I'll be rolling through Washington, Oregon, and the Sierra east side in late June, and am looking for a fun and challenging overnight hike. Something in the 80-90 mile range. It seems that both the Wonderland and JMT are a no-go due to snowpack, so I need some local knowledge.

For reference, I've done the Royal Arch Route (in the GC) in a day and a half, and run/hiked 100k ultras. This is for fun, training, and building my resume for the Hardrock in '09.

Thanks.

seems like given the lack of snow in norcal in february and march, the jmt in june could be doable. all the PCT thru-hikers will be on it then. but if you are looking for snow FREE trail, it won't fit the bill.

Edited by DaveT on 04/02/2008 11:41:55 MDT.

Snow free I don't care about, just doable (ideally without crampons). The southernmost ~100 miles of the JMT would be excellent. Good thoughts.

i cant remember the mileage-- i think its in the 60 to 70 mile range.

you can add to that by summitting one of the sisters from either the west or east side. probably will need cramp ons and ice axe though at that time of year.

it is amazing though. my suggestion is start over past mt. bachelor and go the east side first then finish on the west side.

thats an oregon trip that pops into mind.

Three Sisters loop is 50-55 miles depending on how you access it. The loop doesn't start at a trailhead parking lot so you'll have an out-and-back "tail" on the loop of varying length. One popular approach from Frog Camp on Hwy 242 requires a limited use permit, but there are several other approaches that don't require this permit. You can add mileage to this loop by summiting South Sister, a non-technical ascent of about 4500 feet in 5 miles, and by exploring the Chambers Lake basin.

However, there is likely to be lots of snow left up there in late June this year. Irish-Taylor Lakes just south of the loop has 130% of normal snow accumulation as of 4/1/08 and McKenzie Pass just to the north is 150% of normal. In a normal year I've encountered significant lingering snow on July 4. When the snow melts, bring DEET.

A potential partner and I are currently weighing the options. Doing the JMT from South Lake to Whitney is my favorite plan at the moment. Hopefully snow won't give us too much grief.

Minor improvement:
If you are dropping in over Bishop Pass, and heading south on the Muir Trail, avoid loosing 3,000' down to Le Conte AND improve your scenery by cutting cross-country over Palisade Basin directly to Palisade Lakes. Let me know if you need more help with this route.

By the way, good luck in the Hardrock lottery next year.

- k

Klas,

I'm looking at the Tom Harrison map pack for the complete JMT. You'd cut south across to Knapsack, and then sidehill the drainage down to Palisade Creek? Sounds interesting.

And thanks for the luck. I'll need it.

-d

i'm sure he means to head south from bishop pass to knapsack pass just south of columbine peak. past barrett lakes to potluck pass. pick your way down and past the lake to "cirque pass" to southeast. down to the jmt at west end of palisade lakes. and on your way. i'd highly recommend this way anyway, but especially vs. dropping down into the canyon and coming back up.

i've only done these passes while they were covered in snow, but they are all easy-ish. descending potluck you'll have to pick your way down, and descending below cirque you'll want to stay right (west) when you get further down... it gets sorta cliffy on the east side before you get down to palisade lake.

Edited by DaveT on 04/09/2008 16:40:21 MDT.

Dave,
If you're headed south from South Lake on the JMT in June, you should find out, if possible, about conditions on Forrester Pass. It's about 13,400', with a sheer drop off section on the south side which is often iced over in June. One work-around if that turns out to be the case is to traverse over toward Junction Peak(east), drop down the snow slope there, and then traverse back to pick up the trail again. Still, it's good to know what you're getting into.

If there isn't a lot of snow, the cross-country route from Bishop pass to Palisade Lakes will require that you make ample use of your hands. There are lots of boulders to scramble up and around. I think it'd be significantly slower-going and more energy intensive than dropping the 3000' into LeConte Canyon along the trail, and coming back up. Certainly doable, but slow. Different sort of trip than doing high mileage on the JMT.

Edited by Hiker816 on 04/09/2008 17:04:34 MDT.

Yes Dave T, thanks for adding the map.
Yes Dave C, you will need it.
Check out my photos from Hardrock '06...

- k

Thanks everyone for your ideas. My partner and I are both experienced climbers, so scrambling and easy snow aren't real concerns. Obviously, we'll have light packs.

We'll keep up on local conditions to make sure we have the right gear, but it's good to know as much as possible in advance.