Sierrapaloosa 2003

“I thought it was going to be a little warmer then that in July. I guess I will leave my tank tops at home.”

“Yes, cooler than I thought...hmmm.”

“Try whatever you want, fools! I will find a way to eat your cars - moohahahahahahahahah!!!!!”

“There are a couple of items we would normally be looking to pick up between the airport and the trailhead, but Since we are arriving LAX late on Wednesday night, I don't think I can count on doing so.

Can someone bring enough extra chicken wire for me to wrap my compact rental car ("Neon or similar")?

Also, can someone pick up a 32 oz can of denatured alcohohol for me?

I am wishing I had gotten an earlier flight. The travel time from the airort to the TH is two hours longer than I thought, and that is going to make this difficult. For example, I would love to meet someone in Three Rivers at, say, 12:30am so I could leave my car there and we could ride up to the campgrounds together. Any takers? Didn't think so. :)”

“A note on the weather, Yahoo forecasts a high of 64* today, the current temp is 79*. I spent the last 4 days in the lodgepole area and day time temps were in the mid 80's. It started getting warm early and stayed nice all night long. I climbed to about 9500' with the same conditions. Each day a few cumulous clouds formed but no threatening weather. The bears on the other hand...very plentiful, 7 encounters over the weekend.”

“Hey Dunk - Those temps sound more like what I was expecting.

JVZ - Maybe if we were to park up tight, we could get a few chickens in one coop. That we we wouldn't need to go all the way around each vehicle”

“My sister looked up the weather yesterday & it posted mid 80's, low 50's. I just checked the weather at intellicast.com & that's what it shows there too. I hope wingding's forcast is correct. I like hiking in the cooler temps myself. what is it with these web forcasts? dunk says yahoo forcast posts high 64 but yet it's currently 79?

dunk, what kind of encounters? bears at your camp? Trying to open your canister? You wrestled one? Just saw them playing happily by themselves & not bothering hikers? We want specifics! :)”

“oh, and jvz & rockman, how can I help with the trucks? would you like me to buy anything or bring the cotton balls and alcohol?”

“Hikerchic, pretty much all of the above, including, practically wrestling one. We were car camping at Dorst and a bear snuck up around my truck to where I was getting a beer out of the food locker. Before I knew it, we were side by side, me trying to close the locker, it trying to get stuff out of the locker. I had that one and another trying to get in the back of my truck where I had some tubs of gear, no scented items. Saw three while driving around in the area. One while hiking, I shot video of it using my digital camera, and another wandering through camp in the middle of the night. Lots of Marmots and Deer too.”

“Dorst is Sequoia Bear Headquarters!
LOL!!!”

“Here's a better one:

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/wrhq/TotalForecast.csh?TotalForecast+WR+CA+097+107”

“Wingdind ...you beat me to it ;)”

“oops”

“Yeah, I like that last one more.”

“Navi, why are you scaring everyone away?"
Rockman
01:45:23 AM
06/30/03

If they're scared now...wait till I get the survivors into the backcountry. MOHAAAaaaaaa”

“Hey thanx wannabp! I'll check it out later. Real nice of ya.

I know this ain't close to there, but 2 weekends ago my kids were throwing snowballs at Donner Pass, just before leaving the West Coast for good (well, for awhile anyway).”

“lol Navi

okay - I have everything washed from the White Mountain trip and piled on the dining room table with the rest of the stuff that's going in my backpack for Mineral King. The dining room table has always a place to pile stuff - I don't think we've ever sat down there to eat.

I just need to buy the chickenwire now.

It looks like I'm going to be starting out on the 3rd with the 5-day group if they'll have me, but I'll get up to the trailhead on the second in the afternoon or evening.”

“Kewl Wingding!!!”

“See you in Lost Canyon!”

“I collect save up my pocket every day for gear. Cashed in today and got $155!! Bought two pairs of pants, a Pocket Rocket, fishing license, and lot of misc. stuff. The Pocket Rocket rocks!!”

“Rockman I could only stay with the 18'' x 150' roll. the three foot rolls are only 50 feeters(footers).
Hodgeman: I can't imagine parking close enough together that a varmint couldn't hop in the back of the truck and down to the ground between cars. Maybe all we really need are white flags and AAA club cards. I wonder if Best Western has a shuttle.”

“All packed up here, wonder what I've forgotten. Can't find the knee brace that I often carry, but haven't used for a long time. Will bail out of here tomorrow AM, should get to Mineral King tomorrow afternoon. Have the tarp and moth ball stuff. See ya there!”

“Have a safe drive, Shawn!

I'm still packing, and working on pics from the weekend. So little time!!!”

“HC5, yeah, bring some cotton balls or old rags. Does anybody know if Dog/cat repellent would work on marmots? JVZ, 18" should be fine.

Swung by the local fishing store for some new flyline and flies. Oh, I also had the mullet cut to respectable length.”

“- Mike/BigRob: Sorry you can't make it!
- Tango, I took lots of pics. I looked at your original route, and it looked pretty tough. We came down the Garnet Lake outlet, and it was really steep! Maybe we can meet up and do this again next year!
- I goofed on the canisters. In a earlier post I think I said I had 3 Bearikade Expeditions to loan out for the 5 day trip. Correction: I have 1 Weekender and 2 Expeditions. We are using one of the Expeditions.
- Weather: We were in Mammoth this weekend (started at 8,508', camped at 9,833', and backpacked to over 10,000'). Temps were 75-80 degrees during the day (tanks/shorts even with bugs), and dropped to 60 around 7pm. From 7pm til 11:30pm I had on the layers mentioned in a earlier post and was comfortable, even with the breeze. Sunday morning was 40 deg at 5:30am and 50 deg at 7:30am. Bugs were extremely annoying while hiking on the High Trail (I was determined to wear my veil next time so I wouldn't swallow or get bugs up my nose) but didn't bother us at Thousand Island Lake due to wind. They didn't get us again until we got to the River Trail.
- Trail was clear of snow, some patches. Snow covered the trail at Emerald Lake, but we went around and found it.
- Of all the times I've been to White Mountain, I've seen marmots, but never had a problem (and I've never heard of it being a problem anywhere but Mineral King)
- We didn't get to Mammoth til 4am Saturday. We were doing double mileage from last weekend, and I didn't want to get sick like the previous weekend so I cheated and took Diamox. Guess what? I didn't get sick!
- Yes, I love Patagonia! The only thing I don't have is their underwear, but SnowDude has those.”

“Just got back from more shopping...Picked up an extra compact flash card and another set of rechargeable batteries for the camera! I think I have it all rounded up...now I can start packing!

Still can't find chicken in a foil pouch in this one horse town.”

“I just got a a third battery in the mail. My extra 256 mb card should be here any day (I hope). I ran out of pics last weekend. Both batteries were on low. And we were only out 2 days!”

“I have a 32 oz. can of denatured alcohol that's missing about 3oz that you can have, will that be enough or do you want a brand new one??? I can pick one up tomorrow for you.”

“Just picked up the new car today. It's way too pretty to subject to marmots, so we're coming in my husband's work truck.

Haven't even started packing, just rummaged around in the gear for awhile, piled stuff in one place and did laundry. Tomorrow is work, shop for food and mothballs, buy more fuel, buy gopher wire and/or tarps, clean the Whisperlite, clean the water filter, package the food, pack the backpacks. Are we last minute or what?!

Wingding0, glad to hear you'll be starting out with us.

Snow, glad the altitude didn't get you.”

“WW, that's perfect, thanks!”

“i am green with envy~~~~
fritz...you guys are gonna have a grand adventure!”

“It's really killing me now! I will be conspicuously busy the 1st day of the 5 day trip.
Snow looking for that trip report and pics soon! Where did you end up at Thousand Island lake? North side?”

“Yes, I love Patagonia! The only thing I don't have is their underwear, but SnowDude has those."
Snow Nymph

Snowdude has your underwear? Now that's just sick! Sick I tell you!


I'm packed! My wife said she'd make some Rice Krispie Treats. I'll have to add them and some film and I'm ready. I'm SO ready.”

“Rockman, you got it! I'll bring alcohol, cotton balls, zip locks, & rags.

Well, I thought I'd be able to fit everything in my pack but it's really too overstuffed with that darn bear can. Pretty sure my pack is 4,000 ci. What size does everyone else have?

snow nymph, I'm going to an outfitters at lunch today and look at that Mountainsmith Chimera pack. I think I read that you really liked it.

wingding, what type of pack is yours? I value your & snow's opinions alot because you both are quite experienced.”

“Hey, would anyone like to NOT bring something? I could bring either my gaz stove & leave my puri hiker filter at home or visa versa. Would anyone like to share with me? Save a little weight? This is of course to all the 7 dayers. I'm a 7 dayer....la la wouldn't you like to be a 7 dayer too? :) I'm getting excited! Can you tell? 4 more days!”

“Well....in typical fashion, I am nowhere near ready. :)

I asked about chicken wire and no one responded, I know it is a hassle and I hate to ask....but if no one is able to bring it, I may have to leave my car unprotected. I can look for a place to pick up the wire between LAX and MK but my flight is landing at 9:30 so I don't know what to expect I will find open. Alternatives:
1. I read that the ranger keeps some chicken wire available.
2. I read that the marmot problem goes away in July, and it is now July. Think they are watching their calendars? :)”

“Snow Nymph...does one of your Expeditions still have my name on it?”

“Gosh, I have a ton of things to do before the trip, but if I have time, I'll pick it up for you, Fritz.

That's too crazy for you to be running around looking for a hardware store in a town that you don't know.

Is anyone else running by a hardware store between now and Friday?”

“Hikerchic5,

I will not bring my PUR and bring my GAZ stove. I am wondering about the fuel. I had Ladyhiker get me the big canister, I am wondering if that is enough for the two of us. How were you going to bring your fuel?

We can decide this on the trail. Bring everything now and lets talk about it in our final packing before we hit the trail

I have everything packed in my Shasta except bread. Darn it. I am looking at that darn bear canister and saying " there is no way I am going be able to put some bread in that thing." I guess I need the "Bear Canister Stomper" ( my fist) to make room. Those crackers at the bottem are going to be in fine shape.”

“ok great bigpoppa! I'll bring "all" my gear but we can leave it in the truck once we do a final final packing Friday or Sat morn before heading out on the trail.

I'll bring one or two of my fuel cans also, I have 1 full can & 1 can which is half full already packed. I thought I could get away with 1 1/2 small cans but I'm not sure. I do have another full can I will bring along just in case someone else needs it.”

“hikerchic, that is very nice of you but I am on the 5 day trip, meeting at the trailhead Thursday morning at 9:00.

See you on the trail!”

“JVZ picked up a 150' roll of wire. Get in touch with him as there probably be extra to wrap your car. That is unless he has already told others they could use it.”

“Bigpoppa - Try tortillas instead of bread. They make a great substitute and pack better. I tried a PB&J burrito yesterday and it rocked.”

“Just you and me and 150' of wire so far Rockman but it won't do Fritz any good. We both will use about 54' leaving 42' for a smaller car If anybody needs it. I'll also carry my PUR filter Hikerchik if you want to leave yours. We can work that out Friday. Friday....wooohooooooooo!!!”

“ok Fritz, I "won't" pick up any wire for you since you're on the 5 day trip. Good luck in finding someone who can help you!

hey Navi, I love rice crispy squares & was going to cheat & get them from Trader Joe's. They're already made & I swear, taste the same as homemade.

Phil, you're doing the tortilla thing too! Great idea.

bigpoppa, yeah, I have to do the fist smashing thing myself! I'm bringing one of those tuna packs & little mayo pack & will have a tuna burrito. I hope it's good!”

“Really? You'll share you're pure hiker too! OMG, that would be so great! My pack is so heavy, I've been trying to get it down to 35 lbs. I hate that bear can! =:o I think it's at 40 lbs right now. What a whiner, huh?”

“JVZ - Did we add another vehicle from Sac, or are we still two? Now only seven people from the north. At most we'll want to toss a pack or two, from my Jeep into the pick-up. I think we might squeeze 4 in okay as far as Stockton, if Pepper wants to skip driving down there.

If there is 3 vehicles now, I can still stop and grab some wire down there somewhere”

“If you guys are coming down south on Highway 99, there is a Home Depot store right off of the highway in Merced. You can see the store from the highway. Take the V street exit and on 13th street right past the Harley dealer on the right side...can't miss it.

They had plenty of chicken wire (about $12 for 3' x 50' roll) last week.

As you are driving by Atwater, be sure to wave to me...”