There are many questions that come when you take on a trip of this nature please feel free to do all the research that you want to learn more on the topics that you are interested in and concerned about. Asking questions is always a good thing, everyone has to go through the same things when they start something of this scale. There are hundreds of places on the internet that are amazing resources for you to learn from in any format that you need to, feel free to use them. Here are a bunch of links that have lots of material on these subjects.
links:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd922360.pdf
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recarea/?recid=21874
https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/inyo/recreation/recarea/?recid=21264
Day one
Silver lake to Waugh Lake
Mileage: 8.74mi
Elevation gain: 3456ft
Elevation lost: 1064ft
Elevation zone: 7245 - 9652ft
Day two
Waugh Lake to Ediza Lake
Mileage: 9.92mi
Elevation gain: 2318ft
Elevation lost: 2634ft
Elevation zone: 9034 - 10241ft
Day three
Ediza Lake to Middle Fork San Joaquin
Mileage: 12.17mi
Elevation gain: 2038ft
Elevation lost: 3642ft
Elevation zone: 7575 - 10321ft
Day three alternate
Ediza lake to Rosalie Lake
Mileage: 11.82mi
Elevation gain: 3165ft
Elevation lost: 3082ft
Elevation zone: 8128 - 10324ft
Day four
Middle Fork San Joaquin to Badger lakes
Mileage: 10.12mi
Elevation gain: 3042ft
Elevation lost: 1161ft
Elevation zone: 7693 - 9730ft
Day four alternate
Rosalie Lake to Badger Lakes
Mileage: 8.23mi
Elevation gain: 2176ft
Elevation lost: 1978ft
Elevation zone: 8116 - 9686ft
Day five
Badger Lakes to Silver Lake
Mileage: 6.28mi
Elevation gain: 981ft
Elevation lost: 3309ft
Elevation zone: 7244 - 10056ft
links:
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/trailheads.htm
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/wildernesstrailheads.pdf
Day one
White Wolf to Patte Valley
Mileage: 9.29mi
Elevation gain: 756ft
Elevation lost: 4205ft
Elevation zone: 4228 - 7831ft
Day two
Patte Vally to Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne
Mileage: 6.57mi
Elevation gain: 2651ft
Elevation lost: 1458ft
Elevation zone: 4357 - 5939ft
Day three
Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne to McGee Lake
Mileage: 8.25mi
Elevation gain: 3134ft
Elevation lost: 573ft
Elevation zone: 5519 - 8124ft
Day four
McGee Lake to Tuolumne Peak Ridge
Mileage: 6.07mi
Elevation gain: 2144ft
Elevation lost: 443ft
Elevation zone: 7896 - 9881ft
Day five
Tuolumne Peak Ridge to Ten Lakes
Mileage: 6.7mi
Elevation gain: 1615ft
Elevation lost: 2019ft
Elevation zone: 8340 - 9919ft
Day six
Ten Lakes to White Wolf
Mileage: 10.36mi
Elevation gain: 1561ft
Elevation lost: 3092ft
Elevation zone: 7851 - 9672ft
Links:
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/trailheads.htm
https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/upload/wildernesstrailheads.pdf
Tuolumne to Glen Aulin
Mileage: 5.25mi
Elevation gain: 457ft
Elevation lost: 1202ft
Elevation zone: 7870 - 8716ft
Glen Aulin to May Lake
Mileage: 7.86mi
Elevation gain: 2302ft
Elevation lost: 844ft
Elevation zone: 7871 - 9400ft
May Lake to Sunrise
Mileage: 7.93mi
Elevation gain: 1889ft
Elevation lost: 1871ft
Elevation zone: 8148 - 9787ft
Sunrise to Merced Lake
Mileage: 9.61mi
Elevation gain: 703ft
Elevation lost: 2807ft
Elevation zone: 7021 - 9523ft
Merced Lake to Vogelsang
Mileage: 8.09mi
Elevation gain: 3723ft
Elevation lost: 836ft
Elevation zone: 7240 - 10679ft
Vogelsang to Tuolumne Meadows
Mileage: 7.12mi
Elevation gain: 141ft
Elevation lost: 1647ft
Elevation zone: 8607 - 10131ft
At our last meeting we planned to have a trip on the 17th next Monday to get out with our packs on for the day. This will be an easy 8 mile paved paths through Roseville on the miner's ravine trial. We will meet at 9:00am at the parking lot in downtown Roseville at the corner of oak and Lincoln. We plan to be hiking by 9:20, so please be on time. (Map link below)
At the meeting I asked for everyone to bring their pack with a full load in it, this means that I would like everyone to carry their base weight that they will have in their pack for the trip. This is everything minus their food and water for the trip. So please carry as close to this weight as possible but not exceeding 20 pounds. Example items are like your tent, sleeping bad, stove, all these types of gear items. This is meant to get everyone closer to the weight they will be on the trial this way we can all get used to carrying the wight on our backs that you will need to.
Remember that this is about 8 miles, so we can hopefully complete this trail early so our half way stop is likely to be a little after 11ish, so snacks are a good idea and water is a requirement. We will only be stopping at the 4-mile mark for 30 minutes, so please keep this in mind. Also, the last time we were there i do not remember their be being a bathroom so please plan accordingly.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/miners-ravine-trail
Please ask me any questions that you may have.
As we have said at the last couple meetings we will be holding our second prep trip on February 12, we will be hiking the Olmsted loop and training hill. We will be meeting at 7am at the trailhead. This is a longer trail then the one that we did a few weeks ago, and it will also have much more climbing than previously. This is a good challenge and a good second step for our second trip. There are links to the all trails and the Google Maps pin of where we will be meeting. Parking here will be a problem as it is difficult, so please plan accordingly. The all trails link does not follow our trail exactly as they use a different starting point then we will be, but the path is roughly the same, to give the idea of what we will be hiking.
Same as the last trip we did I would like everyone to come with a pack ready to hike with your base weight. This is everything that goes i your pack except for food, and fuel. I would like everyone to come with a pack at just over 20 pounds as this is a good weight to be aiming for on our first few trips. In addition to your base weight we will need to have plenty of water, snacks, and a quick sack lunch for the trail. For lunch, we don't want to be cooking, so a sandwich or something that can be eaten quickly is a good option, We will have about 30 minutes to eat again on this trail.
As we said at the last meeting it is time for our first overnight of the season. We will be camping in a couple of sites that are along the American River just north of Folsom Lake, called avers pond. This is a great trip for us to all start our overnight trips with. Thanks to Mr. Person for helping in the planning process.
This trip will require everyone to do a little more prep than the others as are we are camping again. This is the more fun side of the program as we are able to apply all the knowledge that we have been taking in for months now. I am really excited to see us on the trail for the night again. Please take some time to practice packing your gear, making a meal plan, and carrying your pack before we hit the trail on the 19th. Once we are on the trial we will have about 5.5miles to the campsite for the night. The next day we will hike about a mile to the parking lot where we will be picked up. This means we will all meet at sterling Pointe staging area at 9am on the 19th, and be picked up from rattlesnake bar boat launch on the 20th at 10am. Rides will need to be coordinated as we do not have parking at the trailhead.
Here are the links to the maps
Caltopo: https://caltopo.com/m/7UGPM
Tomorrow we will be meeting to start the first overnight trip of the season. There are a few things i would like everyone to note when getting ready. Remember the material that we have taught you over the last few months, it is all critical to enjoying your time on the trail. So we will be meeting at the trailhead at sterling point staging area at 9am, we are not able to park here, so please arrange to be dropped off. Then we will all finish at rattlesnake bar at about 10am the next morning where we will be picked up.
Other items to consider are what gear and food you want to bring, please make sure to follow a gear list when packing today. We will be having a gear check on the trail, so we can all practice how this will go in the future at meetings. There is a high chance for rain tomorrow afternoon also, so please keep this in mind and have a good solution to how you will stay dry as dry is warm. Also keep rain gear handy as it may be sudden so quick aces is key, remember hat from last year.
Please remember to bring a map (printed out) and a compass as this will be the main source of navigation, we are also going 5 miles so if you don't already this would also fulfill that rank requirement.
If there is something that you would like to be added to this please send them to to me and I will get them on the list
If there are questions please fill out this form so that they can be addressed below or individually.
Answers to questions that were asked that pertain to more than a single individual will be listed here for everyone to see.
This is something that we still have not gotten a perfect solution to in the past and are still working on. We will have many different paces on the trip as we always do however sticking to the buddy system, and stoping at trail junctions has been working okay, we will still be changing things up this year. I am planning on requiring everyone to have a deep understanding of the route that we are taking on all prep trips and the main 50 miler as well. This should enable each member to make a decision on what they are needed to do on each section of trial and what is coming up, to further prepare everyone. This means that any scout on the trip should be able to be a trek leader for any section of trail that we encounter.
To be prepared for the trip the best thing to do is to attend all the planning meetings that you can, as well as pay attention to all the material that you are being given. Over the course of the next few months you will learn and be able to apply all the information that you need for the trip, and for anything that you are not as sure about please ask as many questions as you need to. We are here for you and can answer anything that you need, don't be scared because you think it's a stupid question because there are none. Everyone else has probably had the same question at one point so we can give you all the information that you need.
This is a good concern to have, especially for someone who has not had a experiacne like this before. However you will quickly adapt to the backcountry and you will learn to rely on the knowledge that yourself and those around you have. Between the group you wont be alone there are many people around you that can help with anything that you may need. We will learn to deal with all the possible situations that we will encounter and how to mitigate them as well so we can have as easy of a trip as well.