Ideas needed: 80-90 miles, June, CA/OR/WA

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Snow free I don't care about, just doable (ideally without crampons). The southernmost ~100 miles of the JMT would be excellent. Good thoughts.

i cant remember the mileage– i think its in the 60 to 70 mile range.

you can add to that by summitting one of the sisters from either the west or east side. probably will need cramp ons and ice axe though at that time of year.

it is amazing though. my suggestion is start over past mt. bachelor and go the east side first then finish on the west side.

thats an oregon trip that pops into mind.

Three Sisters loop is 50-55 miles depending on how you access it. The loop doesn't start at a trailhead parking lot so you'll have an out-and-back "tail" on the loop of varying length. One popular approach from Frog Camp on Hwy 242 requires a limited use permit, but there are several other approaches that don't require this permit. You can add mileage to this loop by summiting South Sister, a non-technical ascent of about 4500 feet in 5 miles, and by exploring the Chambers Lake basin.

However, there is likely to be lots of snow left up there in late June this year. Irish-Taylor Lakes just south of the loop has 130% of normal snow accumulation as of 4/1/08 and McKenzie Pass just to the north is 150% of normal. In a normal year I've encountered significant lingering snow on July 4. When the snow melts, bring DEET.

A potential partner and I are currently weighing the options. Doing the JMT from South Lake to Whitney is my favorite plan at the moment. Hopefully snow won't give us too much grief.

Minor improvement:
If you are dropping in over Bishop Pass, and heading south on the Muir Trail, avoid loosing 3,000' down to Le Conte AND improve your scenery by cutting cross-country over Palisade Basin directly to Palisade Lakes. Let me know if you need more help with this route.

By the way, good luck in the Hardrock lottery next year.

– k

Klas,

I'm looking at the Tom Harrison map pack for the complete JMT. You'd cut south across to Knapsack, and then sidehill the drainage down to Palisade Creek? Sounds interesting.

And thanks for the luck. I'll need it.

-d

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Dave,
If you're headed south from South Lake on the JMT in June, you should find out, if possible, about conditions on Forrester Pass. It's about 13,400', with a sheer drop off section on the south side which is often iced over in June. One work-around if that turns out to be the case is to traverse over toward Junction Peak(east), drop down the snow slope there, and then traverse back to pick up the trail again. Still, it's good to know what you're getting into.

If there isn't a lot of snow, the cross-country route from Bishop pass to Palisade Lakes will require that you make ample use of your hands. There are lots of boulders to scramble up and around. I think it'd be significantly slower-going and more energy intensive than dropping the 3000' into LeConte Canyon along the trail, and coming back up. Certainly doable, but slow. Different sort of trip than doing high mileage on the JMT.

Yes Dave T, thanks for adding the map.
Yes Dave C, you will need it.
Check out my photos from Hardrock '06…

– k

Thanks everyone for your ideas. My partner and I are both experienced climbers, so scrambling and easy snow aren't real concerns. Obviously, we'll have light packs.

We'll keep up on local conditions to make sure we have the right gear, but it's good to know as much as possible in advance.