Bee, See http://www.catamountsports.com/generel/011250aag.html Leave it to North Carolinians to claim they were the first to use the moniker "catamount". Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
I would actually love to see a mountain lion in the wild. Does anybody ever call them a Puma anymore or is that technically a different type of mountain cat? Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
bee, Yup, sleepless in Raleigh. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
My wife and I used to keep honeybees when we lived in Maine. Got stung frequently because we moved them 4 times every spring/summer for blueberry crop pollination. No matter how well we gowned up, often one would find a way under a bonnet or leg cuff and sting. When they do that they let out pheromes (sp?) that are like a bugel call. Next thing you know there are 15-20 trying to get in at theby tomdisco - General Discussion
eeek, Only in respect to that infamous "Can you see it now?" thread. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
forrestranger, About 90-95% of Yosemite is considered wilderness area. The major exceptions are roads or anywhere readily accessed via cars. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
greentub, Correction: I'm using the Snowpeak Giga stove. Just ordered it from REI; not here yet; confused it with another stove I was looking at. I thought I would hang onto my ancient old reliable Bleuet S-200 butane stove with the pierced canisters but decided I needed to cut down on weight everywhere possible. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
greentub, The Whisperlite is O.K. but no canisters on the plane at all. I'm flying out in July and plan to stop at a Big 5 Sporting Goods store on the drive down from Reno for a couple canisters for my Whisperlite. I know I will not use all of the second canister, in fact probably very little of it. Guess I'll have to burn it off before discarding it because I can't take it home with me. Jby tomdisco - General Discussion
Colorfull thread. Sure beats Half Dome from Patterson. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
Dale, June is a redhead. Redheads are hot! Quirky, but hot. This is my final post on this thread, really. It's all used up. I'm convinced; not happy with telephoto compression; just convinced. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
greentub, There is a lot to be said for szalkowski's suggestion regarding day hikes on your first visit and save the backpacking for when you have more time. You could get in a lot of milage on the Yosemite roads that are open plus day hikes to get a lay of the land. One exception is that it's highly unlikely Tioga Road to the higher country will be open yet. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
greentub, You "may" find the best airfare rates into San Jose airport which is not too bad a drive if approaching Yosemite from the west. I checked out Fresno from Raleigh and everything seemed to cost nearly twice as much into Fresno. Reno became my choice, not because it was cheaper than San Jose but because it's so much closer to the Tuolumne Meadows area whose trailheads will beby tomdisco - General Discussion
There is a cure for this insanity called June! Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
Dale, Thanks for the offer but you don't need to dig up pictures of the area. I'm going to add it to my list of places I'd like to go but it will not be any time soon. I did notice the altitudes are somewhat comparable to Tulomne Meadows so that means they could easily have snow till early June. There just seems to be a great disparity between popularity of different areas of the park. The vby tomdisco - General Discussion
Folks, One area I don't hear anybody ever talking about much are the trails east of Chilnuala Fall out Wawona off Route 41. There's an interesting loop that goes around Buena Vista Peak that passes by several lakes. This might be O.K. for a 3-day hike prior to snow melt at higher elevations. Further east of that loop past the Buck Camp ranger station are a couple more smaller loops between Mby tomdisco - General Discussion
Mike, Final? We're going for 100 posts on this stupid photo are we not? What else do we do this time of year? I told my wife about this subject and she said we're just a bunch of frustrated hiking guys (sorry, Bee) that need to get out more often. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
eeek, I guess we are going to have a time out on any serious posts for at least the next 24 hours. Enjoy. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
I guess this sceptic lacks an appreciation for the warped effects of high power telephoto photographs. Maybe HD can be seen from Patterson. I'd like to see it through my 14.5" diameter astronomical scope but that's not going to happen due to the logistics. At least the narrow field of view provided by such a scope would eliminate most distortion. The level of distortion seen in the photoby tomdisco - General Discussion
Between Frank's posts and Vince's posts it is obvious that the mountain portion of the photo is from an aerial view. The view from Glacier Point shows Clouds Rest slightly lower than HD because Glacier Point is so much lower than HD. The doctored photo shows Clouds Rest dominating over HD. The degree of domination is so ridiculous it can only occur from a significant altitude looking down. Jiby tomdisco - General Discussion
Dale, I got out my Hetch Hetchy National Geo Trails Illus. map to check out the routes that have been mentioned. I've not had the Hetch Hetchy map for long, having purchased it primarily for the corner missing to Ten Lakes. Now that the discussion steered me to the Lake Vernon--Morraine Ridge--Jack Main Canyon I realize there's more to add to my Yosemite trails wish list for later years. I alby tomdisco - General Discussion
If that's Half Dome, where's El Cap? I don't believe it. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
For what it's worth, I share Franks opinion regarding large groups in the wilderness, whether it be Half Dome or elsewhere. Aside from the environmental impact, the problems of 20+ people all with different levels of capabilities and limitations do not make for the best trail experiences. It's like ships in a convoy. The convoy speed is the top speed of the slowest ship and then only when thby tomdisco - General Discussion
Dale, Some of us might be willing to trade the last 5 years of our life to do half what you and Mike have done in Yosemite. I'm jealous! Never should have left California in '75. I have not yet informed my wife but when I'm old enough to draw SS (2 years, 3 months) there will be more than one trip each summer to Yosemite or else one very long liesurely one. Got to support the Lee Vining, Marby tomdisco - General Discussion
Also, if you use the river you could charge admission to watch the show instead of paying for a shower. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
y_p_w, The trip I'm making in July will be solo. Since my wife is subject to severe altitude sickness above 9,000' and no longer has the physical stamina for high altitude backpacking, I informed her that I would be going alone. She occasionally takes solo mini-vacations to do geneological research (collecting dead relatives) so I have no problem saying I'm going backpacking solo. I would noby tomdisco - General Discussion
Not to worry. The new 300-room Econo-Lodge planned for Tuolumne Meadows should restore any lost tax revenue from the Awahnee closing. You heard it here. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion
I guess the answer to my question is that there is flexibility once you are in the wilderness area. I presumed the exit trailheads and exit dates were for SAR purposes but didn't know for sure. They seemed to want me to be pretty specific about exit points and dates of exit when I made the permit requests. Anyway, it will be a great relief to know that I can change my plans once I'm on the traby tomdisco - General Discussion
O.K., it's 2:00 AM and sleep appears to be an alien concept again so I''ll just bug you folks. It is understood that one absolutely must enter the wilderness area via the trailhead on one's permit. But what about exiting? How stringent are the rangers about you leaving via the exit trailhead on your permit? I ask this because I'm admitting to myself that the hiking schedule planned and alreadby tomdisco - General Discussion
I always though desalinization would be a good candidate for wind power application but apparently it requires tremedous amounts of energy and is also poor in efficiency in that most of the original water is discharged back into the sea. Jimby tomdisco - General Discussion