June trip Gear Help!

[Vinc3nt]

Hi all,

not sure if my previous post went through as it asked me to re log in, and I apologize if it has. I just wanted to ask everyone what thier experience was like in mid June around the Tioga pass area. Me and my buddy are new to the experience, and we had one trip together a year ago to ostrander lake in September. So I figured I would gather some insight to the experienced crowd. This time we are going to the tioga pass area, through elizabeth lake and hopefully make our wat to nelson lake. We have our permits already, but are concerned with the gear that we are carrying. Our main concern is wether our bags are going to keep us warm enough at night. Average temp mainly consists of 30-40's from what I'm seeing. Both me and my buddy have 20+ mummy bags, and they are not high end bags either. Does anyone have an opinion on this? and If anyone can share thier experiences with thier bags, that would give me a good idea on what to expect. I would greatly appreciate it. I also want to know if anyone has experience snow up there during that time of the year, as our gear is not prepared for snow either. Any information would greatly be appreciated! Thank you!

[balzaccom]

You'll have to play it by ear. The pass between Elizabeth Lake and Nelson Lake will almost certainly have some snow in the slot, but shiuld be passable without extra gear. And you do HAVE to get over the pass before you can camp at all.

We usually use 20 degree bags in the summer in the Sierra, but check the weather. If a cold afront and snow is predicted, you might want to reconsider.

If it's just cold, you can always wear fleece inside the bag...

We did this hike a few years ago. You can find it on our website

[Vinc3nt]

Great! Thanks! We're considering other trails around the area in case it gets too cold of if theres too much snow. I guess I'll just keep my ears open for weather reports. we are definately going to bring some extra sleeping clothes, in case it gets chilly.

[AlmostThere]

More often than not, my backpacking trips in June, July, August, September have seen temps below freezing, at elevations 7000+ feet. Rather than hope it won't be cold, you should anticipate that at least one or two nights, it will be, if you are going anywhere at high elevation. Pretty much any trail even if you start very low (Yosemite Valley is around 4,000) you will be above 7000 feet. If you are like 99% of the backpackers ever, you will succumb to the urge to camp near water, which usually collects in the bottom of canyons - and cold air runs downhill all night making the bottoms of canyons and valleys the coldest places to camp. Therefore, you will most likely get cold at night.

Cheap bags are rarely accurately rated. A midweight base layer, thick socks and a nice warm hat would go a long way toward helping stay warm in a sleeping bag that isn't quite as warm as it should be. Eating snacks, walking around or otherwise exercising gently (don't work up a sweat, just get the blood moving), staying hydrated (the usual idea people have is to stop drinking water so they don't have to get up at night - I can testify to doing the exact opposite and having more success staying warm - getting up to pee at midnight and coming back to the bag, I find that the little bit of exercise gets the blood moving nicely and almost immediately I'm toasty - because I stayed hydrated, so my circulation system is working properly and the blood is flowing well to all parts of the body) and choosing the right campsite - not too low, not on top of a ridge, but somewhere between and then setting up the shelter so the wind is blocked adequately - does the rest.

Backpacking is a sport of subtleties.