Our food cache will be at Muir Trail Ranch. Here are a couple interesting web sites with info about this place: http://www.muirtrailranch.com/ and http://homepage.mac.com/simon.willis/site/newspapers/sierras.htm
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June 30, 2005
Muir Trail Ranch
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June 25, 2005
Big Trip Planning
Owen reminds me that it is little more than a month from the time we will need to send off our food caches for pickup at the midway point on this summer’s trip. Time to start planning those meals.
- Dan
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June 12, 2005
SierraSunrise2005|05|30
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Mammoth Ski 2005
This is just a brief report for the record, posted after the fact.
Several of us say a traditional “goodbye winter, hello summer” in the Mammoth area over the Memorial Day weekend. This year was not exception.
***Friday, May 27
- Owen and George left the Bay Area very early and spent the day skiing near the summit of just-opened Sonora Pass before heading to Bridgeport for dinner at 1881 Restaurant. Dan left around noon, got caught in holiday traffic, and many hours later joined Owen and George as they finished dinner. All three then headed South over Conway Summit, past Mono Lake, and to the Mammoth area to find a suitable free spot to camp in the desert.
Sunset, Conway Summit. May 27, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
***Saturday, May 28
- Dan, George, and Owen headed up to Mammoth for a glorious day of spring skiing. There was lots of snow still this year. In contrast to most previous years many runs were still open. After skiing until the early afternoon and then joining the crowds on the deck at Mammoth, we headed back to our desert campsite and met up with Maureen, who had just driven in from LA. That night we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Lakefront Restaurant (our motto: “Free camping and great food beats cheap hotels and cheap food.”) as the weather changed – the wind came up, the clouds rolled in, and the temperature dropped.
Mo’s Cloud. Near Mammoth. May 28, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
***Sunday, May 29
- The day started out quite cold. It was in the thirties when we arrived at Mammoth with thick cloud cover and high winds. The winds continued and it never got real warm (good news for spring skiers) but the sun did come out and we had another beautiful day. The conditions stayed good long enough that we skied into the mid-afternoon. George left a bit earlier. Dan, Mo, and Owen planned to do a desert barbecue that evening, but the winds (and thoughts of sand in our food) dissuaded us and we ended up eating at Roberto’s.
***Monday, May 30
- Dan was up early and on the road by 6:00 a.m., stopping to do photography on the way home.
Sunrise, Eastern Sierra. May 30, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
Owen and Maureen skied yet again, meeting up with local ski instructor Sallyanne English.
Mono Lake. May 30, 2005. Photo copyright Dan Mitchell.
- Dan
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Fletcher Lake 2005
Plans for this trip continue to evolve. See the updates below:
***Description
This is our annual trip to bid farewell to the summer backpacking season and make offerings to the snow gods. We usually camp at Fletcher Lake, up the Rafferty Creek Trail out of Tuolumne Meadows – near bear boxes and a high-tech composting outhouse. We often add one or more cross-country adventures above Fletcher Lake where we can find stupendous fall Sierra vistas!
We schedule the trip for the final weekend of the “summer” season at Tioga Pass Resort – after which they close until the winter season – and enjoy the traditional dinner (and/or lunch, breakfast) there at least once during the weekend.
October weather in the Sierra can range from spectacularly beautiful (see Fletcher Lake 2003) with pleasant temperatures, stunningly blue skies, no crowds, and brilliant fall colors to… well, fairly miserable. Yes, it can rain. It can snow. It can be cold. OK, it will be cold at night no matter what. But that’s what makes it so much fun. We’ll keep a close eye on the weather forecasts as the trip date approaches.
Dates are not certain yet but it is likely that TPR’s last weekend of the fall season is on October 14-16. Mark your calendars and check back for updates!
***Update: September 6.
Looks like a “go” for the weekend of October 14-16. Here are tentative plans.
***Friday October 14
- Drive to Tuolumne Meadows (as early as possible), park in backpacker parking for JMT just east of the T-Meadows store (closed by then), pick-up permit at Wilderness Office.
Hike via Rafferty Creek and Tuolumne Pass to Fletcher Lake (ca. 7 miles, less than 2000′ climb), basecamp (bear lockers, but no composting toilet this year). (Dan, for one, will probably arrive a bit late and hit the trail about 5:00 p.m. – anyone else for a late evening hike?***Saturday October 15
- Parson/Fletcher Peak traverse: via Townsely Lake hike to Lake Ireland, then up to Parsons Peak, then along broad ridge top to junction with ridge coming up from Vogelsang Pass, back to Fletcher Lake via Vogelsang Pass and Lake.***Sunday October 16
- Hike out, meal at Tioga Pass Resort. Drive home.Weather in the past has included warm and summerlike to getting the first dusting of snow. We will watch the weather.
***Variations:
Drive up Thursday evening, carcamp enroute in the vicinity of T-Meadows.
Hike out on Saturday (no day hike Saturday, but party in camp Friday evening).
Hike in on Saturday (no day hike Saturday, but party in camp Saturday evening).
Stay at home due to snowstorm.
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There is a possibility that we will not be permitted to park cars along Tioga Road in the park on Saturday night. The park policy on this is confusing; depending upon which material your read the last overnight parking is permitted through October 15 (suggesting that parking on the 15th and picking up your car on the 16th is OK) or before October 15 (suggesting that cars left overnight on Saturday might be cited).
While logic suggests that it would be bizarre for the Park Service to permit parking on Friday night but not on Saturday night, stranger things have happened.
We’re trying to get confirmation of the actual policy.
If parking turns out to be a problem we may backpack into the 20 Lakes area just outside the park instead.
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What was called Fletcher Lakes 2005 has officially morphed into the ***20 Lakes Basin
trip.Overnight parking ends along Tioga Road October 15, making a trip to Fletcher Lake difficult. We will go to 20 Lakes Basin instead. This is a much more mellow trip with less mileage and less elevation gain. We’ve heard reports of its beauty.
***Friday
– drive to Lee Vining, pick-up permit, drive to Saddlebag Lake, hike to Cascade Lake in 20 Lakes Basin (just more than 2 miles), basecamp
***Saturday
– explore
***Sunday
– hike out, drive homeVariations:
Drive up, pick-up permit, hike in Saturday.
Hike out and drive home Sunday.
On the outside (way outside) chance they let us park the entire weekend on Tioga Road in Tuolumne Meadows, we can do the original itinerary to Fletcher Lake.
Stay at home due to snow storm.
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Given certain scheduling issues, we may only be on the trail on Saturday and Sunday. In this case, many of us will likely drive up at various times on Friday and car-camp in the Tioga Pass/Saddlebag Lakes area that night. We’ll try to get an early start the next morning for our hike into the 20 Lakes area where we’ll camp on Saturday night.
Of course, anyone who can arrive early enough is free to head up the trail on Friday and await the arrival of the rest of the crew on Saturday morning.
But, as we wrote earlier… plans continue to evolve.
From Owen, with additions from Dan:
***Friday evening
– drive to a campground around Tioga, Ellery, or Saddlebag Lake, carcamp.
***Saturday
– drive to Lee Vining, pick-up permit, drive back to Saddlebag Lake, hike to Steelhead Lake in 20 Lakes Basin (just more than 2 miles), basecamp, explore
***Sunday
- explore (and hike out, for those who must work on Monday)
***Monday
– hike out, drive homeVariations:
Drive up, pick-up permit, hike in Saturday.
Hike out and drive home Sunday.
On the outside (way outside) chance they let us park the entire weekend on Tioga Road in Tuolumne Meadows, we can do the original itinerary to Fletcher Lake.
Stay at home due to snow storm.
Go skiing/snowboarding due to a succession of snowstorms.
***Friday, October 14
after work, drive to Tioga Pass or Lee Vining Canyon campground, astronaut camp (i.e. sleep in the car)***Saturday, October 15
drive to Mobil Station for breakfast (really!)
drive to Mono Lake Visitors’ Center, get permit
drive to Saddlebag Lake (ca. 10 miles), park
hike to Steelhead Lake (2+ miles, just a bit of elevation gain), basecamp, explore or just hang out***Sunday, October 16
explore or just hang out some more
if you have to work Monday, hike out, drive home***Monday, October 17
explore or hang out even more
hike out
drive homedaytime temps in the 50′s
nighttime temps in the 20′s (bring your warmest sleeping bag + a well insulated jacket)
clear skies in the current forecast
Tioga Pass Resort is closed for the season
Fall colors starting to explode (Lee Vining Canyon)….found these pics of Twenty Lakes Basin via Google (rated PG):
http://www.odeo.net/pix/2005pix/16twentylakes/
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The Big Trip
It is closer than you think – less than two months from now we’ll be embarking on our 14-day adventure in the central Sierra – 100 miles down the Muir Trail between Agnew Meadow and South Lake. (See Mammoth to South Lake 100, Summer 2005.) It looks like we may have as many as a dozen participants this time.
Could there be a better excuse to shop for new gear? 
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