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Alex Wierbinski

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Wilderness Experience Level

Experience Level: Expert: All Season High Sierra Travel

Wilderness Equipment

Wilderness Equipment: Plus Winter Gear

Wilderness Approach/Style

Wilderness Style: Long distance backpacker (100+ miles)

Favorite Things

Favorite Place(s)

As you can see by this web site, my favorite place is between Lake Tahoe and Mount Whitney.

But I really enjoy the E fork of the Carson River, especially the unmaintained section South from Carson Falls to the Pacific Crest Trail below the E Carson Headwaters bowl.

The E Carson bowl sits back-to-back with the Wolf Creek drainage, which flows from Wolf Creek Lake. Wolf Creek Lake is perched on a little shelf in the folds of the mountain coming off the Eastern flank of Sonora Peak.

Imagine back-to-back drainages with The East Carson's long and deep run North backed up against this high shelf & its little lake. Yet another reward for the long climb up the E Carson.

These drainages are separated by a short flat with deep drops flowing out of each drainage. Heading up, and South along the PCT, you shortly pass through the Sonora Gap above Sonora Pass. I love this truly amazing 40 mile trip.

The Emigrant Wilderness at Grizzly Peak Lake is also splendid.

Darwin Bench, right before you enter Evolution Basin from the North.

The massive pile of broken rock the incredible trail up to Mather Pass works its way through on the North side of the pass.

The Painted Lady reflecting in Rae Lakes at first light is breathtaking. These are a few of my favorite things.

I have so many favorite places, I think I'll write a trail guide about them. Stay tuned as I finish the web site development and begin dropping the videos and pictures of these things into the content of the the trail guide.

Favorite piece(s) of equipment

I really like my snow shoes. But when it really comes down to it, I love the piece of equipment that is doing its job right when I need it done.

Humm,..there are three pieces of equipment that are vital. Your Legs, Lungs, and your perception. Guess which one determines the nature of the others...

The first two are legs and my lungs. Yes, you are your most important piece of equipment. And right now I'm not serving them well, as of early 2011...cough, er...ouch...

In real terms your legs and lungs determine your basic physical capabilities. They are, after all, your physical interface with the Sierra Reality. You will suffer in proportion to your lack of fitness. This can be constructive, to a limited extent.

Neither your legs or lungs collect, or determine, the meaning of experience. Perceived information requires perception to properly sort-out.

If my legs and lungs are delivering pain, dysfunction, and failure these sensations can overwhelm and undermine my perceptions, condition my experiences, and are capable of incapacitating my abilities to collect and interpret information from the terrain I'm crossing. Keeping balance demands different approaches in different circumstances.

Reciprocally, if the focus of your visit to the Sierra is only to exercise your legs and lungs as an endurance athelete, your ability to collect information, to perceive, fit as you are, will be as distorted as the hiker incapacitated by pain.

Your experiences, your perception of the Sierra must not be diminished by the pursuit or ignorance of fitness.

The "subjective" transition to natural conditions, both physically and mentally takes different lengths of time for different people. I generally make the transition within three to five days.

The "pain" of hiking to the top of a high and hard mountain pass becomes a deep pleasure. But it is still seriously painful. This is what deepens the experience.

The physical challenge influences the experience, informing not just the mountain you are crossing, but how you will feel on the mountain five days and seventy-five miles down the trail.

Sometimes I can see the whole trail in every step. Hell, I can't wait to tell you about my "falling uphill" walking style when I finally get to the "Art of Walking" section of the trail guide.

These techniques have kept me rolling down these trails on my fucked up knees. For Decades.

The important thing to remember is that you don't start here. Children and new backpackers must be brought in one step at a time, or they will flee screaming from something that would otherwise nourish them for a lifetime.

With just a touch of common sense, everything else, your pack, boots, clothes, kitchen and water gear is window dressing...but...vital to get right. Remember, this is a dead serious balance between the physical and the perceptive. Screw up the balance between the two, and think "I can live naked in Nature," and die...

My pack really impresses me with how it holds 75 pounds with stability, when it is an appreciable percentage of my own age.

My little walrus micro swift tent really has impressed me during snowstorms in December, while being a great pillow the rest of the time. At least when there's no weather or mosquitoes.

favorite wilderness website

http://TahoetoWhitney.com

favorite wilderness website II

http://www.youtube.com/user/tahoetowhitney?feature=mhum

High Sierra Experiences

Previous Trips in the Sierras

Four complete Tahoe to Whitney Trips by various routes, Three Tahoe to Yosemite trips by the classic route, and too many trips along sections of the crest to count.

High Sierra/Wilderness Experiences, 2009

Recent Trips Lake Tahoe, Meeks Bay Trail head, to Tuolumne Meadows, 181 miles, Sept 15 to Oct 2

Tahoe to Mount Whitney, 470 miles, (The Long Way) 45 days, 12 days off, July 15 to Aug 28, 2009

Last Spring Tahoe Basin to Round Top Lake/The Sisters, and back, 24 miles in snow/spring conditions, June, 2009

To the Headwaters of the E. Fork of the Carson, 32 miles, snow/cross country/spring conditions, June, 2009

Out of the Sierras Lost Coast, BLM and State, and part of the Kings Range, 131 miles, all of May, 2009

High Sierra/Wilderness Experiences, 2010

March 18, 2010: Meyers to Round Lake to Round Top Lake to Carson Pass. Snow.

May 31 to June 9, two trips: 1st: East Carson River. Trip rerouted when unable to ford raging tributary full of Spring runoff. 2nd trip: Meyers to Round Lake to Showers Lake to Round Top Lake to Round Lake and out. Snow.Around 32 miles.

July 19 to August 1: Walker to Tuolumne Meadows. Entered Sierra Crest from base of Eastern Escarpment. Cross Country route from Carson Falls to PCT at junction with E Carson River trail. PCT to Sonora Pass, then followed the Tahoe to Yosemite Route from Kennedy Meadows Pack Station to Tuolumne Meadows. 117 miles.

September 1 to September 8: Kennedy Meadow to Tuolumne Meadows, with two days at Yosemite Trail Crew Camp. 87 miles.

High Sierra/Wilderness Experiences, 2011

January 4 to 8, 2011. South Upper Truckee to Round Lake. Very cold night conditions. Clear and moderate days. Hard trip, as I was unable to eat properly or easily.

Series of Films: Gear Selection for Winter Travel in the Sierras

TahoetoWhitney on Youtube, see "playlists," Winter Gear.

Future Trips