Normally a site for debate and commentary on issues, I wanted to dedicate this one post to planning a backpacking trip.
Ok, so I wanted to get this conversation started. I will be posting this on my blog at hjandrews.blogspot.com so that people can follow the conversation even if they miss some e-mails (or if I am forgetting to include some one). You can either post your feedback on the blog, or e-mail me and I'll post it for you. Please let me know if you DO NOT want your response posted as one of the comments.
Where and when are we going to go backpacking this year?
Honestly I don't care a whole lot where, but I have an irresistible itch to starve off dried food, wind up grueling switchbacks, and get eaten by misquotes for about a week or so.
Time:
I absolutely cannot go before July 16th, because that is when I finish my Masters. For me, the best time would be anytime from July 19th to Aug 12th.
I was thinking a good time would be July 28th (Wed) to August 3rd (Tues). Those dates are kind of arbitrary, but I wanted to throw them out there in case if it comes down to someone being decisive and nailing down a date. Personally, I like going over a weekend, because it cuts down on time that people need to take off work, and I love honoring a Sabbath day in the serene environment of the outdoors. For me it is a great spiritual experience. We could probably get an authorization to do the sacrament.
Location:
Great Basin, Nevada: Caves, desert and mountains
Lower Escalante River, Utah: best extended backpacking trip in canyon country
Escalante River, Utah: miles of maze-like, winding intersecting canyon trails leading to the river
Petrified Forest, AZ: Hike into the Painted Desert all kinds of interesting archeology & paleontology
Bryce Canyon, UT: Hoodoos, forests, meadows and stunning cliffs (Ken has been there and says that it is awesome)
Zions Park, UT: All kinds of canyons and water
San Gorgonio Wilderness – this is the closest and cheapest of the bunch if we wanted to do something a little more low-key (for us SD folk).
Channel Islands (near Santa Barbara) – the main cost here would be the price of having a boat ferry us out there.
Havaupai – I did a little research on Havasupi. It would be a $35 entrance fee plus $17 per person, per night. If we want to do Havasupi, we need to book it fast. There is availability for the first week of August right now. The 2008 floods changed the landscape somewhat. If we did do Havasupi, I think it would be fun to try to do the hike down the canyon to the Colorado River.
The back side of Mt. Whitney.
Mammoth.
Any other cool ones that I don’t know about???
Seriously though, lets get talking. Let me know if you can, can't, are unsure, and if you care about the location. Most of these locations I got from Dad's e-mails from previous years, but any information you can provide or research you can do would be appreciated.
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4 comments:
JARED SAID:
Thanks for getting the conversation started! I'm not sure if I would be able to go, but I guess the only input that I have is that Great Basin or Escalante area would be my votes. This suggestion is probably way out there, but Ruth and I live just 1/2 hour from the Uinta Mountains and some incredible backpacking. If people are up to making that kind of a trip, we'd love to make our apartment a jumping off point.
I know that this probably isn't a possibility due to time (we're about a 12 hr. drive from SD) and expenses, but I guess I'm just throwing it out there in the off chance that someone Googles the Uinta Mountains (we're in on the western end), decides that it's a can't miss, and wants to go for it.
Thanks for getting this going!
KEN SAID:
I think we should add Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada mts. Its not far from Tahoe and it is for backpackers and day hikers only. Beautiful waterfalls lakes and Mountains to see there.
A lot of the places we are thinking about require reservations in advance, so I am really trying to get the ball rolling here.
So here is one that I researched:
For those of you who have dreams of someday hiking K2 or Everest, this may be the closest that you can reasonably come.
Going up the back side of Mt. Whitney. It is a 72 mile hike, going through tunnels, over cliffs, crags, steep rock faces, hot springs, lakes, rivers, and every element of the Sierra Nevada's you can imagine. It seems like it would be more fun (and doable time wise) if we could get transportation out of Whitney Portal, otherwise we would have to do a round trip. If we could arrange transportation, then we could do the trip in 6 days. If we could not, then the fastest the round trip would be 10 days. I think this trip would require extensive physical preparation, with preferably some shake-down hikes, but at least a rigorous cardio exercise program a few months leading up to.
I have decided that I WILL do this hike someday, even if is not in the cards for this year.
Here is the link:
https://pwrcms.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/high-sierra-trail.htm
I'll be interested to see what y'all think.
Back side of Whitney sounds awesome! That's what I'd call a life-lister. Probably wouldn't be able to this year, but it sounds great.
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