NJ, good on 'ya, for doing this advanced planning.

I, personally, would not tend to stay in one place, when you have the opportunity to visit so many wonderful places, and see such a variety of terrain. Things I'd do:

Stay in Tuolumne, and hike in to Mt Dana on one day. Cloud's Rest on the next.

Stay in Mammoth, drive to Minaret Summit (9,700), park, and take the trail along the ridge to San Joaquin Mountain (11,600)
Perhaps take a day down in the Devil's Postpile area, and check out the Postpile, the Falls (should be something this year), and the natural bathhouse.

go in to Convict Lake, do an overnight to Lake Wit-So-Nah-Pah, said to have the most beautiful view in the Sierra:
[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcROU1K2Yn4gi2fwZJbkVbEmn0AdwlBO1ky8OMfHj4EkA7lQfglMVw&t=1[/img]

Gives you a chance to do a "shake down" overnighter in the backcountry, as well.

As you pass through Bishop, Wilson's Eastside Sports is the place to check out, for any gear needs. You might check nextdoor to see if Kurt Wedberg is in the office, and say hi.

Head west from Bishop to North Lake. Campground at 9,400. Dayhike to Piute Pass(11,500), or up to Lamark Col(~13,000), or both, on sequential days.

Go South to Tom's Place and head down the road to one of the many campgrounds, all about at 10k. From there, do day hikes in the Little Lakes Valley, such as to Mosquito Pass, or even an overnighter to Fourth Recess Lake, with it's 1,000 foot waterfall, the last camp of Norman Clyde!

[img]http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSO6hug0minTBgcy_H8k0406iqgVTsreMI5SOMrhi9h6KYPPX2V[/img]

South to Big Pine, and west on Glacier Lodge Road, to one of the campgrounds along the road, or the backpackers campground (~7,800), hike up to the Palisade Glacier around 12,400, or up to the chain of lakes below Cloudripper (~11,000)

South to Independence, west to Onion Valley (~10k), dayhike to Kearsarge Pass (and bag Mt. Gould, an easy scramble), or up the more remote Golden Trout Lakes trail.

South to Horseshoe meadow, camp at 10k. Hike to Trail Pass, around and down Cottonwood Pass.

You will have seen incredible terrain, and altitude should be NO PROBLEM for any of you.

Then, spend the night before your hike at the Hostel, get a great night sleep, a good dinner, and you'll have the hike of your life!

G'luck!
(sorry the images are not coming through, but I don't have any more time to waste trying to make the damn software function the way it wants!)

Last edited by Ken; 03/04/11 09:22 AM. Reason: damn pictures!