Need Sierra Advice

“I'm planning a High Adventure trip with some Boyscouts this summer, and the other leaders have agreed that the Sierra's sound like a great idea. Beyond that they have given me the leeway to come up with a trip plan. All of the boys in my troop enjoy fishing, some are very avid. Originally I was considering the Rae Lakes Loop, but at 40+ miles its a tall hiking order for a group of 14-15 year old boys.

We will have 4 solid days and part of two others to work with, so Im looking for a destination that requires some solid backpacking but will allow for some decent fishing time too.

I know some of you have been to the Sierras many times, any advice would be great.”

“"but at 40+ miles its a tall hiking order for a group of 14-15 year old boys"

Wow, 40+ miles does seem like a lot for more than a dozen kids only about a year old. Can all of them walk yet, or are some still crawling?




Sorry, couldn't resist.... :-)”

“c bat, where are you coming from? you might have to acclimate. That said, Emigrant Wilderness is a fisherman's paradise and the trails are fairly mellow. Elevations generally are between 7000 and 9000', the exceptions being the west end of the wilderness which is at about 5000' and the Sierra Crest which is 10,000' to 11,000'. The area is abound with lakes and streams, I love hiking along the forks of Cherry Ck and casting into pools for feisty pan trout. If you work at it you can pull some lunkers out of Emigrant Lk. Some of the lakes at or above timberline can also payoff, consider High Emigrant Lk or Emigrant Meadow Lk. There are endless loop options of varying distance. One word of warning, mosquito season can be hellish, plan around it or bring mosquito netting.”

“I agree Bowlder, 14-15 year olds should be able to walk forever.”

“Eee-gads, Dunk! Don't tell people about the Emigrant Wilderness! Then they'll want to go hike there!

Ahem... The trails there are really tough - nothing but steep, rocky ups and downs, tons of mosquitos, bears stealing your food, no fish, no water in fact, awful place really....”

“Yeah, there's some of that too!”

“So are you talking about 6 days and 5 nights, or 5 days and 4 nights?

Also, what altitude do you live at and what direction will you be arriving from? Any idea when?

Lots of great possibilities.”

“We would be leaving from San Diego on a Monday morning and returning the following Saturday. That will give us 5 nights on the trail.

You would think that 14-15 year olds can hike forever, but half of the boys in the troop become slackers after 5 miles. We get out in the middle of a long loop trip and one of them decides he cant hang then I've got a real problem on my hands. None of them have ever done anything over about 10-12 miles.

I dont mind pushing them for 20-25 miles, but getting these guys to blow past awsome fishing on a 45 mile trek is a pipe dream. The reality is that they will be way more interested in fishing than "pressing on".”

“C bat I used to be a ScoutMaster, am a Crew Advisor. We're in Sacramento, so I've been taking the boys to the Sierra up here since they were 11. Having said that, I separate the boys into different groups for planning... there are some who are avid backpackers (some of them did 85 miles of the JMT this year!), and there are some who simply are not, & never will be, Sierra Mountain-type backpackers. I learned a long time ago to not take the non-backpackers to the Sierra... everything from altitude sickness to you-name-it, their heart just wasn't in it, and it showed. Some are bp'ers ready for the Sierra, and some aren't, in my experience. In fact, that's why we now have a Venturing Crew, some are GREAT and would rather BP than anything else, some think we're crazy.

I'd consider taking them on a lower-endurance hike so they could fish, do what they wanted, without undue stress / pressure. You DON'T want to be 50 miles from no-where with someone who is ill or injured, with inexperienced scouts.

Just MHO.”

“Have they done their 50-miler yet? Where?”

“Just thinking back... the first week-long trip I did w the boys was about 25 miles over 5 days. We camped at a lake every night & planned on time for fishing / swimming, they had a great time. We were in the Sierra between 6,000 - 7,000 ft., but no overly strenuous stuff & only 5 miles / day, they did great. The next year we did our 50 miler with the same group, also in the Sierra, we actually did 65 miles.

Difference might be though that we were a backpacking-oriented troop so they were used to it by then. We averaged 10-12 BP trips a year, most in the Sierra, which is why I was comfortable taking them up there for a week or longer. Without that experience behind them, I wouldn't take them out. By the time we worked up to week-long trips, they had seen all the afternoon lightening / thundershowers the Sierra can throw at you, had hiked in snow in August, fought the mosquito's, & had all earned their Wilderness Survival & related Merit Badges.

Come to think of it...they're actually a very good group of young men!”

“I agree with wanderer based on our troop's experience.

If you are in San Diego, then the southern Sierra are a pretty good possibility. I suggest a loop hike to Cottonwood Lakes and Rock Creek. You could get a very nice "under 25 mile" trip in with lots of good fishing.

Another possibility is North Lake to Humphrey's Basin and back again.

Those two hikes don't have very difficult passes to navigate.”

“You might want to consider hiking out of the Wolverton area of Sequoia NP (western sierra). I think one of the LA area councils still use the area as a high adventure base camp.

A not too difficult loop can be had from the Wolverton parking lot to Alta Meadow, then Moose lake, then Pear Lake, then back to the parking lot. The tableland area around Moose Lake is worth a layover explore day.

Another alternative would leave from the Lodgepole campgroud and head north toward the Ranger Lakes.”

“Thanks for the ideas guys, exactly the responses I was hoping for. Like you said wanderer, some of them would do fine on a long bp trip but some would get half way and peter out.”

“Another Scoutmaster here.

Age isn't really the issue. The issue is inclination and physical/mental preparedness.

If your guys are big into fishing then I'd plan that as the focus of the trip and let backpacking merely be the means to get to the fish.

Sounds like a lot of fun.”

“From San Diego I'd take them to a starting point up the Owens Valley. Cottonwood was mentioned, South Lake I remember as being a good entry point, and a number of other passes that drop you into high country. I always loved starting out hiking in sagebrush and at the end of the day being in alpine country. The Sierra are a backpackers dream, no doubt.”

“South Lake is a good entry point. Within a few miles you are by some great fishing lakes and plan a route with a layover day in the middle.”

“Be sure to get them acclimatized. Last June I was at Horseshoe Meadows (next to Cottonwood Lakes TH) for my first backpack of the season and got altitude sickness. Not bad, but I struggled once we started gaining altitude, and camp was only 5 miles in. That was a looooong day.”

“SN - Good point. Horseshoe meadows seems to be a good place to acclimatize before hitting the trail. Or do you think it is too high? Fortunately I have never had trouble with altitude sickness other than loss of appetite. But in a group of people you are bound to have someone who has a potential problem, so it is wise to do it.”

“I live at sea level and drive up on Friday nights. I think for the first weekend I should have spent the extra day to acclimatize.

I've heard different things about that. I prefer to sleep higher than the trailhead. Works for me, unless I arrive late and don't get enough sleep. Others say you should sleep lower.”