I've secured permits leaving North Lake on July 4th. Packs on at 8am! Hopefully..

I'm going to try to be somewhat acclimatized because we're heading up and over the crest that day. What's the deal with the North Lake campground? First come, first served? Should we reserve a site at Four Jefferys?

James, Dave, Adan, Craig and Casey, you all are invited. That makes six of us. To everyone else that was interested: sorry!

It'd be best if we don't have to pick up our permit on the morning of the 4th. Does the White Mountain Ranger Station have an after hours permit box? James, Adan and Craig, your names are also on the permit. Will any of you arrive early enough on the 3rd to pick it up?

Carpooling... I'd LOVE to ride with someone and I'm happy to meet part way. James? Want to meet in Manteca on Tuesday night? Anyone else?

Jack,

The North Lake Campgrounds are first come, first serve and would be a great option. I don't know about the Four Jeffrys campground, other than what I saw on the web.

However, since you planned the trip to start with a full moon, we could start the hike late Tuesday night and camp here:


The plateau at the top of the use trail on the way to Lamarck Col.

I'll be driving out with Craig, we havent yet discussed the details but we'll shoot for taking care of the permit. The only issue would be if work/family issues prevented us from leaving that early.

I didn't know it was going to be a full moon! I suspect that I'll just want to crash at the trailhead after the long drive.. Do you want to carpool Casey?

Adan, it'd be great if you guys could pick up the permit! How far is the drive for you?

Lone Pine is about 3.5 hours, Bishop is a little less than 5 from my house. Where would the permit be picked up?

Permit pickup is at the White Mountain Ranger Station in the middle of Bishop. I suspect that they have after hours pickup, but I haven't confirmed that yet.

Mantica sounds good to me. Perfectly situated for a fortifying in-n-out.

Adan, cool to see you again, Casey, Dave and Craig looking forward to meeting you guys.

105 days

Edited by James_W on 03/21/2012 00:48:20 MDT.

No idea where we'd park a car for that long in Manteca though.. I've left mine on city streets for the weekend.. but...

I'll try to call the ranger station tomorrow about pick up times/after hours. Let me know if you get any info before I do.

I'm on summer vacation on the 3rd so I could pretty much get up there whatever time I want, depending on when Adan can leave. So I think getting the permit is no problem.

By summertime, the White Mountain Ranger Station in Bishop is fully involved with the summer schedule and procedures. However, right now I would guess that they are still in winter mode, so they may not be thinking ahead far enough about details.

Whatever they tell you now may get changed as a result of federal staffing cutbacks.

--B.G.--

I called today at 4:45 and they had closed due to winter hours at 4:30.

hey all.

i'm liking the sound of this. i imagine us folks from the bay area/valley should carpool over. i've always wanted to go in over Taboose, but Baxter is an option too; plenty of time to come up with lots of cross-country granite wandering.

sounds good!

Just called White Mountain; they said the permit can be picked up at any of the 4 Inyo stations before 5PM.
If I can get away before 2PM, I'm thinking that stopping in Lone Pine before 5 would work on July 3rd.

After-hours pickup is OK as long as nobody is entering Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

Dave, we're going over Lamarck Col and into Ionian Basin (and perhaps elsewhere). Climbing peaks, doing some cross country passes. Are you still interested?

Craig, thanks for calling them! I'm all for carpooling.

Who's driving from the bay? Can I park and ride?

It'd be great if you can reach Lone Pine by 5pm. Since we're entering SEKI, we'll have to pick up the permit on the 4th otherwise. Not a huge deal..

Who's carrying the watermelon?

Looks like I'm too late to join the party. Sounds like an awesome trip and one I've had in mind. I'll be looking forward to a good trip report!

Ryan

"Dave, we're going over Lamarck Col and into Ionian Basin (and perhaps elsewhere). Climbing peaks, doing some cross country passes. Are you still interested?"

I'm down for that. Never been over Larmarck and into Ionian. I'd be up for peak bagging as long as it's Class 2 - easy 3 kinda stuff. More off-trail the better for me.

And I'd be looking to carpool with the NorCal crew.

Edited by DaveT on 03/26/2012 19:57:28 MDT.

If you guys from the Bay need a place to park I have a space for you in north Modesto right off CA99. It would be no more than a few minutes detour to get back on CA108/120. If it's only one car, I'll let someone park in my designated carport parking space at the apartment complex I live at.

I am not sure I will be able to watch you all takeoff for the trailhead because I will be tearing my heart out with jealousy. It looks like a great group and plan.

Too bad, since if you went I'd have someone to talk electronic music with!

That would have been great. We will have to do a trip this summer.

Jack,

Giving the maps a good once over. One obvious route from Darwin to Ionian would be through McGhee Lakes, over the ridge to Davis Lake, down to Martha Lake, back up into Ionian that way. Seeing lots of good beta out there for this. Seems like a good off track route with plenty of potentential peaks to tag if so inclined. I'll look for other route possibilities to make this a loop back to South Lake or North Lake.

Or Do you already have an idea of where we're going on this one?