TR: Knapsack Pass, Palisade Basin, Thunderbolt Pass 7/3-7/6
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2014 2:09 pm
I took a group on a hike which entered the Sierra via Bishop Pass, then looped through Dusy and Palisade Basins via Knapsack and Thunderbolt Passes. This was a different kind of trip for me-- I haven't done this much cross-country before, and I usually do longer mileages. It worked out great-- the cross-country was a ton of fun and well within my comfort zone, and the shorter days gave me more time to explore, fish, photograph, and relax. Beyond being gorgeous, this trip also gave me more confidence in my ability to navigate off-trail (at least above treeline) and to find my way through varied terrain.
We arrived at the South Lake trailhead around 3:30 PM on the first day of our trip. We hiked up to Bishop Lake and set up camp, giving us an evening to adjust to altitude. One of us took a wrong turn and wound up at Treasure Lakes; he traversed cross-country to rejoin the trail at Long Lake and showed up to camp well after the rest of the group. The trail to Bishop Pass was crowded, but Bishop Lake itself wasn't too bad-- I only noticed two other groups camped there, although I imagine others were around.
The next day, we knocked out the rest of Bishop Pass. I have never been over Bishop before, so I took a few moments with a map and compass to figure out the topography, and we then started descending into Dusy Basin. In an effort to avoid unnecessary elevation loss, we left the trail somewhere in the vicinity of the second lake and headed southwest across the basin. The topography took us right toward the base of Columbine Peak. We split up as we reached the pass, with everybody picking their own route to the top. Some of us did better than others. The easier routes involved ledge walking with a bit of boulder-hopping, and the harder ones involved lots of boulder-hopping and traversing some loose sandy slopes. If you pay attention to your route and take your time, this pass doesn't get any harder than easy class two. Some of us stuck to that and some did not.
Dusy Basin seen from the top of Knapsack Pass.
We reached the top of Knapsack and found a group of three already atop the pass, having day-hiked up from Dusy Basin. Palisade Basin was beautiful. After relaxing for a bit, we headed down. We descended a series of easy grassy ledges on the west side of the pass; the route down these ledges was obvious from above but may be more difficult to identify from below. While at Knapsack Pass, we had spotted a camp at the long, skinny lake, so we decided to avoid that area and set up camp at one of the two large Barrett Lakes. We walked over the ridge to the first, smaller lake, and walked straight into a surprise-- a couple sunbathing nude on the shore of the lake. We quickly turned away to look for a campsite where we wouldn't disturb them, but unfortunately we were too late-- as we climbed away from the first lake, we could see the couple pack up and move away. The second, larger lake also had a group camping on the shore, so we ended up camping on ledges above the southern end of the first lake.
After setting up camp, we spent some time wandering the area. We did some fishing, climbed up on ridges with beautiful views of the Palisades in one direction and a huge open view of endless mountains in the other, did some photography, and a few of us scouted part of the route to Thunderbolt Pass. This is just a beautiful basin-- rocky, rugged, with beautiful views in all directions.
Knapsack Pass from Barrett Lakes.
The next day, we headed for the larger of the Barrett Lakes, circled the northern shore, and began climbing toward Thunderbolt Pass. The route was obvious and easy to follow-- just find the inlet and follow the stream up. Once we got to the base of the pass itself, it looked like we had two options-- either head left and scramble directly up to the pass via what looked like kind-of-steep-but-safely-doable ledges, or climb an easier ledge system to our right and then boulder-hop underneath Thunderbolt Peak to the pass. We chose the latter and encountered no complications. As with Knapsack, it was easy to keep this pass to class two.
Final approach to Thunderbolt Pass from Palisade Basin.
Thunderbolt Pass was beautiful, with flat slabs to lay on and gorgeous views of both Palisade and Dusy Basins, along with huge mountains right behind us.
View from Thunderbolt Pass.
We relaxed for a bit before beginning the loooong boulder-hop away from the pass, sticking to high ground as much as was feasible. There were a few snowfields on the north side of the pass, but all were easily crossed or easily avoided, at our discretion. After descending most of the way, we found another surprise-- the same group that we had met on top of Knapsack Pass yesterday, now day-hiking Thunderbolt. We stopped to say hello and continued on, eventually splitting up to pick our own ways back up to Bishop Pass.
Descending the north side of Thunderbolt Pass.
After resting on Bishop Pass for a few minutes, we descended to Saddlerock Lake, headed along the shore for a ways, and set up camp. This was far busier than Bishop Lake had been two nights prior-- it was hard to wander without walking straight into the camp of another group. We did some exploring and fishing and eventually went to bed with some light showers falling, before hiking out in the morning.
In general, the trail was very busy up to Bishop Pass itself, which I suppose is not surprising for a beautiful July Fourth weekend on one of the most popular trails on the East Side. Dusy Basin was substantially quieter, with Palisade Basin quieter still. I was surprised by the number of people we saw in Palisade Basin-- we probably spotted about a half-dozen groups sharing the basin, which is more than I expected. It is a big basin that can easily accommodate that number, but if you are looking for a place where you're guaranteed to have a lake to yourself on a busy holiday weekend, it might not be the best choice.
Mosquitoes were present everywhere. They were terrible at Treasure Lakes and Saddlerock Lake, and they were fairly bad in the morning at the smaller Barrett Lake. Everywhere else they were a nuisance. I managed to get bit while standing in the middle of a large snowfield at the base of Mount Agassiz, above Bishop Pass, which was a surprise.
Water was not a problem. Peak flow is clearly in the past, with several smaller seeps and steams dry, but many streams are still flowing and nobody felt a need to carry more than a liter or two of water.
We arrived at the South Lake trailhead around 3:30 PM on the first day of our trip. We hiked up to Bishop Lake and set up camp, giving us an evening to adjust to altitude. One of us took a wrong turn and wound up at Treasure Lakes; he traversed cross-country to rejoin the trail at Long Lake and showed up to camp well after the rest of the group. The trail to Bishop Pass was crowded, but Bishop Lake itself wasn't too bad-- I only noticed two other groups camped there, although I imagine others were around.
The next day, we knocked out the rest of Bishop Pass. I have never been over Bishop before, so I took a few moments with a map and compass to figure out the topography, and we then started descending into Dusy Basin. In an effort to avoid unnecessary elevation loss, we left the trail somewhere in the vicinity of the second lake and headed southwest across the basin. The topography took us right toward the base of Columbine Peak. We split up as we reached the pass, with everybody picking their own route to the top. Some of us did better than others. The easier routes involved ledge walking with a bit of boulder-hopping, and the harder ones involved lots of boulder-hopping and traversing some loose sandy slopes. If you pay attention to your route and take your time, this pass doesn't get any harder than easy class two. Some of us stuck to that and some did not.
Dusy Basin seen from the top of Knapsack Pass.
We reached the top of Knapsack and found a group of three already atop the pass, having day-hiked up from Dusy Basin. Palisade Basin was beautiful. After relaxing for a bit, we headed down. We descended a series of easy grassy ledges on the west side of the pass; the route down these ledges was obvious from above but may be more difficult to identify from below. While at Knapsack Pass, we had spotted a camp at the long, skinny lake, so we decided to avoid that area and set up camp at one of the two large Barrett Lakes. We walked over the ridge to the first, smaller lake, and walked straight into a surprise-- a couple sunbathing nude on the shore of the lake. We quickly turned away to look for a campsite where we wouldn't disturb them, but unfortunately we were too late-- as we climbed away from the first lake, we could see the couple pack up and move away. The second, larger lake also had a group camping on the shore, so we ended up camping on ledges above the southern end of the first lake.
After setting up camp, we spent some time wandering the area. We did some fishing, climbed up on ridges with beautiful views of the Palisades in one direction and a huge open view of endless mountains in the other, did some photography, and a few of us scouted part of the route to Thunderbolt Pass. This is just a beautiful basin-- rocky, rugged, with beautiful views in all directions.
Knapsack Pass from Barrett Lakes.
The next day, we headed for the larger of the Barrett Lakes, circled the northern shore, and began climbing toward Thunderbolt Pass. The route was obvious and easy to follow-- just find the inlet and follow the stream up. Once we got to the base of the pass itself, it looked like we had two options-- either head left and scramble directly up to the pass via what looked like kind-of-steep-but-safely-doable ledges, or climb an easier ledge system to our right and then boulder-hop underneath Thunderbolt Peak to the pass. We chose the latter and encountered no complications. As with Knapsack, it was easy to keep this pass to class two.
Final approach to Thunderbolt Pass from Palisade Basin.
Thunderbolt Pass was beautiful, with flat slabs to lay on and gorgeous views of both Palisade and Dusy Basins, along with huge mountains right behind us.
View from Thunderbolt Pass.
We relaxed for a bit before beginning the loooong boulder-hop away from the pass, sticking to high ground as much as was feasible. There were a few snowfields on the north side of the pass, but all were easily crossed or easily avoided, at our discretion. After descending most of the way, we found another surprise-- the same group that we had met on top of Knapsack Pass yesterday, now day-hiking Thunderbolt. We stopped to say hello and continued on, eventually splitting up to pick our own ways back up to Bishop Pass.
Descending the north side of Thunderbolt Pass.
After resting on Bishop Pass for a few minutes, we descended to Saddlerock Lake, headed along the shore for a ways, and set up camp. This was far busier than Bishop Lake had been two nights prior-- it was hard to wander without walking straight into the camp of another group. We did some exploring and fishing and eventually went to bed with some light showers falling, before hiking out in the morning.
In general, the trail was very busy up to Bishop Pass itself, which I suppose is not surprising for a beautiful July Fourth weekend on one of the most popular trails on the East Side. Dusy Basin was substantially quieter, with Palisade Basin quieter still. I was surprised by the number of people we saw in Palisade Basin-- we probably spotted about a half-dozen groups sharing the basin, which is more than I expected. It is a big basin that can easily accommodate that number, but if you are looking for a place where you're guaranteed to have a lake to yourself on a busy holiday weekend, it might not be the best choice.
Mosquitoes were present everywhere. They were terrible at Treasure Lakes and Saddlerock Lake, and they were fairly bad in the morning at the smaller Barrett Lake. Everywhere else they were a nuisance. I managed to get bit while standing in the middle of a large snowfield at the base of Mount Agassiz, above Bishop Pass, which was a surprise.
Water was not a problem. Peak flow is clearly in the past, with several smaller seeps and steams dry, but many streams are still flowing and nobody felt a need to carry more than a liter or two of water.
