Backpacking

[bluegoose]

Just found out that I will get to go backpacking for 5 days in some of my favorite parts fo the Sierra in the middle of august. So excited. Time to pick up a new backpack - any suggestions from people here?

Also the big question right now is how I am going to get to where my friends are starting. They are starting the hike from Roads End in Kings Canyon National Park. This is exactly 30.4 miles from my house as the crow flies. Unfortunately there are big ol mountains in the way and would take 6 1/2 hours to drive there. If I drive 45 minutes south of my house I can get on a trail and start hiking and only 20 miles of trail would separate me from their start. So I am seriously considering going in the night before, and getting some miles in after work and then doing the rest in the morning and meeting them for the afternoon start that they were planning on. The trail would be 4 miles of uphill, then 16 of downhill. Seems doable, but the only issue is that at the end of the trip, I would need to repeat that 20 miles to get back home and then it would be mostly uphill, but of course I would have a weeks worth of hiking in my system and should be able to knock that out. That also would mean taking an extra day off work, but who cares about work?

It has been 4 years I think since my last trip. I have been needing this. Plus a chance to see Tehipite Valley again is too hard to pass up.

I was going to suggest that you instead drive the 7 hours up here to join steel blue and I and another buddy of ours for our second annual trek into the heart of the trinity alps. Weekend of aug 16th. Grizzly lake. Should be awesome.

However, after I considered that last suggestion I googled Tehipite valley to see what it looked like. Wow. It looks incredible. I may bag my own trip and come crash yours. I've never explored the southern Sierra. Didn't realize what I was missing.

[BigPiney]

I was going to suggest that you instead drive the 7 hours up here to join steel blue and I and another buddy of ours for our second annual trek into the heart of the trinity alps. Weekend of aug 16th. Grizzly lake. Should be awesome.

However, after I considered that last suggestion I googled Tehipite valley to see what it looked like. Wow. It looks incredible. I may bag my own trip and come crash yours. I've never explored the southern Sierra. Didn't realize what I was missing.

Thanks everyone for the Gregory suggestions. I'll head down to the local store and see if they have any. I know they carry lots of expensive stuff, so they may have those.

Tehipite is worth it. http://yosemitegazette.com/index.php...ves&Itemid=125

[venkman]

I have a Gregory as well, they are great packs. I know it's not sexy, but I'm back on the external frame boat. For carrying heavy loads on long hikes, you can't beat them. I bought a Jansport D2 and I love it. I'll use the Gregory for more rougher terrain trips, climbing, slot canyon type stuff, etc.

[BigPiney]

I have a Gregory as well, they are great packs. I know it's not sexy, but I'm back on the external frame boat. For carrying heavy loads on long hikes, you can't beat them. I bought a Jansport D2 and I love it. I'll use the Gregory for more rougher terrain trips, climbing, slot canyon type stuff, etc.

What I really want to do is go lighter. I finally this year bought a light sleeping bag, so I would really like to go in the 55 -65 range and carry less weight. So the Z55 is looking like a good choice. Though I am really tempted by this mountain hardware one they have discounted at 50% off at the local store. Less than 2 lbs for a pack seems dreamy.

[venkman]

What I really want to do is go lighter. I finally this year bought a light sleeping bag, so I would really like to go in the 55 -65 range and carry less weight. So the Z55 is looking like a good choice. Though I am really tempted by this mountain hardware one they have discounted at 50% off at the local store. Less than 2 lbs for a pack seems dreamy.

That's a nice looking pack. I guess it's preference. For me, the external frame carries any load, heavy or light, easier. If I'm on terrain where I don't need the load fused to my back, I'm going external.

[Art Vandelay]

What I really want to do is go lighter. I finally this year bought a light sleeping bag, so I would really like to go in the 55 -65 range and carry less weight. So the Z55 is looking like a good choice. Though I am really tempted by this mountain hardware one they have discounted at 50% off at the local store. Less than 2 lbs for a pack seems dreamy.

I don't have a Mountain Hardware pack, but I do have two of their tents and lots of their outerwear. They make fantastic gear.

[Paperback Writer]

This one's mine. It's massive, which is good becaue I end up playing sherpa for the rest of the family.

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___68610

That's my backpack as well. It's a little on the heavy side for backpacking but it's great when one has to fill the role of family sherpa. I've got a smaller/lighter backpack as well but have gone back to my Gergory Whitney. Did the same with my backpacking tent: went ultra light (and small) and then went back to a heavier/roomier model. In my view, carrying "extra" weight for a larger backpack and roomier tent has been worth it. But I also understand why many choose to go lighter.

[bluegoose]

My wife is out of town visiting family in Wyoming. Steelblue's wife was planning to leave town to visit family in Oregon. We have an outdoor youth conference next week and needed to scout out a hike that we hope to take the kids on. Conditions were perfect for a quick backpacking trip into the beautiful forest of Lassen Volcanic National Park.

By far the most popular hike in the park is directly up the big volcano, Mount Lassen. At 10,453 feet, Lassen is the highest peak in the park, but as it is an active volcano, with the most recent major eruption being in 1915, there is very little vegetation on the 2.5 mile hike to the top. Great views, but hardly a tree, plant or flower the entire way up.

2-3 miles to the south is the lesser known peak, Brokeoff Mountain. It stands at just a bit over 9,200 feet, and is actually a much harder hike, starting at 6,600 elevation, rather than the 8,500 feet trailhead for Lassen. The hike up Brokeoff is also longer, at about 3.8 miles. It is regarded by most of the regulars at the park as being the most scenic hike, as well as being the kept secret from casual visitors to the park.

We left right after work for the 80 minute drive up to the park. Considering the late start, we figured that we had at most an hour to make up some distance up the trail. The trail started with a steep incline before settling into a steady climb up the eastern slope of the mountain. We learned immediately why many people loved the trail so much, following a beautiful little creek, complete with a number of small waterfalls, peaceful pools, and wildflowers of all colors along by banks.


After exploring the terrain at the 1 mile point, we found a nice little hollow set a couple hundred yards off the trail. It was getting dark by this point, so we quickly set up our tents and started in on dinner. While we were rummaging through the forest, trying to tie our food up in a tree, we found that we were camped right next to peaceful little lake. Actually we were in the dry lake bed of the winter run-off from this lake, making for a nice soft place to bed down for the night.

Here's our camp and the nearby lake:




We got an early start up the trail in the morning, running into a number of very nice hikers on the trail. We also ran into a group of Sea Cadets (???) from Los Gatos in the Bay Area. They were accompanied by several adults who were dressed in long, black robes. We could only assume they were members of Slytherin, as they most certainly weren't from Griffindor.

The hike was absolutely incredible. From lush forests to towering vistas, we were greeted with some of the prettiest country that I've seen.

Lousy lighting, but cool spot right next to the trail.


Marshy meadow:


After we crossed the divide onto the western slopes. Apparently there is a little bit of wind on this side of the mountain.


Prior to the push to the summit, we found this little spur trail that took us to a little ridge off the main trail. Its hard to tell, but about 15 feet to Steelblue's right is a 1,000 foot vertical drop. It made me woozy just to look at it.



And finally, the view from the summit, looking north to Mt Lassen, with the yellow and orange mountain walls of the sulfur works area of the park just in front of the mountain.


So a good quick trip into the backcountry. A challenging hike, but with some incredible scenery to reward your efforts.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Looks like a great trip.

[Pelado]

At a leisurely pace, how long does it take each way?

[bluegoose]

At a leisurely pace, how long does it take each way?

We really took our time going up, stopping frequently to look around and take pictures. It took probably just over 2 hours from our campsite a mile up. There was a lady hiking near us most of the way that we yo-yoed in front of and behind due to our stops. She was 70 years old and was a really steady hiker and she took close to the same time.

Making very few stops coming down, we made good time, even after stopping to pick up our backpacks for the last mile. Took us just under 90 minutes from the summit to the trail head.

[ERCougar]

Beautiful, bluegoose. I need to make a trip to the Sierras.

Gregory makes a great internal frame pack, but even the best internal frame can't match the performance of an external frame costing half as much for 99% of backpackers (ie, the ones not planning on spending the night in a bivy on a wall or schlepping up Rainier).

Still, I'll fess up to using my internal frame, which I bought a long time ago, when coolness was much more important.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

[PaloAltoCougar]

Fine pics, bg. filsdepac and I did a 50+ mile Lassen-to-Lassen Scout Camp backpack trip in the 90s that was fun and very scenic.

[bluegoose]

Beautiful, bluegoose. I need to make a trip to the Sierras.

Yes, you do. The Sierras are amazing. But Lassen park is actually at the southernmost tip of the Cascade range. From the summit we could see some high peaks to the southeast that were probably up in the Tahoe-Donner area.

[venkman]

Beautiful, bluegoose. I need to make a trip to the Sierras.

Gregory makes a great internal frame pack, but even the best internal frame can't match the performance of an external frame costing half as much for 99% of backpackers (ie, the ones not planning on spending the night in a bivy on a wall or schlepping up Rainier).

Still, I'll fess up to using my internal frame, which I bought a long time ago, when coolness was much more important.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Bingo. Internals were made for climbing. Backpackers started using them because they wanted to look like climbers (myself included). So glad I went back to an external.