Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board High Sierra Trail Advice?

Hey Guys! I missed you. After tackling Mt. Whitney in May and June this year, I've been spending a lot of time pondering my next great EPIC adventure. I think I have settled on the High Sierra Trail. Seems like the next logical step to me.

To make things more interesting, I'm targeting said hike in mid-October. I plan on bringing all my winter gear and would even like to try my hand at fishing some high Sierra lakes/streams. I would love to hear advice from those of you whom have made this hike. Advice is welcome for any HST topic...gear, fishing tips, funny antedotes, warnings, weather, food packing strategies, you're crazy, I can't believe you are doing this, shuttle tips, the best camping spots, the bears will eat you, etc.

I know many of you Whitney gurus must have done this hike and hope you don't mind my tapping your wealth of knowledge.

My heart and pancakes are in the Sierras...
-Stumbles

Two major concerns about doing a mid Oct HST.

1. WEATHER
2. Transportation (the car is not going to be where you finish)
3. WEATHER
4. Back country ranger stations are closed for the season (i.e. Your on ur own if the weather gets bad)

OK thats 4, but you get my thinking

Transportation might end up being the biggest problem though. Your starting on the west side and finishing on the east. If you don't have a person to shuttle you it's going to be a hassle getting back to your car.

This was my planned trip for the year (which I should at Upper Hamilton Lake tonight, Damnit) this is how I was going to do it.

Drive to WP and drop the car off (Burger of course), hitch a ride to Onion Valley trail head. stay the night there, then pop over Kearsarge pass down to Roads End in Kings Canyon via Bubbs creek trail(22 Miles) After you top out at the pass, it's pretty much down hill.

From there, hitch a ride to Lodgepole to resupply and a nights rest. Then either start at wolverton, or the Traditional start at Cresent meadow TH.

If you do that route, in Mid Oct, not a whole lot of traffic heads down to Cedar Grove, good chances getting a ride on a week end, not so sure during the week. Never been down there that late in the season.

Thank you Kentucky Todd!

Would you believe I have actually located three other people that might be crazy enough to attempt this with me in October and also own a 4WD vehicle?

The thought is to do a marathon shuttle - rendezvous at Portal (burger), drop a car, load into one car, drive another 6+ hours to the other side of the Sierras, camp near trailhead and head out on the HST the next day. (Finish at Portal, eat at least two burgers and an entire plate of fries, then hop in the car that was left behind and drive ALL THE WAY BACK to the other side.) Thought about doing the key-swapping technique, but I rather have more people around to eat if I get stuck in the wilderness and run out of food.

My greatest concerns coincide with your number 1 & 3. We'll be monitoring weather up until the day we leave, but I've been suprised by waking up to an unexpected 12" of fresh snow on Mt. Whitney at Trail Camp before and had to slog out in blizzard conditions after the weather reports said 30% chance of only 1-2 inches. Mt. Whitney is one thing, it was familiar territory so I just hiked down and surveyed land marks and was able to find my way out in white out conditions, but on the HST, snow half way through (3-4 days in), I won't be able to use the same logic.

I'm willing to bet Doug won't hike that far to come save me I'd go during the summer, but I work for the government and my particular office forbids that much vacation at the end of the fiscal year (June-September).

Does anyone know where I can look up historical snowfall records for the HST areas?

Is there anyone out there that has done the HST in winter conditions and can offer any additional words of wisdom?

What are the trickiest points on the trail to navigate in slippery conditions?

Will we need rope or will crampons/ice axe be sufficient?

Opinions and warnings welcome.