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Post by hikerchick395 on Mar 27, 2017 8:06:36 GMT -8
Finally this summer There will be a Bishop Creek shuttle. ESTA will start service Memorial Day weekend. There will be a morning and an afternoon round trip from Bishop to South Lake and Lake Sabrina. It will run seven days a week starting June 7 through August 13. It will run on weekends and holidays from August 19 to October 25.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Mar 27, 2017 9:10:19 GMT -8
Any idea of the cost? Certainly not as cheap as buying the driver pizza and beer.
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Post by Dave Ayers on Mar 27, 2017 14:40:45 GMT -8
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Mar 27, 2017 16:06:48 GMT -8
My buddy & I bought hikerchick395 and her husband pizza and beer when they shuttled us from South Lake to North Lake a couple of years ago. It was a favor to us, and she had shuttled us from Whitney Portal to Tuolumne Meadows a year or 2 prior.
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Post by hikerchick395 on Mar 28, 2017 7:37:07 GMT -8
Many thanks to zeke for your generosity on all of the "shuttles." I think you were here three times fairly recently...once with Chal, once with Mike, then with Chal and Rebecca... Greg and I used Eastern Sierra Transit for ride home from Lone Pine after our JMT hike. It was a bargain at $8.00, then, per person including our giant packs.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 28, 2017 20:11:03 GMT -8
Those are all good things to know, as I start thinking about some longer trips we want to take. Of course, the shuttle I *really* want is one that would allow us to enter over Shepherd's Pass and exit at Crescent Meadows on the other side. That's a long way around.
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speacock
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Post by speacock on Apr 1, 2017 18:13:27 GMT -8
rebeccad
It took us an entire day to preposition cars at start (one at Horseshoe Meadows the other at Crescent meadows.)
Our trip went east to west over Army Pass. Shepherd Pass will cut off a day even tho that is one bugger of a hike up.
It took us an other entire day to recover the cars driving from Fresno (Spent night there) Through Yosemite to Bishop and down to entry point.
From LA to Crescent (drop car) to Lake Isabelle (spent night) to Horseshoe Meadow to start hike to first night at Cottonwood Lakes (New Army Pass the next day - less snow at top).
From Crescent Meadow 2PM to Fresno and overnight with BIG dinner. North to Yosemite down to Horseshoe for car and then home to LA LATE.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Apr 1, 2017 20:47:49 GMT -8
It took us an entire day to preposition cars at start (one at Horseshoe Meadows the other at Crescent meadows.) That's why I'm kind of thinking of pressing family members into service to help Of course the hike we are planning doesn't necessarily have to be all the way from side to side--the real target is the Kaweah Plateau. But it would be cool to drop on over (assuming I can do the scrambles) and out the other side instead of a long backtrack.
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speacock
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Post by speacock on Apr 7, 2017 19:38:32 GMT -8
There were several memorable 'long moments'.
The first was getting over a snow clogged New Army Pass. I knew that if the two of us could get at the pass, the rest of the trip was going to happen. It was a long hug of congratulation. The last 100 feet took two hours of post-holing and slipping up an almost vertical side off from the trail with 9 day packs.
The second was the hot bath at the hot springs at the end of Rock Creek. HUGE concrete bathtub that would easily hold two couples. Pull the wooden stick plug from the front and stick it in the bottom back and you just had to wait for a full tub. The river was only a few short steps behind us to cool it down. AND the crapper with the best view in the Sierra. It had three sides, no roof, a two holer and a stick just a few feet back that you hung your hat on. (Occupied, occupado..etc). You sat down to look up at a melt swollen Rock Creek tumbling down a thousand feet or more.
Next was a beautiful night at Upper Funston Meadows laying on our backs in deep grass and flowers watching it get dark in the deepest part of the Kern River 'ditch'. Looking up while martins and swallows (we guessed) cleared the sky of flying insects. Looking up at the wall we would have to get up the next day was intimidating. It was a LOT of switchbacks with the receding floor of the meadow too slowly dropping below us. Walking through a cloud of mosquitoes that filled your nose and mouth without breathing through a shirt sleeve. It must have been the font of all the bugs the birds were feasting on. It was the first and the last mosquitoes on the trail.
The forth was the sheer joy of walking from the high trail at the start of Chagoopa Creek to the Kawea Gap the next day. That evening a large fire below Crescent Meadows produced smoke that completely blotted out the sky. I took advantage of an early stop for the day to catch up on reading through a small summary book of Cosmology. I was at the conclusion of a set of factors that the author said 'proved' that there was, therefore - no God!. No more than a few seconds after reading that, a strike of lightning hit a snag about 100 feet away. Yep, buried that book in the bottom of the pack, swearing I'd never read any more of that!! What followed was a down pour from the smoke shielded large thunderhead forming just over us. A scramble to set up the tent was followed shortly as I got the last peg nailed down - by no more rain. 5 mins...that was the only rain we had that entire 9 days.
An even bigger impression was walking from the gap down the trail that used thousands of hardrock bits -- many still forming the foundation of the hand-laid trail. I have no idea of how many thousands of pounds of powder/dynamite it took to scrape that trail out of the wall down to Hamilton Lake. The end of the hike psychologically was at Bearpaw Meadows. We were asked the same kinds of questions that must have come up 100's of years ago: "How's the water availability; Tell me about the trail - is it easily passable; How about the snow at the high pass?; Any bear?" I could understand their anxiety at the end of the first day being plopped into the middle of the largest downfall of big timber I had ever seen. It had happened the previous winter - I suspect. One had to find a way to get over and around the 6 and 8 foot diameter logs to find a place to sleep. The entire camping area was a maze of logs laid out like pickup sticks.
We arrived at the 'town' to hundreds of green forestry trucks. There were trains of hundreds more on the way up as we went down the hill to Fresno. The last three days had been consumed by Sue and I discussing the contents of many different kinds of salads. We ended up eating a gargantuan buffet full of ribs and slabs of meat and sugar.
Ah well.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Apr 10, 2017 19:47:12 GMT -8
Next was a beautiful night at Upper Funston Meadows Did you go cross country from Rock Creek down to Funstan Meadows?
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speacock
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Post by speacock on Apr 17, 2017 21:35:42 GMT -8
There is a cross country and un-maintained trail down to the river. It is very steep. I'll see if I can find that description for you. We went down Wallace creek on trail then poked around at bottom on a trail that led up and away for pictures. That was fun and nice packless it only cost us a day and we got to see some more wonderful scenery. That trip added so many more things to see!!
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Apr 19, 2017 11:24:53 GMT -8
That area has some amazing scenery--and some amazing relief. We've only just gotten into the Sequoia backcountry in the last couple of years, and have a yen to see more of it, especially the hard-to-reach bits.
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markskor
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Post by markskor on Apr 19, 2017 13:57:06 GMT -8
RE the shuttle. A great (and welcome) Sierra service, but - Not addressed yet - Where would you suggest parking your car in Bishop when left for a backpacking week... that is safe?
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Apr 19, 2017 19:30:03 GMT -8
Where would you suggest parking your car in Bishop when left for a backpacking week... that is safe? Good question! I might be more inclined to park at the TH, and use the shuttle to allow a one-way trip.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Apr 20, 2017 5:15:01 GMT -8
I have left a car in the South Lake parking lot for a week, twice, and had no issues. I would consider the large parking lot at Vons & Kmart if leaving it in Bishop. I'd also ask at the motel in town where I might spend a night before and after if I could leave a car there. Small price to pay for parking.
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