Sierrapaloosa 2003

“I love tents. They protect you from the boogie man also.”

“LOL!”

“From my bivy, I can watch the boogie man rip your tent apart and eat you!





Can you get a picture of the boogie man? Or is he like a vampire?”

“Nobody said anything about boogie man 8(.
I'm on the Seven Day trip. Heck it took God seven days why should I be any different. May take eight with that hot tub thing thrown in.Going snow camping hikerchic??You do stay active.. I'm going to stay flexible on the return because I don't have to be back to work till the following Tue. nite. But as far as leaving I won't be able to get out of town till about 3 or 4 pm on Friday the 4th as I'm returning from an overniter. I hope that works for you too and any others.”

“Phil said something about the boogie man. Or were you thinking about BOGGIEING? Get on down.”

“No blood no foul!”

“Boogieing! Yeah, that's us, Nav. Boogieing down the trail. Did you see "The Wiz"?

Actually, when I was a kid I was afraid of Santa Claus. I thought he was spying on me all year long to see if I was "naughty or nice". I'm almost over it.”

“Phil, that wasn't Santa Claus, it was Big Brother.



And he's stronger than ever.”

“Thanks, Nav. That helped feed my George Orwell complex.”

“Fritz, you said your son Ian is coming on the 5-day, but I don't see that name on the trip log..........

Naked, I sent you a whole travelogue. How old are the kidlets?”

“Tango, do you have one of those mosquito netting things that people put over their upper bodies at night? I've seen some cool ones on-line. I can probably find them again if you're needing one.”

“If you're worried about Mosquitos at night, then get a fleece cap that pulls down to your neck. It keeps the squiters out, your head warm, and helps block out that nasty morning light :)”

“OK...I have finally made a decision and nailed this thing down...and I am SO EXCITED!

Took me awhile to figure all of this out, esp. because of our desire to dayhike Mt. Whitney on the 9th. I just couldn't see how to get from the group trip to Mt. Whitney and back to the airport on the 10th.

ALSO....after months of watching airfares between 256 and 380, most of which required us to go an extra 2 hour drive to get to Baltimore, today I got a NON-STOP flight for $221 from Philly, my CLOSEST airport!

Also I decided to bite the bullet and rent a car for the 8 days. This way we can leave Philly the afternoon of the 2nd, fly into LAX and drive ourselves to Visalia that night...drive through Yosemite on the 8th, dayhike Mt. Whitney on the 9th, and catch a flight out of LAX on the 10th.

YAY!!!!

(By the way, if this looks impractical to you locals for any reason please speak up. Looks like a 3:20 drive from LAX to Visalia, and a 5:45 drive from Mt. Whitney to LAX. Sound about right?)

Thanks, and I can't wait to meet you all!”

“Oh...also got our two day-hiking permits for Whitney on the 9th. They have over 70 left for anyone who wants to join us. Reserve by phone at 760-873-2483.”

“That is so cool Fritz. Glad everything worked out for you. But if you think that is impractical...Here is my itenarary:
6/20 Fly in to Fresno
6/21 Yosemite Crane Flat
6/23 Start Solo in Tuolomne Meadows
6/28 Meet up with Snownymph
7/1 Fresno
7/2 Visalia w/ Wannabp
7/3 THE HIKE
7/8 Fly out of Fresno


Wannabp. I have a mosquito net for my head, but the tarpent has netting and a sewn in floor.

I can't wait to meet all of you! It seems so far away!”

“Fritz,

Your driving times are OK if are not driving in Los Angeles during rush hour. The 405 Freeway can be a parking lot. Just in case, add an hour to those times if you are going to be on the road in the Los Angeles area between 6-9 a.m. or 3-7 p.m.

Snow Nymph is probably the expert on getting out of LA on that side of town. But I think she doesn't really drive...she flies low.”

“So true Phil so true...I saw Snowy flying low on 395 once I tried to catch up to wave ...at 85 MPH I wasn't gaining any ground so I gave up...LOL!”

“5.45 hours will allow you more than enough time to get from Lone Pine to LAX. Rush hour will slow you down, but from Lone Pine to LA is typically less than 4 hours (As short as 3 hours if you don't hit much traffic and push it). You then have to add the time to come down from Whitney Portal to Lone Pine and the time you need at the Airport.”

“Your just driving the wrong car! 8)”

“What wingdings says.

I always drive 395 back into Orange County. Lots of stop lights and one-lane stretches that are slower than the 14.”

“The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that this is going to be a wet trip. Not only is it wet in Sequoia in July, but this is also an El Nino year. Be sure and have good rain gear. I hope you don't mind wet feet. We hiked the High Sierra Trail(starts at Crescent Meadow) summer before last..right around July 5th or 6th. We got about 6 miles in and the heavens opened up...It rained non stop for 3 days..All the little creeks became big creeks which we had to cross constantly. We only fell in once. Then you wonder about lightening strikes when going over Kaweah Gap(I had my z rest on my head lol) or Whitney...When we came over Sierra Crest it wasn't a couple minutes before we could hear the lightening hitting right where we were and then it started to hail like crazy and the wind was gusting in excess of 35 mph...We pretty much ran down to the portals. At anyrate, I'm not trying to scare anyone. I look at that trip as a challenge and have fond memories of it. I found out that a person can only get so wet..as long as you stay warm and have food you'll be OK...So bring your rainsuit :)”

“Way to put a damper on things, Steve! Ha, I made a funny.”

“ehehe...As long as the sleeping bag stays dry and the Yukon Jack doesn't run out..I'd be alright..Worst case scenario the tobacky gets wet :o”

“okay - bivy and tarp”

“wingding - Instead of a bivy & and a tarp, why not just bring your tent?”

“Great boot dryer. Unfortnately I have gortex boots. :-( Hope I won't need to do a trial!

Imagine on a cold rainy day the boot dryer would also warm up the people huddled around it, as long as the boots don't stink TOO much!”

“boot stink helps fuel fire :)”

“Phil: The bivy plus tarp will still be a pound lighter than the tent, and it'll save me from having to set anything up at night if the weather is clear.”

“pretty nice boot drier Phil. Toe warmers help dry them out too.”

“LOL, WW! I wasn't going that fast, was I? I try to keep the cruise on 79.

Lone Pine is about 3.5 hrs (212 mi) from Torrance, driving at night. Torrance is just south of LAX. We normally leave between 8-9pm. Just make sure you don't speed through those small towns. I can make it to Mammoth in 5 hours, which is 110 miles north of Lone Pine.

Sierra report (I posted this on another thread): Mammoth got 1-3" new snow overnight, bringing the May total to 10" and its still snowing. The month of April got a record 90".

My Warmlite is good for all weather, easy to set up, and only weighs 2 lb 13 oz. Only 13 oz lighter than my OR bivy, but a lot more space to move around! I love my tent!

Fritz, I would love to do Whitney with you guys, just can't take the time off. I just have to wait for the weekend.

Tango, how's your back?”

“It's not stopping me! I am off 1/2 my drugs, I'm still on the anti-inflamitory. No cortizone shots!”

“The weather sounds exciting. Got my precips and always carry them. Got Goretex boots. I'm sure the creek water will flow right over the tops, but I don't care. Got a good-enough tent. Got my teeny, weeny camp towell for if everything is soaked and I'm reduced to drying off and getting in my sleeping bag.

Best of all, I have an 8 X 10 silnylon tarp that Cindilu made me. It weighs nothing and has bunches of loops for setting up. Three of us cooked and ate dinner under hers one rainy night in CO.
Count on us for the rainy day kitchen on the 5-day trip.”

“What's everyone doing?

We've started a daily power walk routine on hills.”

“All I used was a 2.99 plastic pancho..plus a hefty bag. It really wasn't very cold, just wet. The upside to rain is that you get the whole trail to yourself. Most people won't brave those kind of conditions. From Kaweah gap to Guitar Lake we saw about 6 people in 4 days, which was very nice:)”

“Wingding, I posted a question a permit question on the northern Yosemite trip thread.”

“wannabp:

I put the 9th as my second choice, but I got the 10th like I wanted. I think it's still early enough to get the 10th. There might be less demand for the 10th of August because it's a Sunday, not a Saturday like the 9th. I hope you can make the trip.”

“Thanks, wingding. My husband (landscaper) says he'd like to come and isn't too worried about missed work at this point, so I applied for two permits and put us both down as 'maybe.' I'll mail it off tomorrow. Looked at the pics again. It's beautiful, very Yosemite.”

“great - hope you both can make it”

“If anyone else is interested in a 6-day trip loop trip in northeast Yosemite starting at Twin Lakes that starts on August 8th - check out the trips page.”

“oops - starts on August 10th”

“I got my permit for my Tuolomne Meadows hike!!! It's in my hot little hands right now!!!! Yea, for me!”

“Cool!! Just a little info, there is a backpacker only walk-in campground at the Tuolumne Meadows campground that you can stay in the day before and the day after your hike in case you need to.”

“Thanks. Is that near the lodge? I will be staying a Crane Flats for 2 nights so I can do the tourist stuff in the Valley before I get there. I would be interested in any other insider info you might have. My route is a loop Mono Pass trail to Garnet and Thousand Island Lake back on the PCT through Lyell Canyon.”

“That campground is pretty close to the Tuolumne Lodge if that is the lodge you are talking about.”

“Garnet and Thousand Island Lakes are AMAZEING!!”

“Whoo Hooooo! Tango, So where should I meet you on Saturday? I can bp to http://community.webshots.com/photo/22162216/22162301hDEddVtTaK"> Thousand Island Lake or Garnet Lake on Saturday, 7/28. Where were you planning to be on Saturday? I'll apply for my permit ASAP!

Wingding, We did a Twin Lakes shuttle trip, which took us over Burro Pass, Mule Pass, and an unnamed pass into 20 Lakes Basin, near Tioga Pass (5 days). We want to do it again someday. Beautiful area!”

“I think Garnet Lake would be great. I am starting on the Mono-Parker Pass trail continuing up past Alger Lakes, kick around Gem and Waugh Lakes. I will be starting out on Monday, I think I can make it in 5 days. If I'm not there, send the ERT I don't want to have to cut any parts off! I'll send you my proposed rte via email. It is too long to wait!”

“Here's a pic of the Minarets, Ritter and Banner. Donohue pass is to the right of Banner in the distance. I think you said you were going (over Donohue) to Lyell Canyon?”

“That one doesn't show it.

View of where you're going in June. Thousand Island Lake and Garnet Lake are at the base of Banner Peak. Lyell Canyon is on the other side of the peaks/skyline to the right. Its a great hike.”