Sierra Rendezvous 2005

“I never thought to do that pepper. Hmmm.”

“pepper, good idea and you could add a small pc of foam (lightweight) to sit on



pixie, a stuff sack of clothes to sit on...how many sets of clothes do you bring on a trip...lol
last edited: 7/13/05 2:41:56 PM”

“I prefer my bean bag chair. It also serves as an excellent life preserver when crossing swift deep streams.”

“aaaawwwww shucks Stovie...wish you were going.. :(”

“Phil you may have seen this one already..but just in case. A report from someone who day hiked Williamson on the 9th via Shepherds pass. The report does mention Shepherds pass & there is a link on the report page to some pictures showing shepherds. Hope I get the link posted okay.

When I was at Forester pass there were sky pilots all over on each side..I hope the snow is not to bad and you all will see them, I had never seen so many all at once like that, it was like a garden of sky pilots it was really beautiful.

You all have a wonderful & safe trip!.......hey a full moon on the 21st, here is the link
http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=701”

“That doesn't look too bad for you Shepherds people. Lots of scree terrain to work around on, if the snow's too icy at the time”

“Is anyone else having trouble sleeping? Can't wait to get on the trail so I can sleep. I keep wanting to respond to that GET UP thread and say PLEASE JUST GO TO SLEEP! :-p
Got my Crown ROyal today. I might share?? It's worth it's weight.”

“I know this has been asked and I just spent 20 minutes looking for the answer on this thread and couldn't find it. So I will ask again..sorry

Are their bear lockers for us Sat and Sun nights on the trail?”

“Yes...presuming we stay at Kearsarge Lakes Saturday night and Vidette Mdw Sunday night”

“WooooHooooo! charging up the camera bats!!!

Songbyrd- I never sleep much before a trip 8)”

“Wind Walker, according to the spreadsheet that is where we are saying Sat and Sun nights. That allows the group coming in Sun to catch up with us. I guess I can pack two nights outside my canister.....whew

can smaller animals (like mice) get into the bear lockers?”

“No...they are supposed to be sealed.

First night....Kearsarge Lakes

Not my image...found it on cs.berkley
Just wanted you to see where we are going.
last edited: 7/13/05 8:08:43 PM”

“That's where I want to be!

Trailtrekker asked before where we are going to camp the first night.
My thinking is we head for the first Kearsarge Lk. (UTM 11S376367mE x 4070142mN) and see if there are enough campsites for all of us. Failing that we head upstream to the next lake.
I've only seen these lakes from afar. Does anyone first hand knowledge of these lakes?”

“Yes, tiny mice can get in the lockers thru the part where the hooks lock. We were on the JMT and someone had their cache wrapped in a brown paper. The mice chewed thru it. When we left, we stuffed twigs in the holes

http://community.webshots.com/photo/143785644/144399566daPXda

Last time we had a big group, we went past the 3rd (big) lake. The bear lockers at the first lake were busted with signs (do not use . . . this was in 2000). There is another locker at the second lake and another one (or two) just past the big lake (go to the next lake, not shown in pic). There was plenty of space for our group of ~20. Most people stop at the first lakes, so it gets crowded there.
last edited: 7/13/05 9:10:04 PM”

“Here's a photo without the snow where you can see the lakes.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/89295016/89420768LJaVWc


Mosquitos: we backpacked from North Lake and headed north. Bugs were bad at North Lake, but didn't see them once we left the trailhead. Saw a few at French Canyon, but not bad. Camped on the South side of Upper Pine Lake (trail is on the north side, but we couldn't cross the creek) so we camped by a lot of fallen trees. Between the two of us, we got less than 1/2 doz bites in 5 days.
last edited: 7/13/05 9:25:00 PM”

“Did you guys use crampons over the pass?”

“The first photo was from May 2004. We used crampons.

Last week we used crampons to come down Puppet Pass. I used my ice axe just because it gave me a feeling of security (steep). SnowDude used his trekking poles, but he wasn't comfortable. But we were north of where you will be hiking. We traveled north and we ran into more snow as we headed north. Piute Pass was easy, we made our own tracks going up. But one section of the trail (west of the summit) had a cascade going through the trail. We had to hike almost all the way down to the lake to wade across. Puppet Pass (xctry) was snow free on the north slope, had to go around snow on the south slope (was not able to follow Roper's Route . . . bowl/tarn was filled with snow). Pine Creek Pass was covered with snow, no tracks so we made our own. Looked at Italy Pass (original route) and it was covered with snow. Would have had to hike in the suncups. Glad we changed our plans.”

“wow, that was an awesome photo of the lakes w/out the snow”

“Ok, I re-read what I wrote. The Mosquito report is from last weeks trip. Not bad, but I heard its bad at Cottonwood Lakes.

from post above: the bear lockers were not busted with signs (duh!). The bear lockers were busted, with signs saying "do not use". That was in 2000, so it might be fixed by now.

Navi, wanna meet for lunch tomorrow? Just found out I can't work on webshots during lunch anymore (blocked), so I'm forced to go out to lunch. They're monitoring people and I'm required to take a 1/2 hr lunch minimum.”

“Great pic Snowy...I knew you would have pics stashed somewhere...just wasn't sure which account to look in! Kathy and Sooz prolly have some too.”

“Lunch sounds good.
I'll e-mail you tomorrow to work out the details.”

“http://community.webshots.com/photo/43175060/43178862pjwOig
An old one from a film camera-not the best quality...”

“Guess I should start packing.”

“They don't give you shampoo and toothpaste if you're in the hotel section, the cheap part. Just in case someone wants to wash their hair. And remember swimsuits -- 24-hour spa and pool, 100+ degree temps.”

“Wow the Kearsarge Lakes area looks nice. Can someone tell me the elevation gain on the east-west traverse and then on the west-east traverse?”

“I am packed, and ready to go. swimsuit included. whooohoooo....”

“not packed but have things laid out. bear canister weighs in at 13 lbs, 2.6 lbs to 3 lbs is the canister(garcia brand)itself. I have Sat/Sun food out and in a critter sack.


swimsuit??? ladies you don't need no friggin swim suit ;-)”

“If I didn't have to work I would be all packed up and ready to go ;)”

“Wanna, Does the Dow VIlla have hair dryers in the rooms?

WindWalker: Packing would probably be a good idea. LOL 8)

Snow Nymph,
Thanks for sharing the pics of Kearsarge pass. Beautiful!!”

“http://community.webshots.com/photo/89326474/89335565iTFgdv

http://community.webshots.com/photo/42253919/42255600fwMbKs”

“Did I mention that I picked up Eugene yesterday. He looks refreshed and ready for the next adventure.
Thanks Steve, I enjoyed meeting and talking with you. ( I don't remember your trail name) :/”

“Sol,
Onion Valley (9200’)
to Kearsarge Pass (11,760’)
to Kearsarge Lakes (11,000’)”

“Sol - don't forget, Shamus and I are thinking seriously of just staying with the group for the first 2 nights. I am thinking (I'm sure someone will correct me if I am way off) that once we get over Kearsarge pass there will be plenty of exploring to do without too much trudging through snow. Maybe you could hang out with us and talk politics...”

“you guys are going to have fun - That section of the JMT from Kearsarge Pass to Whitney is on my list for next year.”

“Great pics guys..I'm so excited !!

All packed...35 lbs w/o water

All food in bearicade...10.8 lbs

Not too bad considering the last 2 years weights.. 45 plus to start”

“good going T-girl, I bet your pack weight will be less than mine :(”

“okay, I am at 43lbs...but I did weigh it with the dufflebag, my boots and the crampons. I figure, that will be the starting weight after I wear my boots, and take it out of the dufflebag...after I added the water.

okay I guess, not great, but okay.”

“Gem, 43 lbs is just a tad under half of your weight”

“I just got on the scale. 35 lbs without water or shoes. Darn, I wanted to be less. It's all that dang food. However, I carry that much weight for just a weekend trip.:p So I guess that's pretty good.”

“Okay, I'm packed and ready to roll. Don't know the weight... don't wanna know... but I figure 20 lbs of it is food.... hehehe

I'm heading down to Seattle to meet Aussie for dinner. Flying out of there tomorrow. See you all soon !
:-)”

“See ya tomorrow Hodge.”

“Thanks SN. You're the best!

pDog. I'll think about it. The idea of hiking with friends is certainly more appealing than going up to OAP solo. Even if the fishing is good its not the same. Guess I'm going to have to change my name. One good thing is I had an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon yesterday and he didn't find any real damage to my knee. They took Xrays and had me do all kinds of moves etc. He did say he found some evidence of mild arthritis in both my knees and the VMO muscle at my left knee may have a strained tendon. I don't like taking a lot of Ibuprofin but if I take two in the morning it helps a good bit. If we left via Kearsarge we could still get everyone's car to the exit points.
last edited: 7/14/05 12:47:32 PM”

“Been way too long since I posted here... but Phil's email motivated me to update everyone...

Unfortunately, I won't be going on this one, much to my sadness...

On Monday, July 4th, I was the victim of a motorcycle accident.

I'm OK, or will be, in a month or so. Broken wrist bones (2), some road rash both fore-arms, and knees, some bruising, and banged up ribs & chest. Feel like I've been in a couple bar-room fights.

I was riding my Road King, solo, up a 13 mile mountain twistie to a local lake, when I came upon a 100-foot long oil slick, left by a generous but malfuntioning internal combustion engine, & related components. I was only doing 25-30, in 2nd gear, but it still spun me out, back and forth 3 times, and I was airborne from there...

I was more likely thrown, rather than jumped, forward, rolled 3-4 times, landed on my back, and stayed there. Five hours later, bandaged and casted, I was on my way home from the hospital... alive... able to talk about it... and with all my limbs, intellect (such as it is), and various body parts intact. CHP report reads as the fault, "other than driver"...

I'll be back... and hope everyone has the best time EVER!!!

I'll look forward to your reports...”

“Good to hear from you and sorry to hear you won't be able to make the trip. Get well and we'll see you the next time around. And if you make it then, I'll buy a pitcher at the Cutthroat Saloon.”

“You people have not left YET????? ;-)
I can feel the excitement building all the way from my home.”

“I'm sorry obi. That's a bummer.

I will have a hairdryer if you want to borrow it songbyrd.

Maybe I'll see Hodge around town today/tomorrow. Well, I probably wouldn't recognize him if I did see him! LOL! dicentra and I will be downtown this evening as a matter of fact.”

“Cutthroat Saloon no longer exists, Sol... at least, not the one in Markleeville... They guy who owned it died a few years back, the family sold it, and in so doing, it had to pass inspection - it didn't. The guy shoemaker'd it all over, and it had to be completely remodeled. Now, it's an SF boutique fine food & wine stop - out in the middle of nowhere, of course.”

“obi...glad you survived a crash! sorry will not be seeing you.....

my cannister with more food than i need is 10 lbs including cannister weight.
i just did a grab everything i had laid out and stuffed it into bag helter skelter just to see...and without water total weight is 26 lbs....may not take all the clothes, gotta sort it out....like should i take both a fleece vest and a midweight fleece pullover? or just the pullover...i always go thru this!! It only gets cold at night right?...all sunny and warm during the day?....alritey then...going to take the dog to the dog sitter...:( i am going to have separation anxiety ,he on the other hand, will be having fun being spoiled by the sitter.
okeedokee , i kin hardly wait til morning,.....will drive down to tampa town and git onna plane
ready or not phil...here i come!!! ontario...and i always thought ontario was in canada....heh”

“Gem- Swimsuit?? Save the weight- the water is icy cold but if ya gotta get in, light weight shorts and a tee, or .... I AM SURE the guys would agree to this...GO NAKED! :)”

“re: the cutthroat saloon - I wonder what they did with all those bras....”