Lessons Learned

2025 Notes (Porters!, 3Day Magic):   

This year we planned for 3 day magic and Mules (which cancelled at the last minute).  We used 4 Porters (ex mule drivers) to carry all of our gear to the top of Kearsage.  Four hikers (Deane, Paola, Ken, Lee) got there early enough to meet Porters at Kearsage with empty packs.  Everyone else took what they could as they came thru.  We had to cache some of it in the bear box at Kearsage lake for retrieval on Friday.  We served Quesadillas as both the Breakfast and Dinner main dish (which worked well) - we did not bring potatos due to weight (and everyone was fine without them).  Next year, no PBJ, no "Camp filtration system".  Keep the rest!  We seemed to have a little bit too much food this year, tone it down next year.

2024 Notes (Mules):   

This was our first year using mules over Kearsage pass and it worked great!  Trails were clear, well marked, and free of snow (with no major river crossings).  It seemed like we caught the middle of the herd, with the bulk of our hikers on Friday with fewer coming on Saturday (and more having a snack and just passing thru).  73 signed the register, but I think it is likely we actually served about 100.  This year we tried Burritos for dinner, which did work well and was easier to deal with than Spaghetti.  It has been suggested that we just serve quesadillas for both breakfast and dinner - to be considered next year.  Another hit this year was a battery pack for charging phones (thanks Lee!).  Most of the angels managed to hike in on Thursday so we were well prepared to receive hikers on Friday

2023 Notes (No Mules):   

Wow ... that's about all I can say after this year.  It was a huge snow year, which completely ruled out mules or horses.  We could not go in from the west because a chunk of Sequoia Kings canyon was closed and all permits cancelled.  We ended up getting permits to go in from the east side at Onion Valley over Kearsage pass.  There was still lots of snow making for very hard going (everyone wore micro spikes).  Ken, Maura, David, and Tom dropped out after hiking to the pass and back due to conditions above their pay grade.  Seamus, Deane, Paola, and Tyler made the hike on Friday morning and only saw one Hiker at Vidette but were able to give snacks to multiple hikers coming down as they went up - it took them 12 hours for an 8 mile hike (less coming out, they picked a different route)

2022 Notes (Mules):

We had a great trip this year.   There was almost no snow in the mountains and rivers were low and easy to cross.  The season started early, so trails were clear and we likely missed the biggest part of the "Hiker Herd" (we had fewer hikers than expected).  It also meant the mules got to camp before 1pm giving us a jump start on dinner.  We had a lot of hikers "Eat and Run" and I suspect not all signed our register (so I added 10 to our total).  This year we had no trail musicians other than kazoos (which were still a hit).  We found ourselves "pushing food" on full hikers all weekend.  We ended up carrying some spaghetti and sauce down the hill (9 servings) - but most everything else went (we had a hiker willing to hang out till what little was left was gone)

2021 Notes (Mules):

We had a big donation carry over from last year, and very little snow over the winter, so mules were almost a given.  I waited too long to apply for permits and wasn't able to get one through regular channels so had to beg the pack station - everyone else had to pull long distance permits.  George R got bitten by a rattle snake a little above Sphinx Crossing and had to be helicoptered out of the park (he is fine) - Liz R ("Nightingale") had to drop of of the trip to help care for him.  Maura brought kazoos for everyone which was a big hit.  We had too much food on this trip and had to burn tortillas in the fire and carry some spaghetti back down the hill (we hate doing that!)

2020 Notes:  Trip Cancelled Due to Covid-19

All donations carried over to next year

2019 Notes (No Mules):

We were all set for mules, but rivers got too high and the mules dropped out a few days before the hike.  We planned for about 50 hikers and got close to 70 in 24 hours (and had to go down the hill early).  Most of the hikers did not stay long with us - they ate and moved on.

2018 Notes (Mules used):

There was a group of hikers that used this trip as a launch for a longer trip up Mt Whitney and back on the High Sierra Trail (so not all of the contributions went to "Magic")

2017 Notes (No Mules):

This was a big snow year, and there was a huge melt off in the week before the trip.  Rivers had changed course and multiple search and rescue efforts caused SEKI to suspend our permit at the last minute.  We end up switching to Florence lake as an access point to the PCT (and ditching much of the food/supplies originally planned for)

2016 Notes (Mules used):

Many of the angels on this trip used Vidette as a launching point for a longer trip around the Rae Lakes Loop, so not all of the contributions went to "Magic".  This is our first trip using mules!

2015 Notes (No Mules):

This was a very minimalistic trip, funded on a shoe string.  We fed something to all the hikers, but it could have been more.