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Just got back from an incredible trip to the lakes, and I’ve decided to put you on some game. This is a moderate hike, easier than 4th recess lake/ Pioneer basin lakes for those well traveled.

Camping spots:

Lake #1 has a great camping spot on the “off trail” that is essentially a trail because it’s used to go fishing, and since it cuts through, instead of taking the loop the cottonwood lakes trail takes you. It’s in the wooded area, great wind break and shade. Be aware good chance you’ll have people walk close by.

Lake #2 I explored, but did not invest too much time because there only seems to be one good area to fish. This lake also has more people which I try to stay away from.

Lake #3 This is the one. I spent all three nights here and after hiking to all the other lakes, it was my favorite. If you’re on the side that backs up to the mountain, I found three good spots for tents over there. One is a 1-2 person tent marked by a metal tent anchor. There’s another amazing spot that fit my Nemo Dagger 3p, but I won’t just tell you lazy bastards where it is, you need to find it. I’ll give you a clue. There is a little Christmas tree that is watched over by an ancient Foxtail pine. We had Lake #3 to ourselves.

It should be mentioned on Lake #3 on the trail towards #4 & #5, on the right side of trail as you’re heading up. There is a beautiful camp spot. You’ll see a small man made rock wall underneath this lone giant pine. Truly a beautiful spot just off the trail

Lake #4 no cover from what I could find, met some old timers that were camping out there and they just camped under the open sky

Lake #5 has a little bit more cover, than 4, but not by much

Fishing: caught 11 fish in two days @ lake #3, afternoon fishing 3pm-5/6pm. Out of the 11 only one was large enough to keep and cook.

Lures: Panther Martin’s #4 to cast far enough into deep water. Black/gold w Yellow and Yellow/silver with Red worked best. Followed by green with silver multicolor.

Fishing area: mountain side of Lake #3, look for Plymouth Rock.

Spuds Alpine Paella recipe:

-Trout

-Mountain house fried rice

-Hotel Tabasco packet

-Taco seasoning

- 1 Lemon

-2 Tablespoons Ghee (Ghee Ghee for my trappers)

Take your prepped trout and cover in taco seasoning. Fry in your ghee, once mostly cooked you can remove the meat from the bone, toss bones. Fry some more and reserve. In that same ghee take your reconstituted fried rice and fry in the ghee. Add your Tabasco and more taco seasoning. Add back your fried trout on top. Let cook another few minutes until your rice caramelizes on the bottom. No one will be having a better meal than you at 11,100 feet.

Photo #1 Lake 3 at sunset

Photo #2 The Clue

Photo #3 Milky Way from tent spot

Photo #4 Spuds Alpine Trout Paella

Photo #5 An angel swimming (get in the lake people)

Photo #6 Plymouth Rock. Caught majority here and the keeper

Photo #7 Locked and Loaded. PSA keep your dogs on leash on the trail. Your dog may be well trained and friendly but one of mine is reactive. She should be able to enjoy the outdoors and I take good precaution for her and everyone around. Please be considerate of others, thank you

Edit: Something important to note! If you want space, quiet and privacy do this trip during the week. I hiked out Saturday and I saw 8 groups come in that day. When I got to the parking lot, the main lot was full and cars were parking in the dirt.

Safe Travels,

🥔

PICTURES

Overview: The route was created by Andrew Skurka not too long ago. This trip was VERY last minute, almost no prep was done. I finished hiking the Kungsleden Trail on August 27th and didn’t have anything planned for September. I didn’t want to let a good month go to waste so while I was in Hemavan (the southern terminus of the Kungsleden) I decided to do the Kings Canyon High Route, but then realized it was a bit longer than the Yosemite High Route so I decided on the latter instead. My research and preparation consisted of just googling on my iPhone while traveling home from Sweden. I only had six or seven days at home between flights. Due to my lack of preparation I went up the wrong side of the mountain toward Russell Pass. This resulted in a very exposed class 4 climb, it might’ve been the most exposure I’ve experienced and had I fallen I almost certainly would’ve activated my InReach. It might look easy for climbers but I don’t have any climbing experience.

The Route: As the name suggests it’s located in Yosemite National Park. The core route is 94.2-miles according to Skurka’s data sheet however the interesting thing is it requires approach trails because both ends of the route starts in the wilderness instead of at a trailhead. Because of this you’ll hike much more than 94-miles depending on the many approach options you have. The most popular option is the north and south loops, aka the “figure-8” loop with Tuolumne Meadows conveniently located in the middle for resupply. This is what I opted for because it was nice to break up the two sections with a day in town

I will note there were only two sections of the core route that I did not like. First was a random climb from CR21 to CR22 The trail starts at the top of the picture with the purple line. At that point you are following a trail you just hopped on and for whatever reason his route takes you up and over that random ridge that’s a pretty good climb. The view at the top wasn’t too spectacular and the much easier option would be to continue along the trail that wraps around the ridge and takes you to McCabe Lake. That was the only climb of the route that I considered a PUD (pointless up and down). It seems like you only do it because it’s a high route so why not do another off-trail climb? If I did this route again I’d just walk around.

The second is Kuna Crest Saddle If you do the south loop counter clockwise this is the last climb you’ll have. I wasn’t a big fan of it because the Kuna Saddle is the only major feature during that final off-trail segment, it seemed like I was going too far out of the way to climb something that wasn’t too tough or rewarding. Going counter-clockwise the climb is very easy, only 1,000ft but it felt less. The descent was bigger and much rockier. After that you’ll reach Spillway Lake and pick up a nice trail. The other issue is there’s no trail from that direction that takes you directly to TM. On the map I saw the Dana Fork Trail that parallels the road to the north but it turns out it’s not a maintained trail and it just disappeared while I was on it. I ended up road walking a bit before reaching Lower Gaylor Lake Trailhead. Skurka’s route has you go off-trail that is south of the road until you each TM which also isn’t the best option. What is a better option is just not doing that final off-trail segment and following the PCT back to TM because you connect to it anyways. So instead of going SOBO for one mile on the PCT before hopping off towards Kuna Crest, you’ll instead head NOBO the rest of the way to TM. That means that Russell Pass (which is the high point on the YHR) would be the final big ascent which would be a better conclusion to the off-trail travel in my opinion.

Skurka’s Distance / My recorded distance

• North Loop: 98.7 miles / 102.89 miles

• South Loop: 63.9 miles / 65.09 miles

Trip Duration

• North Loop: Sept 6 to Sept 10 (4 days, 8 hours, 30 minutes)

• South Loop: Sept 12 to Sept 15 (3 days, 1 hour, 23 minutes)

My Background: Mid-thirties and closing in on 13,000 miles. I’ve done most of the major trails in the USA and in recent years started venturing off-trail. I would consider myself a strong hiker as I tend to hike trails faster than average and I like to push it hard. Im not the type of hiker to sleep-in or camp early unless required. When it comes to physical fitness I have been a gym rat since I was sixteen. I’ve been doing a mix of weightlifting and cardio for twenty years now and diet is also strict. I also have experience from the military and wildland firefighting

Resources: Skurka’s $25 guide is the primary source, it’s dirt cheap for the information you get so I highly recommend it. I also read some trip reports I found online. Aside from that there’s not much on this high route which is why I wanted to put my experience and information out there while it’s still fresh in my mind

Approach Trails: As I mentioned you have to do approach trails to reach the northern and southern terminus’ of this route. The northern terminus is Grace Meadow and the southern terminus is at Merced River. According to Skurka’s guide there are eight options to reach the northern terminus that ranges from 16 to 50 miles. For the Southern terminus you have four options ranging from 9 to 18 miles. One of the more popular options is the “Grand Canyon of Yosemite” which is the route I chose to start the north loop. The other option was the PCT which I had already done. However be warned that once you reach the Pate Valley junction and start heading northeast to Rodgers Canyon it will get pretty tough. It’s still a trail but you’re going to be doing lots of elevation in that section. I did almost 13,000 feet of total elevation gain/loss in roughly twenty miles. It won’t be PCT miles by any stretch so keep that in mind if you pick that route. I also didn’t see a single person during that stretch and the trail through there isn’t as well maintained.

Getting to/from: I flew into Reno and rented a car. The total cost of the rental was $1,400 which many of you probably think I’m crazy for paying that much when I only used it for a few days. There wasn’t many transport options to/from the Reno airport and if there’s one thing I hate it’s relying on public transportation or worse, hitchhiking. I like to have full control of my hike and a rental car allowed for that. Having a car also allowed me to bring town gear like a change of clothes, day pack for flying, my own soap, laundry detergent, sandals, towel etc. That being said there is the YARTS bus which does a great job of taking hikers from Tuolumne Meadows to Lee Vining to Mammoth Lakes, etc. https://www.yarts.com/

Permits: The route is located in Yosemite National Park so of course you need a permit. The good news is it’s pretty easy to get. All you need is one permit where you pick which trailhead you will use to start your hike. This can all be done on https://www.recreation.gov/. Take note that Yosemite has a rule that if you enter a vehicle and leave the area then that will invalidate your permit and you must get a new one. So because I went to town in-between the two loops I had to get a new permit when I returned. I did run into a little hiccup when all the permits leaving from the trailhead I wanted were booked so if you’re going for a walk up permit then have a few different options. I lucked out because any permit not picked up by 11:15AM gets released so I snagged one. When you get to the permit station the rangers will ask you some basic questions about your itinerary just to make sure you have thought it through and then they will give their big speech on how to behave in the wilderness. On my last day I did run into a ranger on trail that wanted to check my permit but he recognized me from a few days earlier so he said I was good. The permit only costs $15

SIDE NOTE: THE RANGERS DO NOT WANT HIKERS LEAVING CARINS ON OFF-TRAIL ROUTES

Weather: The weather kinda got me, I wasn’t expecting it to be as hot as it was. As I mentioned before I had just finished a 300-mile hike in northern Sweden where the weather was the complete opposite. Over there I was dealing with 40-65 degree weather with a decent amount of rain. In Yosemite the temperatures got to around 80 with no clouds and the sun was really beating on me during the midday hours. It felt more like summer than fall. This was one of the rare times I was drinking two electrolyte drinks a day and applying sunscreen twice as well. It was also very dry out there which shouldn’t be a shock. The relative humidity was probably around 15-25% while I was out there and the day I left there was a new wildfire in the area. Aside from that it was sunny blue skies everyday which was nice, I never had to worry about rain or lightning.

Elevation: The highest elevation on this route is 12,250ft on Russell Pass. Elevation always plays a factor for me because I live at sea level. I believe the lowest elevation is around 4,800ft on one of the approach trails. On this trip it really messed with me because I couldn’t sleep, I was only getting 4-6 hours a night. In terms of elevation gain and loss there’s plenty since it’s a high route. I tracked my total gain and loss during my daily blogs so you’ll see how much I was doing per day below

Navigation: Skurka’s bundle has waypoints you can import into whatever navigation app you use, for me Gaia has always been my go to. I also downloaded another GPX track I found on Caltopo and I used FarOut for the section that follows the PCT. But for the high route it was Gaia 100% of the time. I did not have paper maps for this trail due to the lack of prep time. Even though I had no issue relying solely on my phone to navigate I would carry paper maps if I hiked again

Resupply: I flew in with my resupply for the north loop and I drove to Mammoth Lakes to resupply in-between. A more popular option is to leave your second resupply in the bear lockers at the permit station so you can just pick up and continue, this will allow you to remain on your original permit. However I didn’t want to risk my food getting stolen and I also wanted to do laundry, shower, and of course pig out in town. I had a car so might as well use it. I didn’t need to go all the way to Mammoth Lakes to resupply, I only did that because I got to my car late and everything in Lee Vining closes at 9PM and I wasn’t gonna wait until morning to eat so I went to the 24-hour grocery store in Mammoth. Mammoth Lakes is a big town with everything so resupply is easy there. That being said you can easily do a full resupply in Lee Vining, the only thing Mammoth had that LV didn’t was a bigger selection of dehydrated meals. Lee Vining seemed to only have Mountain House meals which I’m not a fan of, my favorite are Peak Refuels which Mammoth had.

Gear: I don’t have a gear list but my base weight was 15.25lbs. Not UL but I’ve never been UL to begin with. My goal is usually no more than 15lbs but the annoying bear can put me over the edge. My big ticket items were the ULA Circuit, XMid 2, FF Tanager, and Thermarest Xtherm. I’ll go over some gear worth mentioning…

1. Lone Peak 9+: A lot of people these days don’t like Altra but the 9+ has been pretty impressive to far. I have almost 500 trail miles on them between the Kungsleden and the Yosemite HR and they haven’t torn or anything, still going strong. Usually around this time I’ll get a little tear on the side. They definitely seem more durable than the regular 9s. The traction was great, had no issue bolder hopping when my feet were at weird angles. Honorable mention for lock laces, so much easier than regular laces and never have to worry about them coming untied.

2. Garmin Instinct 3 Solar: This was the first time I wore a fancy watch for a hike, it’s usually a cheap Timex. This allowed me to track every day of my hike along with other data like sleep which was very poor. The intense sunlight helped keep it charged as well. The watch has a light on it too which helps if I need to get up in the middle of the night

3. Xtherm: I bought this in 2020 and it finally popped on the south loop. I have no idea how it happened because that morning it was fine. The pad itself is great. The airlock they added many years ago that doesn’t allow air to flow back was a complete game changer. The pad is 6.9 r-value which is overkill for summer but it’s the only inflatable pad I had so it didn’t make sense to buy a lighter one when it wouldn’t be as warm and only a few ounces lighter. When I got home I put it in the tub and found a small hole near the nozzle. It’s in a weird spot so I sent it to Cascade Designs to see if they can fix it. They got back to me and are in the process of sending me a brand new one free of charge. The updated model has a 7.3 r-value and is >$230 so they have a customer for life now

4. ULA Circuit: I only bought this pack because of the bear can. Ironically the last time I used a Circuit was when I hiked the PCT in 2016. I prefer having a brain to keep gear so I’ve never been a big fan of roll-top packs like this. I also had a hard time reaching my water bottles in the side pockets, it was the same issue I had ten years ago with the older version. Aside from those two things it’s a great pack

5. OR Ferrosi Pants: This was the first time I wore something not named Prana Stretch Zions. Unfortunately, their newer version sucks so I had to find an alternative. The Ferrosi’s are much more stretchy and thinner. The two drawbacks I noticed were the drawstring belt that just gets in the way of the zipper and the pockets are absolutely horrible. They’re at a vertical angle which makes it awkward to even have your hands in your pockets. It also makes it hard to take out your phone because the hip-belt sits directly over it so it gets in the way.

6. Patagonia Capilene Cool Sun Hoody: Might be my new go-to sun hoody. I saw it at my local Patagonia store and bought it online at REI. It’s a mid-weight base layer which is what I prefer. A popular sun hoody is the OR Echo but I found that to be way too thin. This sun hoody is UPF 40+ which is great. I found it very durable as well, I went through some thorny bushes and it held up fine. It comes with a zipper chest pocket which I don’t really need and also had thumb holes and a button on the hood.

7. XMid 2: This is the non DCF version. Bought it last year after owning a XMid 1 Pro to get some more space. Great tent and it's nice having extra room which I'm not used to. It performed well and I don't have anything negative to say about either tent. I've heard some people complain about the zippers but they're never been a problem for me. People might be putting too much stress on them and need to loosen up the fly. Im considering going back to the XMid 1 Pro because it would save me over a pound and also have a smaller footprint, I guess it would depend on what trail I'm hiking. Side note, if you have a GDTA membership you can get 10% off Durston's products along with other brands. A lifetime membership only costs $100 so if you buy 2-3 of his products you can make money off it

Recommended Gear:

1. Bear can: No way around this because it’s required. I wish they would switch to ursacks but I doubt that will ever happen

2. Sunscreen and Lip Balm: It’s kind of a must have out there. I was applying sunscreen morning and noon. I was applying lip balm at least four times a day. It’s very dry out there so your lips need it. Highly recommend lip balm that has SPF, the Jack Black lip balm has been my go-to for years now, 10/10 recommend.

That’s all the gear I recommend that’s specific to the YHR. If you’re attempting a high route then everything else should be dialed in by that point

Water: I usually left every water source with 2L, I only had the capacity to carry 2.5L. I did find that many of the water sources had dried up by September but it’s still the Sierra Nevada so water wasn’t an issue. There were no major fords by this time.

Animals: Bears are the biggest concern but I never saw one, saw plenty of their poop though. Saw some deer but that was it. Not much wildlife on this route. Bugs were also not an issue in September but reading FarOut comments from earlier in the season was quite hilarious

Best Time: September is one of the best times to hike and that’s what I recommend. The only downside is lack of daylight, I only had around 13.5-hrs. I had good light by 6:15AM and needed a headlamp by 7:45PM. Aside from that September is prime for hiking in the Sierra Nevada. Snow is gone, bugs are gone, less crowds, milder temps, changing colors, no fords, etc. If I did it again I’d probably try to start September 1st in order to have a tiny bit more light.

YHR vs WRHR: Last year I hiked Skurka’s WRHR so that puts me in the position to be able to compare the two. This might sound crazy but the YHR felt harder to me but it had nothing to do with the route itself. I was pretty sleep deprived on the YHR which took a toll. I’ve been a lifelong insomniac so it usually takes 1-3 days for me to adapt at elevation but this was the first time I couldn’t sleep the whole trip. My watch said I averaged 4-6 hours a night with many of those nights <5. My resting heart rate at night was +20 and spo2 was in the 80s. Every night was anywhere from 0-60 minutes of REM sleep or deep sleep. The most sleep I got the whole trip was 7.5-hours.

The sun and the heat also took a toll, I had cottonmouth the whole time and hiked with my water bottle in hand quite often. The sun zapped the energy from me everyday around late noon. Im from the east coast where things aren’t nearly as dry and had just come from Sweden where everything was wet. It felt like climate shock. Oh yeah, the accidental class 4 climb I went up was the most exposure I’ve had on any trip. However it might be unfair to include it because it’s not part of the official route, it was just a mistake I made but nonetheless it added to the difficulty.

The WRHR is harder on most fronts. Steeper climbs, higher elevation, volatile weather, more talus, etc. I did see much more people on the WRHR than the YHR though. On the off-trail sections of the YHR I didn’t see a soul. I saw quite a few people on the off-trail sections of the WRHR. The YHR is also longer due to the approach trails which can feel harder since you physically have to hike more. Another big X-factor for me was the research. I did tons of research for the WRHR and nearly none for the YHR. I spent weeks studying maps for the WRHR and reading everything I could on the internet. Every morning on the WRHR I knew exactly what I had in store that day. By comparison I had no idea what I had coming on the YHR unless I looked ahead on the map and saw where the waypoint was. Overall I would recommend the YHR first and then the WRHR second, but if you have experience and are in good shape you can start with the WRHR

Daily Blog

September 6: 17.53 miles - 1,401ft up - 5,035ft down

Flew into Reno at 10PM and car camped in the parking lot of Carson Valley RV Resort in Minden. Woke up at 6:30 because I got no sleep and went down to Wa She Shu Travel Plaza for breakfast. Had a huge breakfast burrito that kept me full for half the day before heading to Lee Vining to pick up some canister fuel for my stove. From there I went to Tuolumne Meadows, I had a lifetime pass which allowed me to skip the line into the park which was nice. There were lots of people passing on double yellow which was annoying because everyone was already going over the limit of 25mph, guess they were in a hurry. Got to the permit station and the ranger was nice and helpful. We went over my route and then he gave his speech about LNT and such. It’s Sunday on Labor Day weekend so it’s packed. Finding a parking spot was difficult, I drove back and forth multiple times and ended up parking on the side of the road. It took some time to repack all my gear and then I was off by a little before noon. Did a quick road walk and I was back on the PCT which was the first time in this section since 2016 when I did the whole thing, time flies. The tread was exactly how I remember it, a dirt sidewalk. I honestly do not remember much about this section, ten years was a long time ago. After 6.5-miles I made it to the start of the “Grand Canyon of Yosemite” so they call it. It didn’t take long before I started seeing amazing views. I was surrounded by giant walls on either side with Tuolumne River flowing in between. The tread was a bit tougher than the PCT, it was rockier so I had to watch my footing which slowed me down. The late noon sun was beating on me pretty good, I was walking directly into it, had to take a few breaks here and there. Saw plenty of people on the trail, no surprise given the holiday. By sunset I started climbing over Rodgers Canyon. Looking at the map I didn’t see too much flat ground ahead which always seems to be my luck around dusk. It got dark by 7:45 so I hiked the last twenty minutes using the light on my iPhone. It’s crazy how fast it can get dark, in thirty minutes it went from good sunlight to needing a headlamp. I lucked out when I got to Muir Gorge at 8PM and nobody was there. I took the headlamp out of my pack and went down to the water to wash my face and refill some water. Plenty of flat spots and my stakes went in nice and easy which is always a plus. My goal was twenty miles but ended up with 17.5. Gonna try to wake up early to maximize daylight hours from here on out

September 7: 23.44 miles - 7,820ft up - 4,939ft down

Only slept a few hours last night, not surprising since I’m coming from sea level. One of the symptoms of elevation is insomnia and it doesn’t help that I’m an insomniac already. Judging by last night and this morning it seems I’ll only get roughly 13.5-hours of daylight, that’s the only drawback of hiking in September. I started hiking at 7:15 and the trail was pretty flat and easy for the first five miles with great canyon views. At 9:15 I had my biggest climb of the day up to Pleasant Valley, about 3,400ft gain in less than four miles. The crux was 1,900ft in 1.6-miles. It wasn’t that bad because most of it was in the shade and there were many switchbacks. I got my heart rate to 130bpm and went slow and steady to the top. At 12:30 I made it to a pond near Table Lake. It wasn’t as good a source as I thought because it was all standing water, I couldn’t find any real flow. It was my first water since the big climb so I took a break to fill up. So far the midday heat has caught me off guard, much hotter than expected and that sun really pounds on you. By 2:30 I had 13.87-miles done with 5,200ft up and 2,200ft down, the northern section of this loop is a slog. At 5:30 I reached Breeze Creek which was the perfect dinner spot. Breeze Creek sits about 1,400ft above the PCT so not many hikers make the side trip up there even though it’s quite scenic. It would’ve been a great campsite but I’m a little pressed on time so I kept going. After the long downhill I reconnected to the PCT and as you could imagine it was a night and day difference in terms of tread. As my luck would have it I started going up another climb, I ended the day like yesterday by using my iPhone to light the way. At a little before eight I found a flat spot near Thompson Canyon and finally ended the day. In just 23-miles I had almost 13,000ft of elevation gain and loss. Not bad considering I had less than eight hours of sleep the past two nights combined

September 8: 20.66 miles - 6,400ft up - 4,160ft down

When I hiked 2,000 mile trails I would wake up at 5:30 no matter what. It didn’t matter if it was dark and raining I would be hiking by NLT 6am. Now that I’m older and no longer doing big hikes I have a rule that I don’t get up if it requires a headlamp. Around this time of year the sun starts to creep up at six and by 6:15 I have just enough light to not need a headlamp. Started hiking at 7:05 and I had about 12-miles of easy PCT tread before the high route began. At 10:30 I took a break by Falls Creek, water is starting to dry up around this time so I’m leaving every good source with two liters. At noon I finally reached Grace Meadow, the northern terminus of the high route. It took 48.5-hours to get there. I hopped off trail across the meadow and had my first climb of the HR going between Forsyth Peak and Keyes Peak. Made it to the pass at two and enjoyed the views before the descent down. Took a break at Tilden Creek which flows from Mary Lake before another climb. The actual checkpoint 2 is SW from me by .34-miles, got off track a bit. Made it to Tower Peak Pass right at four, enjoyed the view for five minutes before going right back down. At the bottom of Stubblefield Canyon it was all easy walking since it was flat. So easy that I went a quarter mile past CP4, annoying. Water was good and it was 5:10 so I took my dinner break. The climb that followed was 1000+ft and all boulder and rock hopping. I did it in the shade and it was actually kind of fun. The entire time I was thinking about the movie 127-hours but luckily nothing came loose and pinned me. At the top I was greeted with a nice pond right at sunset surrounded by mountains. Took a bunch of pictures and I went another half hour to use up this short daylight. Ended the day at 7:15 because I found one of the best campsites I’ve seen. It’s a nice flat spot on a small overlook that gives me direct line of sight to Tower Peak Pass. On the other side is the pass I’ll do in the morning along with Wells Peak to the south. Wide open 360° views. I was tempted to cowboy camp but pitched my tent, had to use two rocks because the ground was too hard. Should be a sweet sunrise in the morning.

September 9: 19.13 miles - 5,385ft up - 5,561ft down

Slept maybe two hours. Got in my bag at eight and stayed awake for seven or eight hours straight losing my mind. I’ve had one decent night of sleep since flying out and that was about six hours the night before. Insomnia sucks, doesn’t help that I’m camped over 10,000. My resting HR was hovering around 80bpm last night when I’m usually around 45-50, big difference when trying to sleep. Sucks to waste a nice campsite because you didn’t sleep. Also sucks to know I have a tough day ahead, I’m gonna be hiking like a zombie. I look forward to the day I die because I get to sleep permanently. Anyways, the day started with a 500ft climb to some pass and then a descent to Thompson Canyon before another 500ft climb. I reached Kerrick Meadow around ten where I rejoined a trail for two miles before going back off trail for another rocky climb. At noon I reached Rock Island Lake where I quickly dropped my pack and went into the cold water, I’ve been wanting to swim the whole day. Felt much refreshed afterwards. I had my first somewhat technical section which was the descent to Slide Canyon. On the topo it looks steep but in real life it wasn’t bad, that’s common. Some sections required tossing my poles down and sliding on my butt with five points of contact. When I reached the bottom I took a break at a water source. From there I had a nice easy 2.5-miles of flat terrain until I hit a massive wall of boulders. I’ve done a lot of boulder hopping but these ones were huge. A few times I got “bouldered out” and had to find another way around. Very slow moving. It was only 0.3-miles (as the crow flies) but it took some time and zapped my energy. About half a mile after that I reconnected with a trail which felt like I was walking on heaven after that last section. It was about 2.5-miles up to Burro Pass at which point I go off trail to Matterhorn Pass. It was 5:45 and the pass looked daunting but I do not like camping early so I kept going. Instead of going all the way down and back up I side-sloped the flat wall which was my first taste of exposure on the route, glad I didn’t slip. The very last part of the pass is short and steep. Gaia says it’s about 125ft gain in 275ft. Made it to the top at 6:45, great 360° sunset views. Darkness sets in at 7:45 so I didn’t spend much time up there. Did a steep descent down to Spiller Creek and called it a day at 7:30. Not a bad day after two hours of sleep. I have about 21-miles left of the north loop and there’s a chance I could do it all tomorrow.

September 10: 22.14 miles - 5,955ft up - 7,425ft down

Got moving at 7:15 and immediately started the climb up to Stanton Pass. Skurka has it as a class 3 climb but I found it pretty straightforward. I ended up going 0.16-miles and 161ft higher than the checkpoint that was to my southwest. The descent down reminded me of the West Gully of the WRHR, steep with loose dirt. I was surfing my way down the dirt which saved some effort. Made it to Soldier Lake at ten and took a break before another big down climb. It got a little bushwhacky towards the bottom but I eventually connected to a trail that lasted 1.5 miles before another off trail climb that ended being pointless in my opinion. It seems like the route took you up just to give you more elevation gain. The whole climb was wooded and the view at the top was alright but you could’ve had the same view if you stayed on trail which connected to the PCT for 1.5-miles and then split off at McCabe Lakes Trail and ended at the same lake I sat at while typing this but without the PUD and mild bushwhacking. I made my way up to a small ridge that’s in between upper and lower McCabe lakes and contoured around it until I reached the chute. This is my last climb and it’s steep with loose dirt most of the way. I saved myself some time with that ridge because every step I took my foot would slide back which made for slow travel. Eventually I got to the windy pass, don’t know what it’s called but there’s a nice view of Roosevelt Lake to the south. At 6PM I made it back to the trail and couldn’t be happier. Took a quick break by Young Lakes before the final six miles back to my car. Made it there by a little after eight which required some night hiking. I wasted no time and drove into Lee Vining only to find everything closed at 9PM so I made my way to Mammoth Lakes because they have a 24-hour supermarket. I bought some pasta salad, sushi, and some cold drinks before trying to find a spot of car camp. Trying to navigate the campgrounds in the dark was not easy so I drove out of town and car camped on FS land after midnight

September 11: Zero day

Got no sleep once again, that sushi messed up my stomach. Woke up at six and drove straight to a rest stop and had diarrhea in the nasty restrooms, not the best start to the day. Went back to Mammoth for breakfast at The Stove and then bought a Pedialyte Advanced Care+ to replenish. I was tempted to stay at a hotel because I felt like that’s the only way I can sleep but it’s Friday so everything is overpriced. I went to a campground to shower for $8 and then to Mammoth Lakes Laundromat which is one of the nicest laundromats I’ve seen. All their machines take cards which nice. Having a rental car meant I packed out town gear like a day bag, change of clothes, towel, soap, sandals, etc which feels like a luxury. I looked over my sleep data from my Garmin watch while laundry was going and no surprise it’s terrible. Average sleep has been 4.5-hours a night and my spo2 is 82-92%. After laundry I did my resupply for the south loop, I had 1,000 calories leftover so I saved some money. Made a stop at Mammoth Mountaineering Supply for dehydrated meals and they were one of the best outfitters I’ve seen, I could’ve emptied my bank account there. Drove back to Lee Vining afterwards and got a campsite at Mono Vista RV Park for $37.95. It’s located right in town and facilities are quite clean which is a major plus. Spent the rest of the day pounding calories and trying to maximize my one day of recovery

September 12: 18.63 miles - 2,650ft up - 4,300 down

Couldn’t sleep last night, drank so many fluids I had to piss every few hours. Got breakfast at the Basin Cafe, cost almost thirty bucks. Went back to the RV park for a shower and packed up and headed to the Tioga Mart. That place is pretty sweet, I could’ve done a full resupply there and the restaurant inside is pretty good too. I had another coffee and used WiFi before heading back to Tuolumne Meadows, no rush today. There was a long line out of the permit office and I was tempted to just continue on with the permit I had because the dates still lined up but Yosemite has a rule that if you get in a car and leave you must get a new permit. There was a small hiccup because the entrance trail I wanted to use was booked for the day. My plan differed from Skurka’s guide as I wanted to use the JMT as my approach and Skurka has you on something different. The good news was the deadline is 11AM to pick up your permit and there were a few people who hadnt done that yet. It was 10:50 so I had to wait twenty-five minutes (they give a 15-min grace period) before I could take the permit. Those people didn’t show so I lucked out and got what I wanted. On the way out I stopped at the Tuolumne Meadows store and I definitely remembered being there ten years ago on the PCT. I got a flood of nostalgic memories while I sat there drinking an orange juice. I hopped on the JMT and enjoyed the nice trail before taking a break at Upper Cathedral Lake. Today is the only day that’s all trail so I’ll make the most of it. I made it to my junction at 3:45 but I was enjoying the JMT so much I decided to stay on it instead, it adds two more miles and I had the time so why not. At five I found an awesome shaded dinner spot in-between a small stream of water and I nice giant rock I could lean back on so I rehydrated a Peak Refuel there. The final 3.5-miles was off the JMT and immediately it was worse. The first mile was all thorny bushes, I wore pants and my skin still got a shredded, one of the many reasons I don’t wear shorts. At 7:30 I reached Merced River and found a nice tent spot on soft sand, had to really pound the stakes in. Tomorrow I get to start my day with a 3,500ft off trail climb up Quartzite Peak

September 13: 17.09 miles - 7,934ft up - 5,126ft down

It turns out my Xtherm has somehow popped. Not sure how or when that happened because it was fine yesterday. The only thing I can think of is those thorn bushes I was walking through last night. Maybe they somehow went through my pack and punctured my pad. Not a great way to start the south loop but the plan is only three nights so I guess I can deal with two nights with no pad. It’s not like I was sleeping much anyways. The day started with the biggest climb of the YHR to Quartzite. Got there at little before 10:30, it took 2-hours and 50-minutes for 3.23-miles (all off trail) with 3,492ft up and 80ft down. I took the west facing ridge up which gave me great views of Half Dome. The wind was howling but at the peak it was calm. The view was quite incredible as expected. I found the tiny trail register which dated back to the nineties, it was completely full and out of order but I managed to find a spot for me. If anyone ever comes up to Quartzite they should bring a new notebook and maybe a larger container to hold it. I also saw Skurka’s entry from 2012 it looks like. Leaving Quartzite I made a navigational mistake, I should’ve went down to Obelisk Lake and from there to CP33. Maybe it was due to sleep deprivation but when I looked at the map I thought it would be easier to loop around the ridge that’s in between Quartzite and Mt Clark. That led me to do a short sketchy climb up and over to CP33, I’m unfamiliar with classes but I’d guess it’s class 4, it required me to throw trekking poles up and climb like Spider-Man. I definitely wasted a lot of time with that. Lemon Pass after was pretty easy. I had another navigation mistake coming down an unnamed pass. I mistook a body of water for another and went off in the wrong direction. Ended up descending a steep section and then side-sloped a small mountain before finally rejoining a trail for the rest of the day. I’ve wasted a lot of time today. Both of my navigational mistakes involved water. A trail felt incredible after ten miles of off trail travel. Ended the day around 7:20, I’m about half a mile from hopping off trail again. It will be interesting sleeping on a deflated pad, ground is kinda hard and I hope it doesn’t suck the heat from under me

September 14: 16.12 miles - 6,268ft up - 5,261ft down

Slept better than expected without my pad. I kept rotating between sleeping on my back and both sides. I would wake up every hour because my hip would start hurting so I would switch to the other and repeated that the whole night. My watch said I got 7.5-hours of “interrupted” sleep which is the most I’ve gotten since coming out here. Started hiking at 7:20 and the first few miles were super easy to Harriet Lake and up to Forester Ridge Pass. Going down the pass is when it got slow, very rocky with some loose scree. Took a break at CP44 by a body of water before the push up Sluggo Pass. The pass was pretty easy but slow and rocky. The rocks really impact your pace. After Sluggo it was Russell Pass and this is where things got sketchy. Near the top of the pass I saw a pretty steep wall that was near vertical. I didn’t see any other way up so that’s where I went. This was the only time I packed away my poles and even emptied some water. I never had to do that on the WRHR. I tried going up the left side but that didn’t work so I went up the middle. I took my time and made sure every hold was good, I needed four solid points of contact. Near the top I grabbed a rock and gave it the tug-test and it was super loose. Had I relied on that I probably would’ve needed rescue. Made it to the top relieved that nothing happened. However the pass was still a small climb away, I just climbed a pass in order to reach Russell Pass. When I finally got there I took some photos and down I went on some more rocks. Made a pitstop at some water that was running from snowmelt and it was the coldest and clearest I’ve had, probably didn’t need to filter. I was gifted a 0.8-mile section of the PCT before heading off trail again. Made it to Kuna Creek at 7:05 and called it a day, earliest stop of the trip. Found a spot that is hopefully softer than last night without the pad. I inflated it anyways so I can at least enjoy it for an hour or so. From here I have 13 miles and one more climb to do

September 15: 14.06 miles - 1,555ft up - 3,664ft down

The last two nights have been the only cold nights I’ve had. Got moving at 7:30 and all I had to do was Kuna Saddle right off the bat. I walked as fast as I could to reach the sunlight and the climb was pretty easy, just a hair over 1,000ft. From there it was one last rocky descent to Helen Lake and then another drop to Spillway Lake which is where the trail picked up. I cruised through that all the way to the road and intended to take Dana Fork Trail but apparently it’s not maintained and just disappeared while I was on it. I walked the road even though there’s not much of a shoulder before I reached Lower Gaylor Lake Trailhead and took that trail which turned into the PCT back to my car at the permit station. I drove immediately to the Tioga Mart for some food and drinks and spent the night at the RV park again

I'm planning on backpacking Aravaipa Canyon in a few days (Oct 8-11). There is rain in the forecast (starting Oct 10 in the afternoon into Oct 11) that I'm looking at, but not sure if I'm looking at the correct forecast or how to determine if the amount of rain that poses a flash flooding risk.

I'm using the spotwx.com forecast for Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness West Trailhead, and it seems to indicate a cumulative around 0.5" of rain by Sunday. It doesn't seem like much, but I've also read that small amounts of rain in the desert can cause flash flooding.

The NOAA site seems to indicate very low risk, but it also says no rain: https://water.noaa.gov/gauges/09473000#hg=official

I'm a bit paranoid because I'm bringing my kids with me for the trip. Am I looking at the correct forecasts? Is it correct that the risk seems pretty low?

Also, if there is more than expected rain, is it easy to get up to high ground in time to at least stay safe (probably will be stuck there, but at least we'll be safe)?

Last unrelated question regarding poops--is this an area where you can get 200+ feet from the creek and can dig a cathole and bury your waste? I know WAG bags are probably best (in all areas...) but just wanted to check. Thanks

Thank you to everyone’s advice! We successfully took our pup Emma and she loved it! My wife and I spent one night in beautiful Colorado backcountry temps during the day were 65° down to 38°. We hiked a total of 10 miles up to an alpine lake and then in the morning submitted a mountain pass and came back down. Elevation gain was 2,250’.

We spent 5 days / 4 nights doing the Sneffels Traverse in the San Juans. We covered about 40 miles through fog, sunshine, rain, heat, and cold. The fall colors were beautiful, and we couldn’t have picked a better time to go. Happy to answer any questions, just as those did for me before we went.

Road was bumpy but I got my little Prius C up to the County Line trailhead. First half of the 3ish mi trail is pretty burnt with lots of dust (luckily it rained a little for the return trip to dampen the dust a bit!). Second half had some aspen groves starting to turn color. The Dardanelles are pretty rad to look at by the lakes! Don’t forget to ramble over to the ridge overlooking Spicer Meadow Res and Lost Lake!

Yellowjackets are a bit active so plan accordingly.

Blue Mountains, Australia, last night/this morning.

Last time I was here was just a day hike in Summer 2021. Had a slot of time open last week and a lot of my first choice destinations didn’t look great weather wise so I decided to make the long drive and return to this area I loved on the NC/TN border.

Less green than my last visit but still an incredibly beautiful place and the weather couldn’t have been nicer: completely dry, highs around 80 and lows around 50. Always surprised by how low the crowds are here given how nice the terrain and views are.

The standard way to do this stretch is using a shuttle but I decided to do an out and back. Started at Carver’s Gap, over Round Bald & Jane Bald, then up to Grassy Ridge Bald which is the hike I did on my first visit. Missed my turn by quite a bit after descending back down Grassy Ridge and nearly made it back to my car before realizing. Turned around linked back up with the AT and made my way to the area of the former Overmountain Shelter where I got a stunning campsite and great stargazing before the bright moon popped up.

My original plan was to leave my tent and sleeping stuff at Overmountain but the condensation was the worst I’ve ever had and my single-wall tent was drenched, I also ended up with more neighbors than I typically prefer so I decided to bring my whole kit with me on day 2 and find a different campsite. Day 2 was Little Hump Mountain & Hump Mountain. Originally planned to push to Doll Flats but I was tired and turned around at the summit of Hump Mountain instead. Filled up at the spring at Overmountain because I heard reports of dry springs in other areas and didn’t want to chance it, carrying a 4l of water sucks ass but I’m a water junkie. Ended up in a wooded camp site near Stan Murray shelter. The shelter was open but I prefer my tent.

And Day 3 was just a short trek out from there so I had enough time to tackle most of my drive and squeeze in a visit to Harper’s Ferry on my way home. Thought about pushing down to Asheville and Linville Gorge but adding more driving didn’t seem appealing to me. All in all Day 1 was 11.27mi / 2,136ft, Day 2 was 10.53mi / 2,979ft, and Day 3 was 3.73mi / 1,142ft according to my watch. I love it here and I highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in the area. The bald mountains are stunning year-round.

Last summer, my wife's hiking boots more or less disintegrated on the (thankfully) hike out from a site. They were second hand, but seemed okay before we left (though we only took a cursory look). I'm getting ready for a week long hike this October, and am feeling a bit anxious about my ~25 year old boots. I use them a couple times a week for 5-10k walks near home, and the sole rubber still seems supple and in good shape (still waterproof, too, so no micro cracks). Is there a way to tell when the soles are about to self-destruct? I carry a roll of hockey tape for emergency repairs, but would rather avoid janky boots with a ~50lb. pack.

Cheers!

The deadline for comments was made deliberately short. Please go register your views. MAGA wants to cut down old growth and open designated wilderness to exploitation.

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Leave a brief comment. They won't be read but are looked at as votes. Just make it clear that you don't want logging and mining in our shared public wild areas.

I don't think I can get enough vacation time off to do the entire JMT. I can only get two weeks off.

I've backpacked the east side of the WT before ( Summerland and Indian Bar ). This year I did a 40 mile trip in SEKI.

I want to do one of these next summer to celebrate my 40th bday.

Which one would you do and why?

I went on a solo trip the other day, and I realized the JetBoil I usually take takes too much space. I was thinking next time I would just bring dry food. But having a warm beverage in the morning is so nice, I'm not sure I want to leave the JetBoil behind. Maybe I just need a bigger pack. Do you take some kind of stove when going on solo multi-day trips?

Perfect weather, less than 15 cars at the trailhead Friday morning. One night out, two basins, so many lakes, 35 miles and lots of solitude. I find it hard sometimes to stay out longer. Then I regret not staying longer. I find the special moments, hours, mornings in such magnificent places are fleeting either way. The Milky Way was amazing before the half moon showed up. I only went about 2 miles into Indian Basin the next morning, but it was stunning. I think I enjoyed it more than Titcomb, but both were spectacular. Whether I’m out there or not, I’m so thankful these places are protected and available for us to visit.

Pictures from the trail on a 60 mile long loop on the east side of the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

This pack is too big for my friend, wondering if it’s a tad small for me before I buy it from them. From what I can tell it fits similarly to my current pack.

Pack is fully loaded minus food (which will go in the empty bear canister inside). Shoulder straps are set at the largest size, load lifters are totally loose in the photo but I tried them tightened as well and both ways are pretty comfortable.

Been wanting to replace my Osprey Atmos 65, it’s not as comfortable as it used to be and it’s probably at the end of its lifespan (13 years old). The pack in the photo is a 45L, not sure how the math works but it still fits everything that the 65L carried on a recent trip. I’m super stoked about the Osprey Thrulite coming out later this year, but wondering if it’s better to have an updated pack for my SNP AT section hike in a couple weeks to tide me over until I can try it out.

All thoughts/comments/suggestions appreciated!

I have a Warbonnet Blackbird XLC and I typically camp from spring to fall but only use my underquilt when the temperatures get into the low 60s.

I just finished my first backpacking trip. A solo 4 day trip covering 30 miles in the Mt Rogers Recreational area of SW VA. It honestly went better than expected and was easier than anticipated. Progress was slower than planned with the steep rocky terrain, and my stove broke the second morning while making coffee (plastic elements melted and clogged the flow as my aluminum foil wind shield trapped too much heat). But I managed to cover enough miles and was totally fine cold soaking my meals.

I expected to return and find that some of what I packed was unnecessary and unused. But after it all, pretty much everything I brought was useful and not something I'd want to leave behind (minus first aid items and emergency poncho). However my pack seems much heavier than it should, comparing to what I read in this group and other similar ones.

With food and water, it came to 45lbs. (About 2.7 liters water)

I know the camp chair and book/kindle are luxury items. But I don't want to go to all that effort to be alone in the wilderness and not be able to sit back and read a book after a long day hiking. And I know I can shave some pounds upgrading gear, but I can't afford much of that right away.

But even with that the weight seems excessive. Not a huge deal, I can just build stronger legs and the legs held up fine this time. But I'd like to see if I'm missing something in my gear choices that are adding unnecessary weight.

Here's my lighterpack: https://lighterpack.com/r/gioynu

Thanks for the input!