[pct-l] Desolation Wilderness July 4th

[Dan Welch]

The loop Mark is talking about has some really beautiful lakes and is not a
particularly high section of the trail (addressing your concerns about
altitude.)  I think he is right about the rental car.  Since you have some
serious time constraints, I'd hate for you to spend so much of your time
dealing with transportation.  It's certainly a longer drive, but since you
won't be hitching or busing, you won't have to add a lot of buffer time.

Timberline

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Mark Hyams
Sent: Monday, May 27, 2013 2:22 PM
To: Alan Miller
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Desolation Wilderness July 4th

Hi Allen,

With your limited time frame I would suggest renting a car, unless you can
fly directly to Mammoth.  From there you can make a loop out of the JMT/PCT
split between Devil's Postpile and 1000 Island Lake. You could even start
(or finish) at Horseshoe Lake and hike over Mammoth Pass to Reds Meadow.
 There would be no backtracking whatsoever.  If you wanted some additional
mileage, an out and back to Donahue Pass would be a beautiful day hike.


On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 12:08 PM, Alan Miller
<alan.miller401 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Thanks for the advice everybody.  It is looking like we may need to 
> rethink our route.  Our plan is to fly out from Ohio on Wednesday 
> night (July 3rd) and stay at an airport hotel that night.  That way we 
> can get up early on Thursday to get to the trailhead and get a half day of
hiking in.
>  We would then have all day Friday and Saturday, and then hike out 
> sometime on Sunday.  We would then use Monday to get back to the 
> airport and fly back.  Flying into Reno looked like the easiest way to 
> get to the trail, but we can fly into any major airport.  We are 
> really up for any part of the PCT besides southern California, since 
> we have already spent some time there.  We are coming from about 1000 
> ft though, so we need to be careful with elevation.  If anybody has 
> any suggestions, we would love to hear them.  Thanks
>
>
> On Sun, May 26, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Mark Hyams <markhyams at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Sounds like you have four days/three nights of hiking?  Does that 
>> include getting to and from the airport?  Where are you coming from?
>>
>> As others have stated, you have chosen the most popular part of the 
>> PCT on the absolute most popular backpacking weekend of the summer.  
>> You may want to consider a different location to start from.  It 
>> sounds like you may be on a time-constraint, so renting a car might 
>> be your best bet in order to maximize your time on the trail.  Flying 
>> into Reno, getting on the trail at Donner pass is super-close.  Also, 
>> a four-day out and back trip sounds a little boring.  Have you looked 
>> into making a loop somewhere around there that includes the PCT?
>>
>> Another option is to take one the shuttles (or Amtrak) from Reno to 
>> Truckee, hitch to Donner Pass, and hike that section south to Echo 
>> Lake, which is a reasonable distance for four days.  Then hitch into 
>> S Lake Tahoe, and take one of the casino buses back to Reno.  Not 
>> having a rental car enables you to do a one-way hike.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 2:14 PM, Alan Miller
<alan.miller401 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all.  My wife and I both love to hike and I have done several 
>>> backpacking trips ranging from an overnight in the Grand Canyon to a 
>>> week in Yellowstone.  It has been a dream of ours to someday hike the
PCT.
>>>  Earlier this year, we decided that 2014 is the year we finally make 
>>> it happen!  We both have some time off around the 4th of July this 
>>> year and we decided we would spend it on the PCT to test gear and 
>>> meal plans, and to just refuel our excitement for the trail.  We 
>>> have tentatively decided on 3 nights through the Desolation 
>>> Wilderness. We will be beginning and ending our hike from Echo Lake.  
>>> We are trying to do the whole trip without renting a car from the 
>>> airport, but I can't seem to figure out how to make the public 
>>> transportation work to get us from either Sacramento or Reno 
>>> airports.  Is there anyway to get close to the trailhead with public 
>>> transportation or should I just bite the bullet and rent a car?  
>>> Thanks _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>
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