Sometimes, a person can ask too much from a backpacking trip. Last August, talking with a fellow hiker, I decided to try a cross country trip through the Emigrant Basin. The Basin was a beautiful area I had only seen in pictures. But I also need to assess my plans for a week-long cross country trip in Sequoia National Park this summer. I did not have the calendar space for two trips, so I decided to see the basin and have a mini version of the summer trip on the same trip.
Elements of the summer trip to be included in this one were: walk 20 trail miles/day or 10 cross-country miles/day for multiple days; cheat on food weight by eating lots of nuts, sleep in a bivy sack multiple days, safely traverse snowy slopes and churning creeks; navigate off trail over changing landmarks. Many of these would be new experiences for me. If I could not do these, I would have to tone down my summer trip, which had all of thse plus unfamiliar territory 6000 feet higher up.
Right from the start, my plans had to change. The level of spring run-off in the creek really restricted access to the wilderness.