Nee's Journeys

Trip Logistics July 10 - 14, 2019 August 25 - 31, 2019 Inyo National Forest - North Lake to Pine Creek Total mileage - Approximately 27 miles not including day hikes July Photos August Photos Route 2019 was a banner snow year and it resulted in lots of late season snowpack and a late backpacking season…sort of. I was leading a Sierra Club trip in August of 2019 and I wanted to scout the route before I took the group out.  I had done South Lake to North Lake a number of years before so I knew the Hopkins Basin area.  This route would be going from North Lake to Pine Creek…Pine Creek trailhead was an area I had no familiarity with.   In 2019 I ended up doing this route twice once in mid-July and again at the end of August as well as a short overnight to Muriel Lake from North Lake.  These were the only backpacking trips I did the summer of 2019 because of the snowpack and other commitments. Instead of writing separate reports for all of these trips I have just wri...

Trip Logistics July 17-24, 2020 Sierra National Forest - Blackcap Basin - Red Mountain Basin and Bench Valley Total Mileage - 30ish - Lots of cross country on this trip Photos Originally Planned Route  - This wasn't the exactly route as originally planned but a version.  There were some deviations that ended up occurring on the trip. In the April timeframe it was becoming clear that there would likely be no organized Sierra Club outings for the summer and I started to plan for an alternative private trip.  I wanted to explore an area I might lead a Sierra Club trip at some point and also somewhere that was likely not to be too crowded.  I had read of Blackcap Basin just a few years earlier….maybe because it’s on the west side of the Sierra I didn’t know anything about it but reading a friend’s trip report and looking at the topo map it looked great.  The plan was to do an 8 day trip given the length of time to get in and out of the basins and 8 days is about all...

  Trip Logistics When - August 24-29, 2020 PCT Section J - Sonora Pass to Echo Lake Total Mileage/Ascent - Approximately 72 miles and 16,000 feet of elevation gain Photos Map of Route Time for another Renee and Steve adventure.  This one was quite up in the air due to wildfires….the 2020 season was apocalyptic between fires and covid.  Our plan was to d0 a section of the PCT and finish off the last leg between Mt. Whitney and Lake Tahoe.  Our original plan was to do this hike and end up at Berkeley Camp at Echo Lake and enjoying some wine and good food but covid-19 put an end to that dream.  Simply for my own lazy purposes we went from south to north since it had 2000 feet less to climb…hey every foot counts.  I started the trip by staying overnight in South Lake Tahoe and there were lots of tourists up enjoying the smoked in lake and casinos….I didn’t quite get it myself but to each his own.  I will make a plug for the place I stayed though - The 7 Se...

When – June 14 – 15, 2014 Tahoe National Forest – Sugar Pine State Park to Lost Lake – Trail Elevation gain from Sugar Pine to Lost Lake – approx.  15 00 ft One way hike from Sugar Pine to Lost Lake – approx.. 8 miles Lost Lake – approx.. at 7500 ft Pictures -  https://www.flickr.com/gp/57882009@N02/049o92/ This was an unexpected destination.  I had originally planned a trip in Desolation Wilderness on the west side of the Wilderness.  Unbeknownst to me there had been a huge wind storm the fall previous to this trip and it had knocked down several trees in the area that we were suppose to hike.  While I love the online permit system for Desolation it would have been nice if it had been able to restrict the permits in that area since there was no estimated opening date and the area as far as I know did not open all summer...oh well.  I figured this all out a week before the trip and we were set on backpacking so I began to search for alternatives. ...

Trip Facts:   72.2 miles    Elevation Gain – 15,531 feet – who’s counting?    8 Days – 7/11/14 – 7/19/14    Pack Weight – 53 lbs – It was the camera gear   Who: Nora, Lorraine, Jas   Pictures   Camping Spots:  Bearpaw Ghetto (okay it’s really Meadow)  Upper Hamilton Lake    Big Arroyo    Moraine Lake    Junction Meadow    Crabtree Meadow    Guitar Lake I will not write a detailed day-by-day account of the trip just some of the highlights and lowlights from the trip.   While it’s great to have a good idea of what your trip will and could be look like there should always be some surprises.   Figuring out the logistics of this trip is of course a challenge.   In our case we had someone who volunteered or perhaps was voluntold to pick us up at Whitney.   We rented a min-van from the Bay Area and drove to Visalia to stay over...

Trip Logistics When – July 3 – 5, 2014 Emigrant Wilderness – Kennedy Meadows to Unnamed lake above Iceland Lakes – Partial x-country route Elevation gain from Kenedy Meadows to unnamed lake – approx..   2700 ft One way hike from Kennedy Meadows to unnamed lake – approx.. 9 miles Unnamed Lake – approx.. at 9200 ft Pictures -  https://www.flickr.com/gp/57882009@N02/4F110W/ I’ve fallen out of the habit of doing a write up after each backpacking trip and this is my attempt to restart.   For the last several years I’ve always gone backpacking on the 4 th of July.   I miss the fireworks but being in the backcountry makes up for that.   This year we did a trip in Emigrant Wilderness with the intent to get to Iceland Lake.   The same trip participants from last year were in attendance this year – me, Curtis, Steve and Nora.   Our trip got started out with margaritas and great Mexican food in Alameda.   We a...