Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Section Day-Hiking The JMT - Shepherd Pass -> OV

Because I didn't bring along a pair of water shoes last week, I was forced to start from Shepherd Pass to complete the section to Onion Valley. A lot of miles to get back onto the JMT.

Here are some photos:


A cool place to camp under Mt. Keith.


Pretty cool view when you top out at Shepherd Pass.


Beautiful shades of brown.
I was thinking my name should be the High Plains Drifter as I walked this section of the Shepherd Pass Trail.


Starting to see some trees again.


Tyndall Creek crossing.
Last week all of this was under quite a bit of fast moving water.


Gorgeous view to the south.


Looking north to Forester Pass.


Looking down the south side of Forester Pass.


Forester Pass panorama looking "north."


The view from the bottom of Forester Pass.

[img]http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/photos/i-9g59xmL/0/XL/i-9g59xmL-XL.jpg[/img]
Some of the cascades along Bubbs Creek.

[img]http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/photos/i-FSxRxv5/0/XL/i-FSxRxv5-XL.jpg[/img]
East Vidette.

[img]http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/photos/i-XTbRG2L/0/XL/i-XTbRG2L-XL.jpg[/img]
Mt. Bago.

[img]http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/photos/i-PR5F8Jm/0/XL/i-PR5F8Jm-XL.jpg[/img]
Myles heading for Keeler Needle.


The rest of the album: http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/John-Muir-Trail-Section-2/23228525_QnhK3F#!i=1872817127&k=n5PGm3n

Richard, concerning your comment about not having "water shoes" - have you ever tried "sand socks"?
Great photo's! Thanks...

Grip Socks

Drop dead gorgeous, the back crountry not Myles..

Awesome place to be for a weekend..

Thanks for sharing..

mark

Love that section of trail, one of my favorites of the entire JMT, could spend days there

Thanks for the compliments guys...

Thanks for the link. Looks like they'd save the extra couple of pounds that the GoLites that I was carrying weighed.

On another subject: I'm heading into relatively unknown (I've done only short sections of the sections up ahead) terrain and would appreciate any "words of warning" concerning upcoming hikes.

What will be your entry and exit points from here on out???

The view from Glen Pass is splendid. The hike down into the Rae Lakes area is a good one. Other areas I think are great: Upper Basin just south of Mather Pass is a special place.

Ditto on that for me too! I really love that segment of the JMT, that’s part of the reason I always go N-S… it’s my “last-but-not-least” segment.

Richard, what BEAUTIFUL pictures! I’ll add my ‘thanks!” to the long list of people that really appreciate these posts and pics.

Interesting, your picture of Tyndall Creek looks almost exactly where it was (depth-wise) the last couple times I came thru in August. Surprising… especially considering that it was impassable only a week ago.

Tyndall Creek crossing - going the other direction:


It still boggles my mind to think how fast you’re going thru these areas… especially Forester Pass with that much snow. I’d be way too spooked. Glenn Pass should be “fun” if there’s that much snow when you come thru… it’s a knife-blade of a pass.

I really liked the “looking north to Forester Pass” picture… how beautiful with all the ice!

BTW, thanks for posting the picture of Mt. Keith… that’s one of the peaks I’m hoping to get in this summer, and I’d not seen a good picture before. Looks fun!

Another one of the great views of Whitney from the west side:

The schedule will go something like this:

- This weekend: Onion Valley to Taboose Pass.
- Three weekends from now: Taboose Pass to South Lake.
(Next weekend is HM to WP with Shin, Mark and Tracie.)
(Weekend after that is the EB with Ryan Bracci.)

4th of July weekend I hope to do the three sections of South Lake to Red's Meadow.

As far as what I've seen up north of Onion Valley:
- We did a "The Harder Way" trip to Split Mountain via the JMT into Upper Basin last Autumn. Spectacular!!!!! http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Split-Mountain-From-The-West/19721751_f5kkf5#!i=1548216394&k=Qfsn2gw
- I've been over Sawmill Pass and then south via the JMT to the Window Peak area and then north to Taboose. http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=1&Number=53685&Searchpage=1&Main=7199&Words=%26quot%3Bwindow+peak%26quot%3B++Richard+P.&topic=0&Search=true#Post53685
- I've been over Pinchot Pass a couple of times from Taboose.

My main concern is whether I may see some more difficult stream crossings? I more scared of them than the passes. (I know mountaineering, but haven't gone swimming in a lot of years.)

The Southbound JMTer gave me some really good info:
- He snowshoed much of the northern part of the trail.
- He called Glen Pass "technical."

Rosie, I'm not really that fast, I'm just steady. I took the photo of Keith and Bago with you in mind... thanks.

Thanks Richard!

I think the two most challenging stream crossings I've ever had on the JMT were the Evolution Creek and Bear Creek crossings. The Bear Creek Crossing was not especially wide, but it was fast-moving.

The San Joaquin River was an “interesting” mid-thigh deep crossing (a little deeper in the center) in the Blayney Meadows/Muir Trail Ranch area, but it’s not necessary for the JMT… only just to get to the hot spring pools on the other side… Nice!

Rosabella and Richard, I am doing Onion Valley to Whitney in the week around July 4.

Do you have an impression, from what you have seen and heard so far, what the creek crossings are likely to be like at that time? I would imagine that, even with additional snow melt, they'll get less and less as June progresses ... does that make sense to you?

Also, do you have thoughts re Forester Pass at that time? A friend of mine who is joining me does not have snow skills, so we are not planning to take an ice ax or crampons. Might take microspikes for added stability on the trail if it makes sense t do so.... We both hike with hiking poles.

Worse comes to worse, we'll be flexible and modify the itinerary....

Thanks for any thoughts you may have!

Just guessing that they shouldn't be any worse than somewhere in between what I've seen in the last two weeks. There isn't a whole lot of snow to melt anymore.

The "north" side of Forester will still have snow. There's still a lot to melt off on that side before it is dry. If you're concerned, I wouldn't try to head up it early. Wait until later in the day when it's had a chance to soften, but not so late that it turns into Posthole Hell.

BTW: I've started using Spotwalla again to display the tracks that SPOT creates:

http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=49ca4fc5be07c3244

Karin, Richard's picture of Tyndall Creek shows it is already lower here in May than when I was there last August - with last years big snow was knee deep even then.

Harvey, I should have thought to email you! This will be my longest (unguided) thru hike, so I have the usual questions. At least when I get to Whitney, the territory will be familiar!

I wouldn't normally go this early in the season, but this year, may just work out. I'd happily bring my ice axe, but my friend doesn't have one and, except for one impromptu lesson I gave him last week near Tioga Pass, doesn't have experience using one. But sounds like, on the North side of Forester, by early July, we'll be able to follow tracks, and from pictures, the approach doesn't look that steep...? Will evaluate in a few weeks whether microspikes might be helpful. Any thoughts you have always welcome!

I'm gearing up for Shasta in two weeks...!!!

Ordered a pair of the Grip Socks this morning. Thanks again for the link.

Hi Richard, great pictures again. That's my tent in the first picture. It was a very nice spot indeed.


A cool place to camp under Mt. Keith.