Hi Adam,
The plan is to start in 3Rivers and first, climb up into mineral king, camp and explore the area. I've never been there but I ran into some one who has and I hear its really something. I plan on spending a couple of days there and then head back down and climb up to Giant Forest/Lodgepole for a bit. From there I will go to the Buck rock area after leaving the pavement and climb up & over the Lower Boulder Creek area. I'll spend a day or so exploring the various groves and dirt roads around that area. Here's where it gets a bit sketchy. Supposedly it's possible to to ride from Lower Boulder area via old dirt roads all the way to Hume Lake off of 10 Mile Creek. So the plan here is to ride to 10 mile camp and explore the area and its groves along the way. I'll camp at a spot off of ten mile creek that I'm familiar with for a rest up and then ride to Hume Lake and drop into Kings Canyon for a couple of days. After Kings I'll climb out via Grant Grove. I may explore the Converse Basin area before Grant just not sure. Depends on the toll of the climbing. From Grant I'll be heading back slowly through The Forest and then through the Park on my way back to 3Rivers. My calculations shows a bit less than 20k in climbing and about 35/65 dirt/pavement. but that's going off of maps. I'm travelling solo and self contained.
My rig is a Surly LHT running 26x2 wheels. Shimano 9 xtr/xt drive with Campy shifters and Jtek. I also have prerouted Dra Ace barend shifters mounted as backup. I've used this setup for the past 5 years with excellent results. Tubus Racks. Ortlieb panniers, SKS fenders, Joe Young Wheels with Son Dyno, Dinotte 300r for traffic and Supernova triple front and Supernova back and other personalized bits on the bike. My camping gear is for multi day off the grid, bear canister, food, water pump, stove fuel, tent etc. I have it down as low as I care to. Camera is Canon s100 with Zip Shot tripod and Lensmate filter adapter for Polarizer. Here's a shot of the bike:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldcyclotour/7145350943/in/photostream .
So the plan is to park somewhere at 3Rivers for jumpoff. If you have a contact there so that I can leave my car (Prius) it would be great!
Gary