, so it was really nice to see pictures.
Wannabp I will keep checking back for your pictures to post, and others still

Also hope this is not a silly question..but could someone please tell me about Eugene and his story? He really is adorable!”

“Please be careful how you talk about Eugene.

He tends to get a big head. :-)”

“Eugene looks heavy! :)

Too bad Precipice was frozen over, it was a major highlight of our trip last year.

I don't remember any stream crossing at all. Where were the difficult ones located?
last edited: 7/13/05 12:47:17 PM”

“Keep the pictures coming. Matt & Fritz, yours are looking good.

There are 3 major creek crossings going up the Kern River and a 4th one just short of the John Miur Trail intersection.

I should have gone over the logs, might not have fallen into the creek.”

“oh man, you fell in. That's a heart pumping, scarey feeling. Not one I have ever enjoyed ;)
That area was a rock hop when we went through. Amazing what a difference a year can make.”

“paige, I saw your pics of the Kern in August and it looks like a totally different place. When we were there it was a deep, angry, raging river that (in all the places we saw) was literally impassable, although one guy claimed to have crossed it not knowing there was a bridge. Extremely difficult to believe.”

“Fritz, I am looking forward to the rest of the photos with descriptions. It is really interesting to see how different things can be.
Did anyone fish?”

“No fishing, but saw tons of fish in Guitar Lake.”

“Paige, 'stream crossings' may be the wrong words. Some of the crossings were snow melt cascades over the trail. They may not even be on the map. They are probably completely gone by this time of year in your usual year. What I considered to be our least fun one was in an area where the ranger had told us to be sure and carry plenty of water because there would be no water. Ha!”

“Who did you guys/gals use to shuttle you back at the end of this trip? I'm looking at doing a shuttle trip in August from one eastern trailhead to another and want to find a shuttle service.”

“We can definately tell you who not to use. Dave would be great for longer trips. He brings his own entertainment.”

“so, the shuttle didn't work out very good?”

“Hold on...trip report coming very shortly....”