by benshih » Mon Jul 16, 2018 2:05 pm
We are actually now all set with Desolation Wilderness with a reserved permit. If you are familiar with it, the group is entering DW at Zone 34 - Susie Lakes, which is a easy 4-mile hike from the Glen Alpine Trail Head. After spending the night in Zone 34, which is the requirement, they can go where ever they want within Desolation Wilderness. I think this will be a good trip anyway.
To answer some of the background questions - this is a group of 3 hikers who are fairly experienced. They are all graduating high school seniors who were all Boy Scouts throughout their youth, all wilderness first-aid trained. They have all backpacked more than 100 miles through multiple outings. They just did a practice hike and was able to do 11 miles fairly easily. In short, I think they are solid. However, they have not backpacked these parts of Yosemite, and we have not gone through the permitting process with Yosemite and Inyo - this is where we lacked experience.
In retrospect, reading all of the comments that were shared, I think they could have done this route. But I was spooked by the ranger and didn't want to risk it...