Re: Inyo "Walk Up" Permits #permits

#74805

Yeah, the smoke concern is a big one. But the availability still surprises me. ?Almost 12 hours after they opened up the 14 day advance permits, every single trailhead in the Inyo National Forest still has at least one permit available. Both the north and south bound JMT from Devil's Postpile have four permits each. Those are usually taken immediately. ?And there appear to be four Whitney Portal exit permits still available. Maybe it is a combination of post-Labor Day, Delta variant concerns, and smoke concerns. ?With my 2020 trip cancelled due to COVID and the trip last month in Yosemite cancelled for family reasons, I'm determined to get out there two weeks from now unless the forest is actually closed.

Re: Inyo "Walk Up" Permits #permits

#74804

It's been pretty darn hazy/smoky in the Sierra lately. The JMT crowd is noticeably reduced by a large fraction compared to pre-COVID days. It reminds me of the super smoky summer of 2015 when there were fewer people. Also, international hikers are relatively rare this year. I personally don't want to be there anymore because of the unpredictable smoke. It sucks. Even if it isn't bad enough to be unhealthy for a person without respiratory issues it's just plain ugly.

Inyo "Walk Up" Permits #permits

#74803

For those who don't know, this year Inyo National Forest is releasing "walk up" permits online fourteen days before the desired entry date. I have been monitoring this for a week to see how quickly these permits are picked up. It looks like the initial frenzy for permits six months ahead of time has not carried over to competition for the 14 day "walk up" permits. I was able to change the permit I got six months ago and even scored a Mt. Whitney exit permit (to provide myself with the option - I might still exit at Onion Valley if pressed for time).

As someone traveling from the east coast, I like this new system but if I was a local on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, I would prefer the old walk-up system.?

Anyway, anyone thinking about a late season trip pretty much can have their pick of the east side trailheads even if you're not online at exactly 7:00 am Pacific when they open up the process.

Re: My (our) 2021 Sierra Nevada summer hikes

#74802

Thank you so very much for your account ! I too backpacked this season, just 3 weeks ago. In at Ducks pass on exited at Piute Pass. Was supposed to exit at Bishop pass, but by day 2, I knew I couldn't make it with my altitude issues. I take the prescribed meds, and was at altitude for several days prior to my hike, but I really suffered with nausea the entire time. With very little appetite, it became dangerous with the lack of calorie intake. ?I too, am trying to figure out how to still enjoy the marvelous landscape without being constantly sick.?
Thank you again for your account. Hopefully we can both figure this out ( I though about the pack animal ) . I did see that same couple and their llamas !?

Lyn Collins

Show quoted text

-----Original Message-----
From: John Ladd <johnladd@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tue, Aug 24, 2021 4:35 pm
Subject: [JMT-groups.io] My (our) 2021 Sierra Nevada summer hikes

I initially wrote this for family, but I've sent it to some fellow hikers and some were interested, so I made it more detailed.

I planned two 10-day back-to-back hikes, the first solo north of Tioga Pass Road starting Jul 14 and the other with my daughter Jess starting at Duck Pass July 25, Both were planned for very short main loops (under 5 miles per day) with the thought of taking side trips if my abilities permitted. I'm 75 years old and definitely slowing down.

I didn't plan enough for the impact of elevation on an aging body and promptly abandoned my overly ambitious plan for the first 10 days. I concentrated on altitude acclimation in order to maximize the chance that I would not embarrass?myself with Jess. My route (after abandoning the original plan) was 2 nights at Glen Aulin (8000 feet), 2 nights sharing a friend's campsite at Tuolumne Meadows (8600), and then very slowly ascending over several days to a 9700 foot campsite partway up the flat Tuolumne River basin in the direction of Donohue Pass (second highest on the Pacific Crest trail). I never made it to the pass, but took a day trip up to treeline (10,500 ft or so) just below the pass. I probably could have made it to the pass on my day hike but I kept chatting up people. Then back to Tuolumne Meadows

I planned to drive two hours down to Groveland to meet Jess and my wife Kay partway. But I lost my car keys. Despite searching by just about everyone in the backpacker campground, I could not find the keys. So Kay had to deliver Jess and replacement keys to Tuolumne Meadows, adding 4 hours to her round trip. It turned out that I had left the keys on the roof of the car, which we discovered when Jess and I stopped in Mammoth Lakes for a day of trip prep. Amazingly, the unfindable keys somehow survived on the roof of the car for an hour's drive from Tuolumne Meadows to Mammoth Lakes, mostly at highway speeds. (Fittingly, we went by a Lost Keys Lake later in our hike.)

The discovery of the keys?

Lost Keys Lake junction??

Jess and I planned to enter at Duck Pass (from the Lakes Basin area outside Mammoth Lakes), briefly join the JMT, then drop form Purple Lake to the bottom of Cascade Valley (Fish?Creek) and then immediately ascend to the west side of the same drainage. We were headed for an area called the Cascade Divide, characterized by a relatively unpopulated and flat trail that provides easy access to a series of very high, remote and not often visited fishing lakes, including Wilber May, Peter Pande, Anne, Beetlebug.?

When we got down to Fish Creek we were surprised to find it almost free of mosquitoes. So we took the opportunity to somewhat lengthen our route by hiking for a full day up Fish Creek in the fittingly named and lovely Cascade Valley, passing a number of beautiful cascades (some of them near to counting as waterfalls). We still planned to exit where we had entered - Duck Pass - after at least one zero-mileage days at Peter Pande and a possible daypack sidetrip toward McGee Pass.?

As described in more detail below, we then (hike day 4) got exposed to some nasty weather and rerouted to allow us to be at lower elevations when the worst of the weather was predicted. We stayed 2 nights at the very pleasant Iva Bell Hot Springs and then had a 2-day 13 mile hike to exit to Devil's Postpile, which is on a shuttle system that would bring us back to our car. (Jess did the shuttling while I spent one last night in a campground chatting up other hikers). We hiked about the (minimum) mileage planned in 9 days rather than 10.

9 days with Jess were really great. I entered carrying 31 lbs and she carried 38. We found that we made better progress if she took on ever-increasing percentages of the pack weight. On our last day, I carried 16 lbs and she carried over 40. (Total weight was lower because of food consumed). I think it felt to us both as a preview of a future when she would provide me with more physical support than I would provide to her. We both seemed pretty comfortable with the changing roles. (Though I still exercised trip leader responsibility for some decisions.)

As she took on increasing weight, I asked her how much a Sherpa cost. Her immediate answer "18 years of room and board and 4 years of college" We also remembered that on our first hike (to Rancheria Falls along Hetch?Hetchy) I carried both our packs for the last mile and then also carried her on my shoulders for the last 1/4 mile. So it seemed fair.

=========================

A few details about storms

1) The mudflow: On the July 19, day?6 morning of my 10-day acclimation?hike, I was camped at about 9000 feet elevation south of Tuolumne Meadows (Ireland Creek Junction). I decided to take a "zero day" to ride out a thunderstorm predicted at?86% on the morning NWS forecast (available using the wx2inreach service). Since?I was just in to acclimate, in anticipation of the hike with Jess, I decided to ride out the predicted storm in relative comfort by?staying at the same campsite for?2 nights.

As that storm started, I was in a shelter -- Big Agnes Fly?Creek UL1 with but the combination works well if properly staked. I was happy as a clam and feeling smart for having hunkered down. Until a mud flow started to flow over my ground sheet -- despite very careful selection of the tent pad least likely to flood. I had to scramble out of it to keep my sleeping bag and clothes from getting soaked with wet mud. Big storm. In probably 250-300 nights in the Sierra, I can only recall 2 that were worse for me personally. Every piece of ground?flooded as the rate of rainfall exceeded the ability to sink in or to find the normal drainage channels.

I talked the next day to a number of northbound hikers who were caught at or near the top of Donohue Pass. They said it came on very quickly (not uncommon). The time gap between lightning and the sound of thunder dropped for 4 seconds to the sub-1 second range. They were on a very exposed pass but found it hard to get down because accumulated hailstones obscured much of the trail. Much of the visible trail was soon flowing like a river. Simple rock hop stream crossings turned treacherous. So I am glad I didn't move forward. (Note: they told harrowing stories but by the time I encountered them, the sun was out and everyone was in a festive mood)

Then some good weather between storms, including a beautiful day?in Mammoth Lakes.

2) Back-to-back drenchings: On day 4 of my hike with?Jess, July 28, she and I had joined the John?Muir Trail again after our climb up Cascade Valley. We were caught in a nasty storm just south of Squaw Lake (and north of Silver Pass) just a bit below treeline. We took shelter in a grove of similar sized scrubby trees (foxtail pines, probably) and actually kind of enjoyed it. It was Jess's first experience with a Sierra Nevada classic storm. We started to dry out at Papoose Lake (on the way to the Cascade Shelf and the planned fishing lakes). We encountered two folks with llamas and it turned out I had exchanged emails in the past with the woman in the couple. Jess loved the llamas.?

We started out toward Cascade Shelf not fully dried out but feeling good about things -- and then a second storm started, not as intense but fairly heavy. No lightning risk where we were (headed from Lake of the Lone Indian to Wilber Mae Lake junction) but pretty wet and cold. At the first reappearance of the sun, we stopped to dry out and camp. Jess unpacked and discovered that her compression dry sack had leaked. Fortunately, her sack held only one item, as other?down items were in my dry bag. Unfortunately, the one item was her down sleeping bag. She became a human clothes drier, standing on a sunny boulder shaking her bag to quicken its recovery. Other than a sodden area at the foot it actually recovered pretty well.

That night she also discovered that her new air mattress?had a slow leak. She later decided that she probably punctured it with a safety pin when pinning socks to her pack to dry them off. We could not immediately find the leaks so she had to awaken 4-5 times a night to reinflate it until we fixed it a few days later.

=================================

As continued bad weather was predicted we scrubbed the plan to fish at high elevation, quite?exposed, lakes (Peter Pande, Anne and Beetlebug). We decided to head for the lower elevation Iva Bell hot springs, where we knew of a campsite with?good tree protection and a hot pool adjacent. We arrived there by about noon, 2 days later, and stayed there 2 nights. The predicted rain did not occur (other than brief sprinkles) but we enjoyed the baths and spent some time cleaning the two lower pools as best we could. Cleaning a pool is mostly a process of disturbing the matter in the bottom and on the rocks until it gets entrained in the water and then letting the natural water exchange carry it out. Also, a lot of the organic material flocculates on the top surface and can be pushed toward the exit point for the water. There was also a kitchen strainer that someone had left that I could use on the large pool.

The large pool allowed us to locate the air mattress leaks (2 small holes near each other). Once found, they were easy to patch. So Jess slept better.

After the experience of bad altitude acclimation and enjoying the hike with Jess's support, I decided (with the encouragement?of Jess and Kay) that I would give up hiking solo and find a way to get some form of pack weight assistance (pack animals or friends willing to carry significantly more than their fair share of the load). And to always build a VERY gradual altitude acclimation plan into the route chosen (or acclimate by an immediately preceding high elevation vacation with my wife). And to limit my planned route to about 4 miles a day rather than trying for more. It feels like a pretty major change in my hiking style, but if I want to keep doing this for the next few years, I need to adapt. It is much more important to me to be in the backcountry than to cover miles.

Other pics and videos

Photos album of the 8-day segment with Jess including a lot of narrative?(be sure to display the Comments)

??

One of the larger cascades in Cascade Valley / Fish Creek?

Storm two (after llamas) appears?

Long Canyon (below Beetlebug Lake) where I had the nasty fall severing the major rotator cuff tendons in 2017?

For a story of that fall and the decision to self-evacuate, see?

Looking toward the east side of Cascade Valley from the west side. Crowded on the east side but we had three days on our hike when we saw no one on the west slope of the same valley

Smallest (and least hot) of the three pools we visited at Iva Bell. About?20 yards from our 2-night campsite and few people find it. Jess spent a couple hours cleaning out accumulated debris from the bottom of this one (I took care of a bigger, hotter pool)

A picture of the larger pool that I cleaned up.?

Bridge over Fish Creek on our exit. The pack looks way heavier than it was.?

Panorama of a view down Fish Creek toward the San Joaquin, on afternoon of our next-to-last day? Click on it to scan around

Jess found this great last night campsite, well off the trail and away from people? Click to pan around

Incense Cedar with view beyond, on last day out?

One of Jess's favorite miniature?frogs (near photo center)?

Video same frog?

Jess at Wilderness boundary sign??USFS budget for signs appears to be low

Dead tree supported by a much smaller living tree. It has been there long enough to deform the living tree.?

Lesson: Lean on me (but not so hard)

Jess 40+ lb pack just before we exited?

When we got home, Jess unboxed her 2021 National Jefferson Award gold medal (for "") when we got home. A Dad's gotta brag?about his sherpa daughter.?? The 2021 Jefferson Awards ceremony, where Dr. Fauchi will also get his Jefferson Award, is on Sept 30. Sadly, it is a virtual ceremony this year. Damn COVID.?

John Ladd

PS: If you haven;t yet signed up for the 9th Annual JMT Survey, please just send me an email at JohnLadd at gmail dot com, I will use your email address to send you a personalized SurveyMonkey link. If I have your email address, I?can direct SurveyMonkey send you a copy of your survey response, which should serve as a structured?trail journal. More detail about the survey will appear before you answer any questions.

My (our) 2021 Sierra Nevada summer hikes

#74801

I initially wrote this for family, but I've sent it to some fellow hikers and some were interested, so I made it more detailed.

I planned two 10-day back-to-back hikes, the first solo north of Tioga Pass Road starting Jul 14 and the other with my daughter Jess starting at Duck Pass July 25, Both were planned for very short main loops (under 5 miles per day) with the thought of taking side trips if my abilities permitted. I'm 75 years old and definitely slowing down.

I didn't plan enough for the impact of elevation on an aging body and promptly abandoned my overly ambitious plan for the first 10 days. I concentrated on altitude acclimation in order to maximize the chance that I would not embarrass?myself with Jess. My route (after abandoning the original plan) was 2 nights at Glen Aulin (8000 feet), 2 nights sharing a friend's campsite at Tuolumne Meadows (8600), and then very slowly ascending over several days to a 9700 foot campsite partway up the flat Tuolumne River basin in the direction of Donohue Pass (second highest on the Pacific Crest trail). I never made it to the pass, but took a day trip up to treeline (10,500 ft or so) just below the pass. I probably could have made it to the pass on my day hike but I kept chatting up people. Then back to Tuolumne Meadows

I planned to drive two hours down to Groveland to meet Jess and my wife Kay partway. But I lost my car keys. Despite searching by just about everyone in the backpacker campground, I could not find the keys. So Kay had to deliver Jess and replacement keys to Tuolumne Meadows, adding 4 hours to her round trip. It turned out that I had left the keys on the roof of the car, which we discovered when Jess and I stopped in Mammoth Lakes for a day of trip prep. Amazingly, the unfindable keys somehow survived on the roof of the car for an hour's drive from Tuolumne Meadows to Mammoth Lakes, mostly at highway speeds. (Fittingly, we went by a Lost Keys Lake later in our hike.)

The discovery of the keys?

Lost Keys Lake junction??

Jess and I planned to enter at Duck Pass (from the Lakes Basin area outside Mammoth Lakes), briefly join the JMT, then drop form Purple Lake to the bottom of Cascade Valley (Fish?Creek) and then immediately ascend to the west side of the same drainage. We were headed for an area called the Cascade Divide, characterized by a relatively unpopulated and flat trail that provides easy access to a series of very high, remote and not often visited fishing lakes, including Wilber May, Peter Pande, Anne, Beetlebug.?

When we got down to Fish Creek we were surprised to find it almost free of mosquitoes. So we took the opportunity to somewhat lengthen our route by hiking for a full day up Fish Creek in the fittingly named and lovely Cascade Valley, passing a number of beautiful cascades (some of them near to counting as waterfalls). We still planned to exit where we had entered - Duck Pass - after at least one zero-mileage days at Peter Pande and a possible daypack sidetrip toward McGee Pass.?

As described in more detail below, we then (hike day 4) got exposed to some nasty weather and rerouted to allow us to be at lower elevations when the worst of the weather was predicted. We stayed 2 nights at the very pleasant Iva Bell Hot Springs and then had a 2-day 13 mile hike to exit to Devil's Postpile, which is on a shuttle system that would bring us back to our car. (Jess did the shuttling while I spent one last night in a campground chatting up other hikers). We hiked about the (minimum) mileage planned in 9 days rather than 10.

9 days with Jess were really great. I entered carrying 31 lbs and she carried 38. We found that we made better progress if she took on ever-increasing percentages of the pack weight. On our last day, I carried 16 lbs and she carried over 40. (Total weight was lower because of food consumed). I think it felt to us both as a preview of a future when she would provide me with more physical support than I would provide to her. We both seemed pretty comfortable with the changing roles. (Though I still exercised trip leader responsibility for some decisions.)

As she took on increasing weight, I asked her how much a Sherpa cost. Her immediate answer "18 years of room and board and 4 years of college" We also remembered that on our first hike (to Rancheria Falls along Hetch?Hetchy) I carried both our packs for the last mile and then also carried her on my shoulders for the last 1/4 mile. So it seemed fair.

=========================

A few details about storms

1) The mudflow: On the July 19, day?6 morning of my 10-day acclimation?hike, I was camped at about 9000 feet elevation south of Tuolumne Meadows (Ireland Creek Junction). I decided to take a "zero day" to ride out a thunderstorm predicted at?86% on the morning NWS forecast (available using the wx2inreach service). Since?I was just in to acclimate, in anticipation of the hike with Jess, I decided to ride out the predicted storm in relative comfort by?staying at the same campsite for?2 nights.

As that storm started, I was in a shelter -- Big Agnes Fly?Creek UL1 with but the combination works well if properly staked. I was happy as a clam and feeling smart for having hunkered down. Until a mud flow started to flow over my ground sheet -- despite very careful selection of the tent pad least likely to flood. I had to scramble out of it to keep my sleeping bag and clothes from getting soaked with wet mud. Big storm. In probably 250-300 nights in the Sierra, I can only recall 2 that were worse for me personally. Every piece of ground?flooded as the rate of rainfall exceeded the ability to sink in or to find the normal drainage channels.

I talked the next day to a number of northbound hikers who were caught at or near the top of Donohue Pass. They said it came on very quickly (not uncommon). The time gap between lightning and the sound of thunder dropped for 4 seconds to the sub-1 second range. They were on a very exposed pass but found it hard to get down because accumulated hailstones obscured much of the trail. Much of the visible trail was soon flowing like a river. Simple rock hop stream crossings turned treacherous. So I am glad I didn't move forward. (Note: they told harrowing stories but by the time I encountered them, the sun was out and everyone was in a festive mood)

Then some good weather between storms, including a beautiful day?in Mammoth Lakes.

2) Back-to-back drenchings: On day 4 of my hike with?Jess, July 28, she and I had joined the John?Muir Trail again after our climb up Cascade Valley. We were caught in a nasty storm just south of Squaw Lake (and north of Silver Pass) just a bit below treeline. We took shelter in a grove of similar sized scrubby trees (foxtail pines, probably) and actually kind of enjoyed it. It was Jess's first experience with a Sierra Nevada classic storm. We started to dry out at Papoose Lake (on the way to the Cascade Shelf and the planned fishing lakes). We encountered two folks with llamas and it turned out I had exchanged emails in the past with the woman in the couple. Jess loved the llamas.?

We started out toward Cascade Shelf not fully dried out but feeling good about things -- and then a second storm started, not as intense but fairly heavy. No lightning risk where we were (headed from Lake of the Lone Indian to Wilber Mae Lake junction) but pretty wet and cold. At the first reappearance of the sun, we stopped to dry out and camp. Jess unpacked and discovered that her compression dry sack had leaked. Fortunately, her sack held only one item, as other?down items were in my dry bag. Unfortunately, the one item was her down sleeping bag. She became a human clothes drier, standing on a sunny boulder shaking her bag to quicken its recovery. Other than a sodden area at the foot it actually recovered pretty well.

That night she also discovered that her new air mattress?had a slow leak. She later decided that she probably punctured it with a safety pin when pinning socks to her pack to dry them off. We could not immediately find the leaks so she had to awaken 4-5 times a night to reinflate it until we fixed it a few days later.

=================================

As continued bad weather was predicted we scrubbed the plan to fish at high elevation, quite?exposed, lakes (Peter Pande, Anne and Beetlebug). We decided to head for the lower elevation Iva Bell hot springs, where we knew of a campsite with?good tree protection and a hot pool adjacent. We arrived there by about noon, 2 days later, and stayed there 2 nights. The predicted rain did not occur (other than brief sprinkles) but we enjoyed the baths and spent some time cleaning the two lower pools as best we could. Cleaning a pool is mostly a process of disturbing the matter in the bottom and on the rocks until it gets entrained in the water and then letting the natural water exchange carry it out. Also, a lot of the organic material flocculates on the top surface and can be pushed toward the exit point for the water. There was also a kitchen strainer that someone had left that I could use on the large pool.

The large pool allowed us to locate the air mattress leaks (2 small holes near each other). Once found, they were easy to patch. So Jess slept better.

After the experience of bad altitude acclimation and enjoying the hike with Jess's support, I decided (with the encouragement?of Jess and Kay) that I would give up hiking solo and find a way to get some form of pack weight assistance (pack animals or friends willing to carry significantly more than their fair share of the load). And to always build a VERY gradual altitude acclimation plan into the route chosen (or acclimate by an immediately preceding high elevation vacation with my wife). And to limit my planned route to about 4 miles a day rather than trying for more. It feels like a pretty major change in my hiking style, but if I want to keep doing this for the next few years, I need to adapt. It is much more important to me to be in the backcountry than to cover miles.

开云体育

John,

I agree that N95 masks are essential when traveling in cars, buses and planes. ?The delta variant is highly infectious. ?My fully vaccinated partner has Covid after working one week in the hospital last week. ? I know she is very cautious and avoids direct contact with Covid positive patients. Stay safe out there and get a third shot as soon as possible.

PS there was an outbreak among PCT thru hikers. ?Keep your distance while on trail as well.

Show quoted text

On Aug 24, 2021, at 6:23 AM, John Ladd <johnladd@...> wrote:

?Last October, I hitched from White Wolf to Tuolumne Meadows.

Picked up by the second car. They weren't wearing masks. I was. They were willing to have me open windows.

I would feel comfortable doing it if I was fully vaccinated and wearing a good mask (preferably N95). I don't think I'd be endangering the driver or other passengers. Some hazard to myself if they aren;t masked and don't want to open windows.?

--
John Curran Ladd
1616 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA? 94114-3707
415-648-9279

Re: Water quantity on trail

#74793

I don’t know about water but currently be aware of closed forests and extremely hazardous air quality.?

Martha

Show quoted text

On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 6:43 AM Frank <fxo1024@...> wrote:

We are thinking of going out from Sonora to Carson on the PCT are there any long dead zones with no water. Maps say there shouldn't be but then again environment seems to move faster than maps.

--

Martha Gilmore, PhD, CGP, FAGPA

. Please excuse brevity and typographical errors.

Water quantity on trail

#74792

We are thinking of going out from Sonora to Carson on the PCT are there any long dead zones with no water. Maps say there shouldn't be but then again environment seems to move faster than maps.

Re: #Conditions Air quality on trail? #Conditions

#74791

If you do decide to go, I recommend a N95 mask with an exhalation valve. They aren't good for COVID but I can hike fairly comfortably in them and they have considerable smoke protection. I was recently day hiking is some fairly heavy smoke, up near Lake Chelan and Stehekin and found that there were times I'd get a headache without the mask, but no headache with it

The exhalation valve is very helpful

--
John Curran Ladd
1616 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA? 94114-3707
415-648-9279

Re: Hitchhiking in the COVID era #Transportation

#74790

Last October, I hitched from White Wolf to Tuolumne Meadows.

Picked up by the second car. They weren't wearing masks. I was. They were willing to have me open windows.

I would feel comfortable doing it if I was fully vaccinated and wearing a good mask (preferably N95). I don't think I'd be endangering the driver or other passengers. Some hazard to myself if they aren;t masked and don't want to open windows.?

--
John Curran Ladd
1616 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA? 94114-3707
415-648-9279

Re: #Conditions Air quality on trail? #Conditions

#74789

I did a trip out of Virginia Lakes, past Summit Lake, over to Spiller Canyon and then back and out at Green Creek in early August.? The AQI seemed pretty bad at times and we left 2 days early because it was getting worse.? I slept in an N95 mask several nights.? It didn't feel that bad at the time but it aggravated my asthma and I'm still affected by it even though I've ended up on stronger medications (steroid inhaler in addition to albuterol).??

Be careful out there.

Martha

?? ?Martha Gilmore, PhD, CGP

? ? PSY # 10451?

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? ? Certified Group Psychotherapist

? ? Fellow, American Group Psychotherapy Association

? ? Secretary, American Group Psychotherapy Association

? ? 1621 Oak Ave, Ste. B

?? ? Davis, CA 95616

? ? ?530-757-6861

? ? ??

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Show quoted text

On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 4:31 PM harper hatheway via <hhathew1=[email protected]> wrote:

We just finished a PCT section from Sonora Pass to Ebbets Pass. We had planned doing Lower Echo Lake to Donner Pass, but upon arrival at Lower Echo, the ominous reddened sky, ash and smoke changed our minds.
?We drove south to Sonora pass and did the section from Sonora pass to Evett‘s Pass. By that time Abbotts pass north was posted as closed.
The smoke we did encounter was just as you say, settled into the valleys in the morning and evenings, and not as noticeable during the day. Didn’t have that smoke smell, and didn’t seem to hinder our progress.

Re: #Conditions Air quality on trail? #Conditions

#74788

We just finished a PCT section from Sonora Pass to Ebbets Pass. We had planned doing Lower Echo Lake to Donner Pass, but upon arrival at Lower Echo, the ominous reddened sky, ash and smoke changed our minds.

?We drove south to Sonora pass and did the section from Sonora pass to Evett‘s Pass. By that time Abbotts pass north was posted as closed.

The smoke we did encounter was just as you say, settled into the valleys in the morning and evenings, and not as noticeable during the day. Didn’t have that smoke smell, and didn’t seem to hinder our progress.

Re: Hitchhiking in the COVID era #Transportation

#74787

I had never hitched before, but did recently in Yosemite and found it surprisingly easy (we ended up getting 3 separate rides--long story--to make it all the way from Tuolumne to the Valley, and each one took 5 minutes or less). ?I was also offered a ride (without even sticking out my thumb) at Whitney Portal. ?Based on that and the large number of people coming and going from Onion Valley TH, I wouldn't think it would be too difficult.

Re: #Conditions Air quality on trail? #Conditions

#74786

开云体育

This is a common pattern. Smoke sinks as temperatures fall at night and the fires dampen. Then it rises up the valleys as things warm in the day. In general hike early and sleep as high as you are comfortable with to limit smoke exposure. ?

Show quoted text

On Aug 23, 2021, at 10:31 AM, Jeff <hamilton.sr71@...> wrote:

?
I was just up at Cottonwood Lakes last week and we were above the smoke at 11,000 feet. On the drive up it seemed the smoke stopped around 8,000. There's a fire north of Lake Isabella that's messing up the air in addition to the fires in Nor Cal.

Jeff

On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 9:16 AM Charles Fannin <cjzilla@...> wrote:
Can people recently off the trail comment on air quality? Due to the fires, the air quality in the towns on 395 is bad right now.? Wondering what it is like at altitude.

I have a permit to go SOBO out of Onion Valley on Sept. 8.