The High Sierra Trail Information Page
July 2008


Page Updated - 05.08.08

This page is specifically designed to be a starting point and collection of information for those planning for the HST in July of 2008 under the leadership of Mark Vander Pol (that's a scary thought!). I will try and keep this site as up-to-date as possible, but if you see something that needs to be changed please let me know!

Trail Information
The HST crosses the Sierra Nevada Mountains from East to West within Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. At the Western terminus is Crescent Meadow and the Eastern Terminus officially ends on top of Mount Whitney, but practically one must exit via Whitney Portal on the East side of the Sierras. We are planning on doing the trail from West to East which eases us into the altitude gains and our strength for the high point of Whitney on the last day.

Dates
Our wilderness permit has been reserved for starting on Wednesday, July 2 and finishing on Tuesday, July 8, 2008. Some of the other dates concerning the trip are still being determined, but these two things are set.

Participants
Confirmed

  • Mark Vander Pol (Organizer) - Escondido, CA
  • Dan Applegate - Joliet, IL
  • Steve Boeringa - Palos Heights, IL
  • Tricia Barackman - Spring Valley, CA
  • Sunny Chung - Escondido, CA
  • Brian Kidwell - Spring Valley, CA
  • Steve Busse - San Francisco, CA
  • Samantha Fimbres - San Diego, CA


    • Possible
  • Tyler Schemper - Temecula, CA - Possibly the first night only


    • Punks who dropped out!
  • Jason Bruxvoort

    • Itinerary
    Our schedule / itinerary has been set in a way in that the beginning and the end of the trip are set. We are going in on July 2 and exiting on July 8 (our permit doesn't need to be changed). It is nice in that SEKI doesn't require us to give our exact itinerary of our campsites as other popular wilderness areas require. Therefore, we have some measure of flexibility as to our actual itinerary during the course of the trip (as long as we exit on time).

    Possible Itineraries (PDF) - Some possible scenarios and options for the trip.

    HST Data (PDF) - Some data for the trail.

    Map
    The best map that I have found is Tom Harrison's "Mt. Whitney High Country" map. This can be purchased here and is highly recommended. For just the section that concerns the HST, I scanned the map and it can be downloaded here (PDF - 2.1MB). (Note - on page 3 a small portion of the trail was cut off at the very top of the page.)

    Planning Documents
    Here are some documents that might be of interest as we plan for the trip. Some of these are simply complitations from the SEKI website.

    Equipment List (Word) - This is a list highlighting essential personal items as well as shared group items along with other items to consider bringing along.

    Permit Reservation letter (PDF) - Here is the letter I got from the Wilderness Office of Sequoia-Kings Canyon (SEKI) National Park

    HST Regulations (Word) - This is a compilation of the rules and regulations concerning our being in the SEKI wilderness. More information can be found on the link below.

    Bear Information (Word) - Helpful information concerning how to be safe in bear country especially relating to protecting our food and what to do in case of an encounter with a bear.

    2008 Snow Plot (PDF) - This is a plot of snow sensors throughout the Sierras. It should be noted that the y-axis is in the unit of Percentage of April 1 average. We are concerned primarily with the bottom plot of the Southern Sierras. For up-to-date results from the sensors see the link below.

    2005 Snow Plot (PDF) - Because of the trip report and photos from wannabp (link below) who did the trail July 2-8, 2005 (our dates) in a higher than average snow year it is a good exercise to prepare our trip challenges by what they faced in a similar year.

    Leave No Trace Ethics (350 kB PDF) - This document is a collection of the information off the Leave No Trace website. These are a set of Wilderness Ethics that we need to abide by while in the wilderness.

    Links
    I cannot give an exhaustive list of links that I have discovered, but here are some websites that I tend to look at often, or found very informative and worth posting. If you find a site that should be listed, let me know.

    California Snowpack - Real-time and archived data of the snow in the Sierras.

    SEKI Wilderness Page - The governing body over the land through which the HST travels is the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park

    Paige Falk - Photos from a September 2007 trip. Some absolutely gorgeous photos.

    wannabp Webshots Page - Photos and report mentioned above that had conditions similar to what we might face this year.

    Ben's Photos and Report - Beautiful photos and a nice report of a trip did last year.

    Leave No Trace - The website of Leave No Trace

    Trail Journals
    Keep up with the participants by reading their journals!

    Mark Vander Pol

    E-mail
    If you are interested in this trip, or have any comments to the information given above please e-mail me at mark[REMOVE]@mvpol.com.