Originally Posted By: Steve C
40,000 ft in 10 days with 30 lb packs? shocked Ok, I'm not so worried anymore. smirk

My wife mentioned the need to visit the county clerk's office before the marriage to sign paperwork, and wondered about rules for non-US citizens. I can see that you are doing a lot of research on the hike and so I can trust you will also be figuring out all the legal details for the marriage, as well.

I realize the idea of getting all the proper work done before you start the hike works well if your county base is Fresno. You can also pick up all necessary hiking materials here as well, since there is an REI store and another with good backpacking supplies (Herb Bauer's). But... the Whitney summit is not actually Fresno County. It is in Tulare (Too-LAIR-ee) County, with clerk's office in Visalia, 45 miles south of Fresno. Not sure of the rules about the location of the wedding being outside the county boundaries.

If you change the start/end of the loop as I suggested, it is a 5-6 hour drive from the west side over to trailheads on the east side, so that would likely affect your decision, too. With the eastside start, you might arrange all the work in Independence, the Inyo county headquarters. If you chose that option, flying into Reno NV, or even Mammoth, CA could be an option.

By the way, if you Google big seki loop, it turns up another short discussion of the BSL here, and also, several CalTopo maps (CalTopo has some nice options if you work with it.)



Thanks Steve! I did a bit of research about the marriage permit itself, and it looks like Fresno County's version specifies that you can get married anywhere in California, not just in Fresno County, which works out well. I think it is fairly common for Canadians to get married in the US, but I will look a bit more into California's rules on that. From the point of view of the Canadian government, the only rules are that the marriage has to have been done legally in the jurisdiction where it took place, and you can't get married to your sibling or parent, or have multiple spouses. smile

Yes, we were thinking Fresno as a base for the reasons you mentioned, including the REI, but I haven't booked flights or anything yet so I should look at the other options you mentioned as well.

Thanks!

Jennifer