Sierra Prime: Off Trail in California’s High Country

[Dana Sherry]

Fantastic report!- The videos were helpful, as I am planning a JMT hike this Aug and this helps me familiarize with weather and conditions. Like others, I would like to see a more detailed gear list if possible. Thanks for the work you put into this.
Dana

[Glen Van Peski]

That is some beautiful countryside. I love the Humphreys Basin (because you don't need to carry a bear canister), and am looking forward to branching out to more of the general area. Great mix of stills, text and video. Enjoyed the discussion of the some of the thought processes and the list of references.

[Alan Dixon]

Dana,

If you send me a note ([email protected]), I'll be happy to send you my detailed gear list. The simple version of the list is posted in the article.

[Robin McKay]

Hi Don – Loved the article – It appears you both self catered? How much fuel did you carry for the trip?

[Alan Dixon]

Robin,
I took 8 fluid oz (volume), and Don took around 12. That would be around 240 ml volume for my fuel.

"Alan’s Trail Designs Caldera KEG-H system was more efficient than Don’s simpler BPL 900ml titanium pot + tuna can stove + titanium windscreen system – cooking more quickly and with less fuel than Don’s system (8 oz to Don's 12 oz), especially in high winds. But Don is a fan of simplicity and will continue to cook on his can/windscreen system."

We supplemented this with a few small cooking fires when in a fire legal area. This where Don's titanium pot was a boon.

-Alan

[Paul Luther]

Nicely done Alan and Don. Great article. Did you use a local shuttle service for the TH drop-off? If so, which one? I'll be in the Sierra's, this coming August, for about 10 days and might need a shuttle.
Thank you,
Paul

[Scott Smith]

Me too !!

The ones that I've used in the past are now out of business :(

[Alan Dixon]

The Mt. Whitney Shuttle Service
Shuttle Service for the Eastern Sierra
P.O. Drawer A, Lone Pine, CA 93545

Tel: 760-876-1915 best time to call: evenings (Pacific)
e-Mail: [email protected]

They were very reliable. They met us at the Bishop Ranger Station, drove us to a public lot where we left our rental car (btw you can register your car with the Bishop Police and they will keep an eye on it). And then they drove us to the Onion Valley Trail Head.

-Alan

[Scott Smith]

Thank you !!!

[Paul Luther]

Alan,
Thank you so much:)

[Dave T]

That's great info… thanks!

[Hiking Malto]

Had great luck getting from Fresno to Roads end in Kings Canyon, 80mi for only $100 (plus $20 tip) I had multiple offers and set it up about a week ahead of time. Also, I hitched from Whitney Portal back to Yosemite at the end of my JMT hike. Maybe another option that's even less expensive.

[Paul Luther]

Hi Alan,
How did you like the Garmin 550t. pros and cons. Also, Where did you pick up your Iridium 9555, and what provider did you use.

Thank you,
Paul

[Alan Dixon]

If you buy the Iridium phone you get Iridium as a provider. They are realistically the only sat phone provider for the Continental US until GlobalStar gets more working birds in the sky.

Go ahead and read BPL's review of the Garmin Oregon 550t here:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/garmin_oregon550t_review.html

“Our only major gripe is that the display could be a bit brighter and more easily read in bright daylight. This is not unique to Garmin, and is also true of new high-resolution touchscreen displays of competitors GPS units as well. At this point we’ve learned to live with the state of technology in exchange for the much larger map area displayed.”

One other thing we griped about, “No 100% national coverage of 1:24K maps,” is no longer an issue. Garmin now has a large set of reasonably priced 1:24K Topo maps for the US. We used Garmin’s “TOPO U.S. 24K West DVD” which covers California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington states. It retails for under $100.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=35407&pvID=36718#overviewTab

-Alan

[Rick Dreher]

Good stuff!

We await OLED touchscreens with equal parts anticipation and impatience. Samsung is cranking up production but the cellphone and camera makers will undoubtedly be in line ahead of the GPS folks. Hopefully they'll begin trickling in within the next year.

Rick

[Paul Luther]

Hi Alan,
Thank you for your reply. I forgot about the BPL Garmin review. That's a good read and very informative.

Paul

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