Bishop Pass ~ March 2016

Mt. Agassiz from the outlet of Long Lake.

Bishop Pass ~ March 2016

After reading a recent article about weekend warriors called The Ultimate 64 Hour Weekend I decided to create my own quick weekend adventure. To make the most of the weekend I left home right after work on Friday, drove all night to Bishop then slept under the stars in the Buttermilk area.

The next morning I sped up South Lake Road until the snow was too deep to drive and parked by the Tyee Lakes trailhead. Following a 3 mile road-walk to the Bishop Pass trailhead I snowshoed over uneven ground on a partially covered trail up to about 10,100'.

From there it was all cross country with the trail usually buried under a few feet of snow. For the rest of the weekend I had the entire wilderness to myself with no sign of tracks from cross country skiers or other snowshoers.

Winter Sierra Gear List ~ 2016

In a recent post on Backpackinglight someone asked if it was possible to stay safe, warm, dry and well fed in the winter while keeping an Ultralight base weight (10 lbs or less). 

Fortunately the answer is yes! 

Check out my latest gear list from a recent 4 day snowshoeing trip. I stayed warm and even over-slept down to 10 F using the gear below. 

Let the gram gods rejoice.

Seven Day Sierra Snow Gear List ~ 2014

This UL gear list has everything I need to stay warm, dry and well fed for a week long trek into the Sierra backcountry. I have used this setup in temperatures in the low teens this winter and slept like a baby. 

The standout piece of gear is the Mountain Laurel Designs cuben Solomid. I custom ordered the Solomid with the lighter 0.51 oz/sqyd cuben material to save some weight. Understandably Ron Bell would not provide the normal warranty with this lighter material as he prefers the slightly heavier 0.70 oz/sqyd cuben. Fortunately the lighter material has held up well even in an all night wind storm at 11,000 feet earlier this year.

If you have any comments, criticisms, recommendations or questions please feel free to send me an email at bluewater9@cox.net. 

Tablelands Snowshoe Trek in Sequoia National Park ~ April 2014

Winter Sunset from the Tablelands.

A few weeks before this trip my wife and I went to the first BPL Southern California GGG. The good people at BPL (Backpackinglight.com) have been holding an annual GGG (Gathering of the Gear Geeks) in Northern California for many years, but this was the first 'gathering' in Southern California. We weren't exactly sure what to expect. 

Fortunately it turned out to be a fun experience. We met many other hikers including Marian, an experienced backpacker from Romania. By the end of the GGG we had agreed to do a snowshoeing trip before the season was over. 

A few weeks later it was time to hit the trail. I planned on staying out for a week while Marian would head back after a few days to meet his wife in Sequoia. I had an entire week to explore some of the remote areas of the Tablelands and beyond in the unique beauty of the winter. 

We started out with some pleasant forest hiking with just a few patches of snow. 

High Sierra Snowshoe Trip ~ March 2014

Snowshoeing over frozen Emerald Lake.

Last summer I had the opportunity to join a group of ultralight backpackers from BPL on a trip in Emigrant Wilderness. I was fortunate to meet Andrew and Chris on the trip and like most people in the group they were well versed in the latest UL gear, food, techniques and cuben fiber bling. 

During that summer trip we all shared stories about our latest journeys over the UL campfire. After hearing about a winter trip I took last year Andrew mentioned possibly doing a group snowshoeing trip in the winter. He was finishing up a personal challenge to do a Sierra backpacking trip every a month for a year and a snowshoeing trip was a good fit that winter. 

We agreed to get something scheduled for that winter but the busy holiday season came and went and before long it was January 2014. By early 2014 we decided to head out in March, weather permitting. Although it was a dry winter a few late season storms hit the Sierra and there was plenty of snow! 

With about four days available for the trip we decided to try the classic Evolution Loop on snowshoes. The loop is about fifty miles and this seemed like a reasonable distance for a four day trip. I would go in a day early to check the conditions then we would decide which way to start when they arrived the following day. 

Due to the large amount of fresh snow at high altitude our plan turned out to be overly ambitious. The recent storms left two to three feet of fresh powder on the north facing slopes. I spent the first day breaking trail through deep powder and by the time I got above timberline at 10,400 feet it was time to make camp. It had taken six hours to go five miles. Echo Col was six miles away over difficult cross country terrain on unconsolidated snow. At this rate it would take four days just to get to Muir Pass.

By the time Andrew and Chris arrived the next day we decided to follow my tracks back up to Sabrina Basin and see how far we could go. . . 

The road to Sabrina Basin was gated outside of Aspendell so we walked the first 1.8 miles to the trailhead. 

Glacier Divide Loop ~ Piute Pass, Alpine Col, Lamarck Col 03/21 - 03/25/2013

After taking a few winter trips in the local San Jacinto mountains this winter I was excited to take a real Sierra winter trip. For my first real winter experience in the Sierras I decided to start from familiar ground, the North Lake trailhead near Bishop. The plan was to cross the Sierra Crest at Piute Pass, then cross the Glacier Divide at Alpine Col and finally back over the Sierra Crest at Lamarck Col. I had four days and three nights to make the loop on snowshoes. 

Driving out of Bishop for some big mountain adventure.