High Sierra Trail help

Get an open jaw flight, fly into fresno, fly back from reno. From Fresno, bus or rent car (one-way) to visallia. Take public shuttle to Lodgepole:

From the City of Visalia:
-The Sequoia Shuttle runs from the City of Visalia, through Three Rivers, and up to the Giant Forest Museum, where you can transfer to the above routes. A round-trip ride usually costs $15 — but on weekdays (except holidays) through June 12 it's only $10. The fare covers the park entrance fee. For details and reservations online see http://www.sequoiashuttle.com, the City of Visalia's website, or call 1-877-BUS-HIKE.

http://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/publictransportation.htm

http://tinyurl.com/kw5j9l

Then from Whitney Portal hitchike or use mt whitney shuttle service to goto lone pine, then take bus to reno and fly back from reno.

http://easternsierratransitauthority.com/wb/pages/bus-routes/crest-north-lone-pine-reno.php

Also, one can do the HST round trip (I did it in 2007, returning via Horseshoe Meadows to PCT to HST, return trip is 1-2 days shorter than going there due to starting at 10,000 feet at Horseshoe Meadows. You can also go immediately due east to Kern Canyon Ranger Station, then north 9 miles to HST and then back to Crescent Meadows, saving still another day. You end up going through Golden Trout Wilderness Area then Sequoia National Forest then Sequoia National Park when you reach Kern river/Kern Canyon ranger station.

Roleigh covered it VERY well. One thing he did not mention, and you have to be a little open minded, is hitching. Granted that would be coming back on Hwy 395. I'd pick up a hitch hiker anyday…and yes, they are easy to tell. Visit the Mt. Whitney message board also, aside from Roleigh's great advice, you might find some great shuttle advice there too. Have fun, that is god's country!!!!

Thanks, Ken. I should have elaborated a little more. By "hitch-hiking" I meant from Whitney Portal. Typically you'd stand by the Eastern end of the parking lot and have a sign up that says "Hiker to Town" — AntiGravityGear sells a cool bandana for that purpose – http://www.antigravitygear.com/proddetail.php?prod=TER100

Also, most people have a meal at Whitney Portal at the end and you can ask people at the cafe if they're headed into Lone Pine.

But if that fails, call Mt. Whitney Shuttle Service. See http://www.mtwhitneyshuttle.com/ – Tell Bob Ennis who owns/runs the shuttle hi, he gave me a ride into Lone Pine last year followed by the next morning a long ride (with 2 others) to Ridgecrest CA the next day. (He might remember the ride to RidgeCrest CA as that is a custom tangent ride.)

Oh yea, when we used the shuttle service last year, I and 6 others shared the cost, there were 7 of us, who all met each other at the Whitney Portal Store to do the ride and cost sharing.

Also, study the Bus Schedule I gave you, it only operates weekdays and not every day. You might need to time your hike or return flight accomodating that. Also, two good places to consider staying in Lone Pine is Dow Villa Historical Hotel or the Whitney Portal Hostel and they're both very affordable (Dow Villa includes access to an outdoor swimming pool/outdoor spa). The Seasons restaurant has great steak for supper, and for breakfast, the Mt. Whitney restaurant across the street is great for breakfast.

At the Whitney Portal cafe, be sure and get some of the super giant postcards of the HST/JMT as it navigates from Guitar Lake to Whitney Portal, showing both sides of Mt. Whitney — it is a super nice postcard to frame.

Ken's idea for Whitney Portal Message Board was super — here is the best link over there:

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/34030#B6

Orientation Notes for Whitney First Timers * -> Make Travel Plans

postscript — if you already have your flight ticket, you can probably modify the tickets for $100 to convert to open jaw flight which is cheaper than getting back to fresno. If you have to get back to fresno, it means taking the bus to Mammoth Lakes, staying overnight, getting on the shuttle from Mammoth Lakes that leaves at 7am (only time daily) and getting into Yosemite Village around 10:30, then taking a bus to Merced, then another bus to Fresno. You'll spend days and more money/time to do it that way.

If there are a group of you, you could take the bus south to Lancaster CA (from Lone Pine) and there do a one-way car rental to Fresno, via driving around the south side of the Sierras, through Bakersfield.

Last year, 3 of us shared the cost to shuttle to Ridgecrest cA from Lone Pine via Mt Whitney Portal because it was an off day for the bus (it only goes M-W-F south out of lone pine), and there did a one way car rental back to San Jose (for the one couple I was riding with, they nicely let me ride with them to Bakersield CA where I took a bus down to LA then to Phoenix where my open jaw flight took me back home (I stay with my siblings in Phoenix after a hike for a few days).

Thank you so much for all those logistics! That really opens up some new options that I had no clue about. Im from Louisiana and its kind of hard planning logistics when you have no concept of the area.

The only issue I have is that we are going Sept 9 – 18 and the shuttle stops Sept 1. I hate to rent a car and leave it sitting at Lodgepole for 7-8 days getting no use for the money I paid for it. I thought about a taxi but those are really expensive too. Any thoughts??

I really like the reno idea!

join this yahoo group devoted to the trail and ask them your question — there must be some private shuttle service that will drive you from Vasallia, CA to Lodgepole, CA. You really should think about getting an open jaw ticket, it is a longer drive to get back to the start than to drive back to LA, it's that absurd.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sequoiakingscanyonhikers/

PS – also setup your profile to accept PM – you plug in your email address, it's not made public, it's hidden, but it allows people to "PM" you. (private message you). Click on "change my profile".

If you have the time and are going extremely light, round trip may be a good idea. The trail is doable in 4 days. If it took you 3 days to get to Guitar Lake you could base camp for a whitney summit and then head back toward crescent meadow. Depends how fast you like to hike. If I ever do the trail again, I'll probably do that. It could take you almost as long to coordinate getting back on roads. It is a long day of driving.

If round trip is not your thing or in the cards, sounds like Roleigh and Ken have some good ideas.

Either way, enjoy. It's a beautiful trail.

Jeremy is much stronger and faster than me but his idea to do it round trip makes sense especially if you don't change your flight to an open jaw flight (fresno/reno). I took 9 days to do the HST. I can do the return in 8 days. We basically hiked from bearbox camp site to bearbox camp site, the only time we skipped a site and jumped forward 2 sites was going back from Crabtree Meadows to Kern Hot Springs.

If you go out at Lone Pine, resupply via a cache mailed in arrangement (General Delivery at Post Office), come back in via a separate, second permit from Horseshoe Meadows and if you want to save time, go straight west to Kern Canyon Ranger Station, then north to HST (8 miles) then out the HST to Crescent Meadows. I did that route in 7 days. We're basically talking 82 miles for the HST and the return route is probably about 70 miles via the route I depicted.

You need the Tom Harrison Golden Trout Wilderness Map and the Tom Harrison Whitney High Country maps to do the hike the round trip route I depicted if you don't return via Horseshoe Meadows (Mt. Whitney Shuttle Service can drive you to the trailhead cheap), you don't need the GTW map.

Doing it in 4 days is not for everyone, especially if you have to double that to get back. When I did it in 4 days I had packed food for 7 days and realize I could have slowed down to do some side trips and maybe even a layover just for the enjoyment, but my hiking partner and I got on a roll and enjoyed the pace. Anyway, if you and your wife think that kind of mileage (about 17.5 miles) per day is too much to be doing for that kind of distance and number of days with the time you have, considering all the up and down and altitude on the HST (which is substantial), then I would go with one of Roleigh's suggestions to get back to the other side. Either way, you'll love it.

I vote for the round trip.

If you can get a coupe more days of vacation, try that if necessary. For the distance you are traveling, it will be worth the the extra days. There is a lot of elevation gain/loss and you will be hiking at altitude. Altitude affects some people more than others. I am lucky, and don't need to acclimate.

You have already gotten some great feedback from the other posters.

another option is to do a loop hike. One year, we did the HST to Arroyo Cabin Junction and there turned right and went up over Black Rock Pass and then back to Bearpaw Meadows and then back to Crescent Meadows. That was a 6 day hike for us. You end up going over two passes (Kawhea Gap and Black Rock Pass).

By the way, the camp sites about every 8 miles have bear boxes except at Guitar Lake — so for two people, you can get by with just one bear cannister for the two of you. We used Ursacks (without liner) to protect food in bear boxes from mice.

well, we were actually really excited about taking it slow and even staying an extra day at one of the great campsites. Anytime, we are ever out, we are booking it and pushing miles, so we wanted to take a leisurely approach so I think we are going to stick with the just the 72 HST, no loop or return, and just work out the details. But im not looking forward to the end, bc that last day after Whitney will be hell getting back to lodgepole or anywhere for that matter, reno, visalia, etc. Nothing will be easy especially since the shuttle will not be running at that time in September.

One more option. Hike the HST to Kern Hot Springs, enjoy the hot springs, then on the way back, go back through and over Black Rock Pass then to Bearpaw Meadows then back to Crescent Meadows. You'll get two passes in that way and end up where you started. You'll miss out on Mt. Whitney but you won't have any problems at the end, navigation wise. My friend and I spent 6 years doing bits and portions of the HST, only doing it one way complete in 2006, then in 2007 doing the round trip, but before that we did long segments and loop-backs to start.

As you can see, to do this elegantly one way, it takes a lot of advance planning, part of which is to do it before September 1st. You have a long life ahead of yourself and once you're in the HIgh Sierras, you'll come back, it's way too addictive — I've been back 9 times.

You'll end up doing about 72 miles all together. Enjoy Lake Moraine on the way or way back — great swimming lake.

One advantage of doing a yo-yo other than avoiding the hellacious transportation problem is not having to decide whether to go through the Chagoopa Plateau or by Moraine Lake. Both are worth it, so you can take Chagoopa eastbound and Moraine Lake west. From Bearpaw Meadow over Kaweah Gap to the Big Arroyo junction is one stretch that is hard to beat even in the Sierra.

BobR

Hey Rob,

I was wondering where you were at. How are you doing?

Send us an email sometime at No_Cal

frank

Is a bear cannister REQUIRED? Not recommended but required. My research thus far is vague on this issue, bc I cant tell (bc Im not familiar with this terrain/area etc) if the required bear cannister areas encompass the HST. Anybody know for sure?

By the way, we are really considering doing the yo-yo. Because the transportation details really do become more hellacious by the minute

A bear cannister is not required absolutely until you get to Guitar Lake. Prior to Guitar Lake there are bear boxes at all the "established" camp sites and if you stay at the established camp sites and use a bear box, you're okay (at least prior to 2007). If you decide NOT to go to Whitney Portal and you do the summit from Crabtree Meadows (where there is a bear box), it might be possible to go without a bear cannister. When we did the full HST, we used only one bear cannister for the whole group of three people.

We did use Ursacks (without a liner) with OP Sack to protect our food inside the bear boxes from mice and insects though.

Call up the ranger office at Sequoia National Park to get current scoop — should be listed on the web sites / pages too.

Are you thinking of doing all the way to the summit and back without resupplying at Lone Pine or what?