Sierra Prime: Off Trail in California’s High Country

[Greg Mihalik]

Skiing the JMT: in a new thread perhaps….

edit: …and thread stub started in Trip Reports

[Anonymous]

You're right, Greg. Sorry about the hijacking, however well intentioned.

[Devin Montgomery]

>We had fun doing the videos, but we also learned a few things. We didn't take enough candid shots, which would have blended nicely with the little vignettes we did. All of the video sessions were spontaneous – just us talking off the cuff.

It's funny you say that. I just came to the same conclusion this weekend, when I took my first substantial video of a trip. I definitely need to take more "b-roll" to fill in between spots where I'm blabbing to the camera. :)

Alan or Don: where did you get the background music you used? I thought it was pretty good. I'm guessing it may be royalty-free stock stuff?

[Don Wilson]

The music came from Garageband (from Apple). With some practice, you can generate a lot of different music fairly easily. I supplement the built in loops with their World Music Jam Pack, which gives you hundreds more loops and short sections from which you can build more complex and longer music.

[Greg Mihalik]

Tom
NBD. It's just that things are convoluted enough as it is.
Hopefully Kevin will pick up.

[Don Wilson]

Tom –

We probably spent just about half the trip off trail, maybe a bit more. But we definitely did more miles on trail, as some of the off-trail hiking was pretty slow. We walked about 20 miles per day on day 2 and 3. And we did very few miles on the day we climbed Mt. Sill – maybe 5 or 6 miles. I'm not sure what our total mileage was at the end. We also explored a little bit off trail in the Humphreys Basin near the end of the trip. Overall, I thought the trip was a pretty moderate pace. We pushed harder in the beginning, then gradually slowed things down.

Mileage wasn't really a goal, and I think we were both content to explore at a slower pace, especially while we were in the most remote locales. We definitely took it slow while in the Ionian Basin, and were plenty content to stop early and hang out in such a fabulous area.

Don

[George Matthews]

Nice report.

Great ideas about food. Was glad to learn that I share one of your favorites: Trader Joe’s Honey Sesame Sticks.

Good planning info, too. Very helpful. I have the Roper book and Skurka's mapset. Both excellent references. Sooner or later I will work out my trip.

Thanks for the good work!

[Anonymous]

"Hopefully Kevin will pick up."

Well, you've dangled the bait out there. Now let's see if we get a nibble. :)

[Madeleine Landis]

Thank you for your article. Nice photos… but I have to say, I was dismayed to see in your first photo you have a fire with blackened granite rocks. You say you had them 'where allowed', yet also say you were at 11,000' and in a heavy use entrance area. I do believe fires are not allowed at that altitude in the Sierra.
I was also dismayed to see your two tarps set out on grassy, soft earth close to Lower Palisade lake. That is a fragile spot! One of the first rules of LNT is to camp at least 200' from water and use hardened off areas, like the plentiful sandy benches in that area (also don't want to be seen from the JMT if possible, as it sets a further bad example.)
I hope there are good explanations for this as I thought the members of BPL were light in impact on the wilderness, not just in their gear. Thank you.

[Roger Caffin]

> your two tarps set out on grassy, soft earth close to Lower Palisade lake.
Well, yes, but if you look at the other photos you might realise that there is very little space around some of these lakes where sleeping is remotely possible. Me, I do not< like sleeping on large lumps of scree!

Would one night's camping (in a UL manner) really harm the grass? My experience is that when I remove my tent from such a place all traces of my passing are gone in half an hour. The ecosystem may be fragile in one sense, but that stuff takes the winter snows and storms quite happily. In another sense that environment is quite robust as long as you do not break the tangle of interlocking roots which support the vegetation.

Cheer

[Dave T]

.

[Kevin Sawchuk]

I did pick up and left a summary of the planned trip at:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/28003/index.html

[Alan Dixon]

>You say you had them 'where allowed', yet also say you were at 11,000' and in a heavy use entrance area. I do believe fires are not allowed at that altitude in the Sierra.

Madeleline,
Thanks for your concern about LNT. Indeed you are correct that the BPL staff believe in and adhere to LNT principals.

Please check the Article again. We were camped below 10,000 feet in an area that was fire legal. We did use an existing fire pit, including the two "blackened" rocks to support the pot. I don't remember anywhere we said we were in a heavy use area. In fact, we were 2-3 days from the nearest trail head.

I believe others have adequately addressed the tarp issue.

Other than to point out that the tarps are not pitched at Lower Palisade lake but at a much higher and remote unamed lake off trail. This lake sees very little use. In fact, due probably to LNT it was not evident that anybody had camped there (including after we left).

Thanks again for your concern about LNT. If there were more people like you the Sierras and other mountains would be a less impacted and more beautiful place.

Peace, -Alan

[Bernard Shaw]

Guys, as role models, you should mention that either you both are NOT prone to altitude problems or that you were exceptionally lucky to not get major illness from jumping off a plane massive first day and camping so high up.

[Alan Dixon]

Actually, sleeping at 11K the first night was part of the plan. I aclimatize best with a short and easy first day (starting in mid-afternoon to early evening) and getting a good night's sleep at over 10,000 feet. Takes the sting out of adjusting to being high. YMMV

[Don Wilson]

Madeleine –

A couple of more comments re the LNT topic. This is something both Alan and I are very careful with. And I for one have become more and more careful over the years.

As Alan said, the fire we showed was at an exisitng campsite and an existing fire pit below 10,000 feet. It was a small cooking fire, and was about as small an impact as one could have with a fire.

The campsite along the lake was off trail at about 11500 feet. Alan's tarp (the one on the right) is actually pitched on partial sand, the least impact we could hope for, though it is not apparent in the picture. He used the only flat spot that had a high percentage of sand. We spent some time trying to find another spot for my tarp that was also pitched on that terrain, but it didn't work. So I elected to pitch on the grass. There was no other spot along the lakeshore that was reasonable, and there was no evidence of any use at this locale.

I think we made responsible choices – and I'm glad the issue came up here.

Don

[Bob Gross]

Roger, there are some areas in some of the national parks in California where the rangers are watching very closely about LNT, or not. I've watched while a ranger carrying a sidearm walks up to a tent backpacker and announces that he has 30 seconds to move his tent off the grassy area and back to some sandy area. The tent backpacker wanted to debate the subject, and he received a citation. If the violation is worse, he might be banned from the park.
–B.G.–

[Alan Dixon]

>Alan's tarp (the one on the right) is actually pitched on partial sand, the least impact we could hope for, though it is not apparent in the picture.

Actually my bivy rested entirely on sand, or more accurately granite rubble.

[Frank Deland]

Here is a helpful site to browse maps:

offroute.com

For example: At the homepage goto the lefthand column; under "Shops, Maps Books", click Maps USGS Topo. Quads; Then California and Subcategory;
For the Sierras the counties are Mono ( north of Tuolumne), Fresno, and Inyo

Under Fresno and then North Palisades you will find Le Conte Valley and Mt. Sill, by clicking on areas outside the blue lines you will be connected to the next quads. The quads for The HSR are found in Roper's book p. 37. The book HigH Sierra, as mentioned, covers the passes and has a picture of Mt. Sill. Wow, amazing to visit that summit!

http://www.offroute.com/mod2/mod_step4.asp?maptool=zoom-in&zoom=21&centerx=-118.56344&centery=37.06244&lastzoom=7.5&controls=zoom-in&zoommap=1

PS I found some of the JMT Sierra Lakes warmer than water off the coast of Maine. "Swims" ,however, were of the 30 second variety, but greatly refreshing!

[Anonymous]

"I've watched while a ranger carrying a sidearm walks up to a tent backpacker and announces that he has 30 seconds to move his tent off the grassy area and back to some sandy area."

My rant assumes you are not exaggerating. This kind of arrogance has no place in an initial encounter with a backpacker and probably provoked the gut level "debate the subject" response. An initial polite suggestion to relocate combined with some education on LNT principles would probably have accomplished the objective without alienating the guy and worsening already tenuous relations between rangers and backpackers. If it didn't, he could then have read the guy the riot act. Just because someone has authority and a gun doesn't excuse that kind of behavior. Whatever happened to the Randy Morgenson approach in the last15-20 years? It's really telling that these same rangers ignore far more egregious violations by horse packers.

One more reason to take the route less travelled, IMO.

[Richard Gillis]

Great trip report. Although I enjoy reading about equipment, etc. I'd really like to see more narratives like this. Especially since this is my favorite (and closest) major range. Glad I signed up again.

[Anonymous]

"I'd really like to see more narratives like this. Especially since this is my favorite (and closest) major range."

Richard,

Dave T posted an excellent report in October about an epic September trip that basically followed the entire Great Western Divide, south to north on its return leg, mostly off trail. It's well worth reading. If you're not already familiar with it, the Great Western Divide is some of the very finest Sierra high country. The report is easily found in Trip Reports forum.

[Patricia Combee]

Very nice. Loved the video clips and nice pics. Good to see your planning details. I am from the east, so this is a good primer for Sierra hikes. BPL– Please keep these kinds of articles coming!! This alone was worth my subscription.

[Bob Gross]

Tom, I was not exaggerating at all. That's just what I saw.

What you didn't understand was that the offender was blatantly violating the specific rules that he had agreed to (and signed) when he picked up his wilderness permit. Further, he was blatantly violating the rules warned on the metal sign 200 yards away as he approached that backpacking area. So, ignorance of the law is a pretty flimsy excuse.

What's more is that the ranger mentioned had been working his way around that specific lake, in plain view of the offender. He spoke to each tent group around the lake, checked permits, offered advice, etc. If the offender had any intelligence at all, he would have moved his tent to a legal spot before the ranger got to him. But, nooooo… The offender was flaunting it, so the ranger came up to make the necessary correction. I thought that it was nice that the ranger gave the offender 30 seconds, and if the offender had actually jumped up and started ripping up tent stakes, he could have avoided further confrontation. Instead, he argued with the ranger, so he got a citation.

The rest of us were camped legally around the lake, so we agreed with the action.
–B.G.–

[Anonymous]

"Tom, I was not exaggerating at all. That's just what I saw."

Bob,

I didn't think you were. That's why I prefaced my comments with "I assume you're not….". I guess any incredulousness I expressed was due to the fact that my few interactions with backcountry rangers have been very pleasant, with one exception-a newly minted marionette full of himself in his spotless new uniform(long story). The rest all fit the Randy Morgenson description. I definitely wasn't trying to defend the moron you describe in my post. God knows I've seen enough of that kind of idiocy down through the years to know exactly what you're talking about, and it always makes my blood boil. Rather, I took exception to the "you've got 30 seconds…." approach, even if the guy did screw up. That kind of approach sets the tone for the transaction and immediately turns things confrontational, something law enforcement types are trained to avoid in the front country. Why not just tell the guy he was in egregious violation of the law, write him up on the spot and let that be the end of it, or, maybe preferable, tell him something like "I'm going over to the bushes to take a leak and, when I return, I'll expect to see you've made considerable progress toward moving your camp to a legal location or you'll be looking at a $124 citation" and give the guy a little space to digest his predicament and act accordingly? At that point, if he's feeling feisty, write him up and maybe escort him to the nearest TH to drive the point home. My 2 cents. Again, if you felt I was impugning your credibility, I apologize. It was not my intention.

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