Bison Invades California

“Two Questions.

1. Can anyone recommend a two or three night trip in Yosemite or the surrounding environs?

2. Would anyone like to join me?
A two nighter would be July 24-26, Three nighter would be 23-26.

It would be a shame to go all that way and not get to meet any TTers, but I'm headed out there anyways.”

“We’ve been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for number one
California here we come
Right back where we started from
Hustlers grab your guns
Your shadow weighs a ton
Driving down the 101
California here we come
Right back where we started from
California (California...) here we come

On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothings gonna stop me now
California here we come
Right back where we started from
Pedal to the floor
Thinking of the roar
Gotta get us to the show
California here we come
Right back where we started from
California (California...) here we come”

“Try Tuolumne Mdw. to the valley:
Cathedral Lakes / Peak, Echo Lake / Peaks, Merced River, Little Yosemite Valley, a side trip to Half Dome, Nevada Falls, Vernal Falls.”

“Bison, we'll be at McGee Creek (south of Mammoth), June 26-27. (if you want to do something other than Yosemite)

I'm not much help when it comes to Yosemite.”

“Hi Bison-

A few of us are possibly heading up to the Western Sierra this weekend (Alta Peak or Mt Silliman). Something to consider if things change.”

“Naviguesser - That was one route I was considering, thanks for your input.

Snow Nymph - I've spent a lot of time looking at your photos I hope I get to hike with you someday, keep my posted on any hikes you'll be doing in after July 4th weekend, right now I'm planning on the weekend of the 24th and 25th, but I could come out earlier, and I would consider heading down Mammoth ways to hike with y'all.

Tekdude - also keep me posted on what you hikes you might be doing in July.

Thanks everyone.”

“Well looks like I'm on call July 10 and 11. So I'll be invading Califorinia either the weekend of July 17th and 18th or 24th and 25th. So if anyone's planning a trip then or has suggestions for me, let me know.”

“Hey Bison, I have three-day weekends all summer and I always remain flex, so if it works out, I'd love to hook up for a hike. I just got back from a week in Yosemite. To me, Yosemite Valley is the single most beautiful piece of real estate on this planet, perhaps even the entire Milky Way, but I can't say until I explore the remaining 1/3 of the galaxy. I saw some potential stuff around the Canis Major Dwarf but I need to rope up due to some class V blackholes in the area. My e-mail addy is mtnmanbri@hotmail.com, LET'S HIKE!”

“Buck - It'd be fantastic to hike with you, I'm sure you'd have a lot of photography pointers for me.”

“Pornography pointers?

It'll be like church camp!

;)”

“Bison - I will be probably in bay area at that time. I wonder, are you interested in a hike around North CA? If so, I'm definitely interested in joining you.”

“DOH! I thought it was June.

Bison, I will be in the Bishop area on July 17-18 (solo so far). I was going to catch the end of the North-South Lake trip, but didn't realize it ended on Fri. I will be going to Upper Lamarck Lakes (4.5 mi/9,000'-10,600') to camp, then dayclimb Mt Lamarck (13er).

I already have my permit.”

“Ha ha - When I searched for Lamarck Lakes on Yahoo what did I find at the top?

Snow Nymph's Webshots album.”

“Buck - Your three day weekends, do you have Mondays off or Fridays?

Here's what I was thinking, I'd like to do at least a two nighter. I'm assuming Snow Nymph is just doing one night to climb Mt. Lamarck. Maybe I could meet up with Buck and hike into that area on Friday, then hike over to Lamarck lakes on Saturday, meet up with Snow Nymph and climb Lamarck on Sunday and hike out. Or if Buck has Mondays off Hike up to Lamarck on Saturday, climb the mountain Sunday then Hike to somewhere else in the area and hike out Monday.

This is assuming
1. Buck is interested in doing such a hike.
and
2. Snow Nymph doesn't mind the company.

I'd like to get to meet as many TTer's as possible so if I could hike with both of you guys that would be great. But I'm still more interested in coming out the weekend of the 24th and 25th.

Snow Nymph if you'd be interested in a hike that weekend let me know.”

“The trailhead quota for Lamarck (I'm assuming that is the trailhead) is full for Saturday the 17th is full so I wouldn't be able to hike in there on that day.”

“Bison, you can pick up a permit in the morning. They reserve 60% and the other 40% is for walk-ins. Or you might be able to get one on Friday for Saturday.

I'm also open the weekend after if that works for you.”

“Snow Nymph - The following weekend would be better for me. Is the drive to Yosemite significantly farther for you than the drive to the areas you normally hike? From reading your trip reports in the past I got the impression that you're from the LA area (BTW I was born in Bellflower and grew up in San Gabriel and El Monte). You said you weren't as familiar with Yosemite, so maybe you'd like to do a hike up there. Right now I'm looking at Toulumne meadows to Vogelsang then over to Lyell fork. I'd do this as a two nighter staying the first night at Vogelsang, check out some surrounding lake, maybe climb Vogelsang Peak, and the second on the Lyell fork. But for someone in good shape it could be an overnighter with a long second day.”

“bounce”

“I've always avoided Yosemite because of the crowds.

Its a 5 hr drive to Mammoth, another 45 min to the 120, and ???? up and over Tioga Pass to Tuolumne Meadows. I would have to drive into the park Saturday morning to meet you. I can probably make it to Lee Vining Fri night. Not sure if I can drive the Tioga Pass road that late at night. But it sounds doable. Whats the deal on permits? Can they be ordered on-line?

Looks like we could hike to Vogelsang Lake, then do the peak and I could hike out Sunday afternoon. You could stick around another day to explore, or hike out with me.

That would also give me a chance to check out the "Whoa Nelli Deli". I've hear good things about that place and would like to try their seared ahi.

I'll keep an eye on this thread.”

“I did a loop from Tuolumne to Vogelsang--can't remember the creek I followed, then back via Lyell Canyon. Not tpp far east of Vogelsang is Evelyn Lake. I thought it was beautiful, and you avoid the crowds at Vogelsang. Vogelsang is one of the High Sierra camps, even has a toilet, which is a big draw for some.”

“I may be interested... Keep me posted!”

“The bison/buck World Tour!

These are the things that start myths!

j/k



I'm sure you'll have fun. Plenty of goot people out there to help ya out. Hell, I might be out there myself come August for some bidness.”

“Where the Buck and the Bison play?

Where never is heard a heretical word and the republicans are happy all day!”

“I've been from Tuolumne Meadows to the Vogelsang junction (JMT). I remember it being flat. Looks like Fletcher is doable too. Bag both peaks, maybe?

It would be a long drive home, but I can stop in Mammoth to shower, then drive straight to work????

I will put this on the calendar.”

“Snow Nymph - Sounds great, I just need to hear back from Buck about which day he has off. Either way we'll meet up with you and Hike to Vogelsang and bag what peaks we can. I'll figure out the permit situation ASAP. Wouldn't it be faster for you to come up 5 to 99? Or is savings in distance offset by traffic?”

“Bison:

I'm doing Whitney on the 25th of July. Interested?

Kathy”

“Wingding, thanks for the option, I'd love to hike up Whitney someday but It looks like Yosemite's gonna work out for this trip. I've spent a lot of time looking at your Webshot's albums too, I hope I get to hike with you someday.”

“I wish I had known about South Lake to North Lake before it was full, I definitely would have signed up for that. I'll probably come out for whatever the big sierra trip is next year.”

“I'm sure there'll be another Sierra trip next year - hopefully, I'll get to go on that one too.”

“It's official I have booked passage to San Franciso!

Tentative plan to come, it's late here, I need to sleep now.”

“Bison,
You're right. Shows you how much I know about Yosemite. I thought TM was near Tioga Pass. I'll take the 99. I've had bad experiences on that side. On the east side my truck knows where to go.

A few years ago, they were doing construction and the roads/signs/map didn't match and I got "really really" lost for over an hour. I finally stopped and asked a CHP. Then I got lost on the winding unnamed dirt roads, and finally pulled over at 4am. Got up at 7am and almost missed my group at noon. Ended up having to hike the part of the road that they drove/dropped packs off. It took me 12 hrs to do a 5 hr drive. :-(

Then another time, my cruise went out on hwy 99. My pickup was racing towards the truck in front of me. I had the brakes to the floor, but the accelerator was stuck. I pulled off two offramps to get help, but no one spoke english, and the mechanics weren't around. I had to turn the engine off so the truck wouldn't accelerate. The third place I went to cut the wires for my cruise control. That was scary.

For Sierrapalooza I dozed off and ended up driving in the center divider (dirt/bushes) and pulling back on the highway. Lucky no one else was around. I pulled off the highway and SnowDude drove the rest of the way.

Looks like it 8 mi to Vogelsang Lake. Most of it is flat, so it should be easy (and hopefully the altitude won't bother me).

Looking forward to this trip!”

“Snow Nymph - TM is near Tioga Pass, but it should still be a shorter drive coming up the western side. Although with your luck on that side maybe you should go the other way:) I'll be hiking in on Friday (with Buck if he can make it). I'll set up at Vogelsang and explore. Then meet up with you, and anyone else who wants to come in, on Saturday (I'd probably hike back down the trail in the morning, hoping to meet up along the way). Then we can spend the day Saturday exploring and peak bagging. I need to see if I can get a permit for someone arriving Saturday at the same time that I get mine on Friday, I'll call them and find out. I'm going to put this trip up on the trip planning page.

I suppose Snow Dude will be busy with work? Maybe you should kidnap him and bring him along.”

“I checked Yahoo maps. To go from the east, it adds another 96 miles and 2 hrs. Looks like TM is right at the west border?

Is this the place you got your permit? . If so, I can get my own.

SnowDude never knows if he'll get asked to work. He had to work on our 1 year anniversary in March (planned to snowboard all week), so he suggested a weeklong backpack in July. Its coming up in a few weeks!”

“Snow Nymph - That's the correct link for permits. But the reservable permits are full for our dates, so we'll have to get walk up permits.”

“I called the reservations office, they said that we can pick up a permit for someone arriving on Saturday when we get ours on Friday.”

“I forgot to ask if they'd hold that permit for you at the permit office, but that would be my assumption. We would just need whatever information that is needed for the permit, and a way to get in touch with you to let you know what the deal is.”

“This site has some good pictures of the area including the incredible views from the summits of Vogelsang and Fletcher.”

“Bison,
Send me an e-mail at snownymph@socal.rr.com and I can get you that info. If you're driving, you can leave it on your windshield. I can give you my cell # (not sure if it works out there) and we can coordinate. If that doesn't work, I have an 800 # that I can check for messages.

Leaving for the Sierra in a few min. Whoo hooo!”

“Alright, less than two weeks until Yosemite. If anyone else wants to come along it's under "Bison's California Invasion" on the trips page.”

“Alright, I'm gettin' ready to head to the airport, I'll check my email at 3 eastern so if anyone needs info drop me a note.

See y'all in Yosemite.

Woo Hoo!”

“NOTE :-)

Didn't see an e-mail address.

disclaimer: what I think is funny may not be found so by others. Use as directed.”

“Bison,
Good to see you made back all right. Thanks for the hike, man. It was a good one. Next time we'll take the time so you can acclimate sufficiently.

Here are my pics of the hike. Looking forward to the trip report and your pics.

Rockman's Pics of the Vogelsang Hike w/ Bison, Snownymph, and Calhiker”

“Nice pix, Rockman! Nice meeting you Bison! This trip finally got me to the Whoa Nellie Deli!

Working on the pic now. Should have them posted soon.

To bad you didn't get a picture of the bear, Rockman!

btw, One of your flowers is "elephant heads" and not Lupine. They're pink, and not purple. Here's a picture from a different trip: http://community.webshots.com/photo/81770004/82300611pADZij”

“Sorry I'm slow on the trip report, too much to catch up on at work and school. I put my pics in to be developed to day, so maybe I can get them scanned and up this weekend, we'll see. I do want to say that is was a fantastic trip and I'm grateful to Rockman, Snow Nymph, and CalHiker for coming out to share the experience. Can't wait to see your pics Snow Nymph.”

“I'm determined to get out west next summer!

psst, Bison - did you talk to them?”

“Roam - I did talk to Rockman and will keep him informed. Didn't get a chance with SN and CH but I'll email them to gauge their interest level.”

“Cool Pic!

Did ya have fun, bison?”

“Absolutely FANTASTIC photos, Rockman®! Looks like a super duper flipper dipper trip!”

“awesome pics! Bison, get up your lazy butt and write this trip report!! j/k

Hope to see pics soon.”