Hello All,

I'd like to do a 3-4 night trip in the High Sierra in early July. I'm open to any/all starting points including Yosemite, Bishop, Mammoth, etc. Ideally this would be a loop that avoids the most heavily trafficked areas. I'm looking to hike 5-10 miles per day with at least one trip up and over a pass. Bonus points if there are some easy class 2/3 peaks nearby to climb if we are feeling adventurous. I've camped in the Cottonwood Lakes area, near Matterhorn peak, and around Mt. Ritter previously and enjoyed those areas thoroughly . Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

- Mike

EastcoastMike wrote:Hello All,

I'd like to do a 3-4 night trip in the High Sierra in early July. I'm open to any/all starting points including Yosemite, Bishop, Mammoth, etc. Ideally this would be a loop that avoids the most heavily trafficked areas. I'm looking to hike 5-10 miles per day with at least one trip up and over a pass. Bonus points if there are some easy class 2/3 peaks nearby to climb if we are feeling adventurous. I've camped in the Cottonwood Lakes area, near Matterhorn peak, and around Mt. Ritter previously and enjoyed those areas thoroughly . Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

- Mike

Do you want to end where you start, or shuttle? Mosquito Flats to Pine Creek would be awesome; lots of peaks to tag along the way and a couple of cols to climb too.

Deb - I would only be able to end someplace different if there was some type of public transit. I was thinking about maybe Mammoth --> Tuolome because I believe there is a shuttle bus back.

EastcoastMike wrote:Deb - I would only be able to end someplace different if there was some type of public transit. I was thinking about maybe Mammoth --> Tuolome because I believe there is a shuttle bus back.

I have no knowledge of shuttles but a trip from Little Yosemite Valley to Tenaya Lake would be cool - hit Half Dome, Cloud's Rest and even Tenaya Peak along the way.

East Coast Mike,
There are so many possibilities it's ridiculous.

I'd like to do a 3-4 night trip in the High Sierra in early July.

A 3 or 4 night trip is kind of short, but, either Mammoth or Bishop are excellent starting locations. Also, Little Lakes Valley, at the Mosquito Flats Trail head (up the road from Tom's Place) is excellent.
I live in the Owens Valley,...on the east side of the Sierra,...and, all the approaches involve an elevation gain of al least 5,000 feet,...except Red's Meadow (out of Mammoth Lakes), Bishop Creek (out of Bishop), and, the (Little Lakes Valley).
At Tom's Place (north of Bishop,...and, south of Mammoth Lakes) turn southwest into the range on the Rock Creek Road and go 10.5 miles to Mosquito Flat at roads end.

obsidian wrote:I live in the Owens Valley,...on the east side of the Sierra,...and, all the approaches involve an elevation gain of al least 5,000 feet,...except Rad's Meadow (out of Mammoth Lakes), Bishop Creek (out of Bishop), and, the (Little Lakes Valley).
At Tom's Place (north of Bishop,...and, south of Mammoth Lakes) turn southwest into the range on the Rock Creek Road and go 10.5 miles to Mosquito Flat at roads end.

Wha wha whaaaa? Approach to what exactly? The passes? For the desert starts (Shepherd, Baxter, Sawmill, Taboose) and Whitney that's true, but Onion Valley to Kearsarge is ~2500vf, Piute Pass is ~2000vf, Mono Pass 2K vf, Duck Pass is <2K; hell even Lamarck Col is "only" 3500 vf. Plenty of ops for gentle-ish acclimation or a nice first day to let the legs get used to hauling the load.

Now, I totally agree with you that the possibilities are awesomely endless. ECM: are you interested in XC travel? Trail only? One place you may see fewer people is down in the Recesses between Mono Pass (Mosquito Flat TH) and Duck Pass (out at Mammoth). Great fishing all through there, as well, and Pioneer Basin is a gorgeous little gem.

I would recommend 4 places, all share the characteristics of beauty, remote, and promising peaks.

1. Ioanian Basin, not only do you have wicked views of Enchanted Gorge, but also some great peaks for the pickin' such as Charybdis, Scylla, The Three Sirens. Very surreal place with all the high altitude lakes (12,000 ft. lakes) and very PRETTY!!


requires not so trivial approach, length wise as well as Wanda Pass and the lovely-as-ever Lamarck Col (you pass by Darwin Basin, very gorgeous area) on the way to and then you are rewarded with pleasant alpine meadow/lake JMT section on the way to Wanda Pass.

some pics

Enchanted Gorge


high alpine lakes (base on Scylla)


on the way to Wanda Pass


calm summer afternoons can produce these type of reflections





2. From Crescent Meadow to Kaweah Gap (or from Mineral King to Big Arroyo)
Remote, offers very surreal camping at Precipice Lake (dramatic reflections/atmosphere), Lion Rock Peak, Triple Divide Peak, Stewart, the Kaweahs, the elusive Angel Wings, and other numerous Domes and spires

from Crescent Meadow


waterfalls on the way


on the way




Angel Wings


Lion Rock



3. LeConte Canyon

Devils Crag


LeConte Canyon


LeConte Canyon




Topping out Rambaund Creek


LeConte


4. Gorge of Despair
very remote, bushwhack experience, long approach, Tehipite Dome, Mt. Harrington unique spire summit

Harrington


Harrington




Gorge of Despair

Holy forum post Daria - That spread of pictures is better than many of the trip reports that get posted

You start out in a heavy-used area, but quickly get to more remote areas, and there a lot peaks from which to chose:



http://www.summitpost.org/map-of-mono-recesses-loop/436095/c-170988

whitetail wrote:Holy forum post Daria - That spread of pictures is better than many of the trip reports that get posted

Ditto that.... very, very nice Daria!!

Some of the suggestions for ordinary humans are too remote for just 3 or 4 nights backpacking. You don't want to be lugging your pack around all the time but rather also have some time for required activities. 4 nights means 5 days. So 2 days out somewhere, 1 or 2 days in a prime peakbagging zone, then 1 or 2 days out. On 10 mile days carrying a usual pack, one is not likely to have the energy to also scramble 2k up some peak. Guessing you are filtering away "most heavily trafficked areas" so you can actually obtain a wilderness permit since there is almost never traffic on peakbagging routes?

Obtaining a permit from South Lake to Bishop Pass is somewhat iffy except midweek a walkup ought not be an issue the day before or for one person on the same morning. But if you can manage that, you could pack over the pass into Dusy Basin first day then layover and bag Columbine and Isosceles.

http://www.summitpost.org/isosceles-peak/151840

Then day 3 go over Potluck Pass and camp at the Barrett Lakes and same day take your pick on the Pallisades. Day 4 swing back over Potluck and Bishop Pass and on the way bag Agassiz or Goode. Then on day 5 knock off easy but rather geologically fascinating Chocolate on the way out.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=37.10393,-118.52630&z=15&t=T

David
http://www.davidsenesac.com

Moose Tracks,

...Wha wha whaaaa? Approach to what exactly? The passes? For the desert starts (Shepherd, Baxter, Sawmill, Taboose) and Whitney that's true, but Onion Valley to Kearsarge is ~2500vf, Piute Pass is ~2000vf, Mono Pass 2K vf, Duck Pass is <2K; hell even Lamarck Col is "only" 3500 vf,...

...Yeah,...I know,...but,...most of the road heads south of Bishop involve some strenuous hiking,...typically, with an overloaded pack. If it was me (I'd spend at least a week),...I'd go over Shepherd Pass to the King's-Kern Divide, or,...into the Palisades for a taste of Shangri-La,...but, that might be a bit much for a 3 or 4 day trip.
Most people go in from the west side, because the elevation gains are so moderate,...but, it takes a couple of days of serious hiking to get to the sub-alpine zone (8,000 ft. to 10,000 ft.)

East Coast Mike: If you can get a copy of the John Muir WildernessTopographic Map fcrom the Forest Service ($8.00), you can get an excellent overview of the entire High Sierran region.

The Forest Service publishes an excellent topographic map (1:63360) entitled A Guide to the Sequoia-Kings Canyon and John Muir Wilderness. This is huge--it's more akin to a kite than a usual map--but is excellent for planning purposes. The bighorn sheep closures are clearly marked.

"Then day 3 go over Potluck Pass and camp at the Barrett Lakes and same day take your pick on the Pallisades. Day 4 swing back over Potluck and Bishop Pass and on the way bag Agassiz or Goode."

While I agree with the sentiment that some of the aforementioned trips generally require more than 3-4 days unless you're on a mission please be note that the information quoted (above) is misleading. Two cross country passes, Knapsack and Thunderbolt, can get you into spectacular Palisades Basin, home of Barrett Lakes, from Dusy Basin. Potluck Pass isn't one of them. Potluck Pass, a great base camp for the western approach to Mt. Sill, provides a southern exit from Palisades Basin down to Glacier Creek Lake. I would agree that a 3-4 day trip from South Lake over Bishop Pass to Dusy Basin, Dusy Basin to Barrett Lakes over Knapsack, perhaps an extra day to climb something or just enjoy life at the top of the world, then back to Dusy via Thunderbolt (when there's enough snow to minimize the potential boulder slog aspect) provides one of the best high Sierra trips that come to mind of that combination of distance, duration, scenery, day exploration and climbing options.

Hoodoo wrote:

"Then day 3 go over Potluck Pass and camp at the Barrett Lakes and same day take your pick on the Pallisades. Day 4 swing back over Potluck and Bishop Pass and on the way bag Agassiz or Goode."

While I agree with the sentiment that some of the aforementioned trips generally require more than 3-4 days unless you're on a mission please be note that the information quoted (above) is misleading. Two cross country passes, Knapsack and Thunderbolt, can get you into spectacular Palisades Basin, home of Barrett Lakes, from Dusy Basin. Potluck Pass isn't one of them...

Oops! Thanks Hoodoo, indeed got that one mixed up! Must be getting memory leaks in the old noggin haha.

Thanks for the photos, Daria. My partner and I have spent a lot of time in the Palisades, both sides, and up Pine Creek Pass way, and are looking for somewhere new this summer. I've long wanted to do Charybdis, and I think your pictures will help convince my partner the approach is worth it.