Suggestions for 5-6 day loop with layovers (mid-Sept)

[dreamer1]

Hello to all,
I first hiked in the High Sierra in September 2011 (great snow year!), fell in love with the sights and people we met, and have tried to go back ever since! My hiking buddy and I have managed two other visits since then. Lucky for us, a third one has been green-lighted for mid-September (all our trips to the Sierra have been at that time of year).

We’re looking for suggestions for a loop or semi-loop that would cover 5 nights/6 days (excluding a acclimatization day) with 2 zero days for long day hikes. We’re in our early 50s and reasonably fit. We have Level 3 backpacking experience, are comfortable with Class 2 terrain, usually cover 8-10 miles per day (unless day hiking where we cover considerably more) and adore lakes, big mountain scenery and, being from Canada, making it onto some snow is always a plus :-) Prefer to be away from crowds, but neither of us will be fishing.

Past trips have included the Vogelsang area (Rafferty Creak to Fletcher, 2 zero days for side trips to Upper Townsley, Hanging Basket, Bernice, and to the top of Vogelsang, and back via Lyell Canyon) then to Cathedral Lakes, Sunrise, Cloud’s Rest and Tenaya Lake, a 2nd that took in Shadow, Ediza, Iceberg, Garnet, Thousand Islands …, and last year a fantastic trip into 60 Lakes and Gardiner Basins with a side trip to Ray Lakes. Wonderful!

We normally come up the 395 from Vegas, and prefer loops where we can exit back to our car as shuttle/bus transport is spotty come 3rd week of September. Also don’t mind if suggested itineraries overlap with areas we’ve already explored. Many thanks!

[palmermd]

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[AlmostThere]

palmermd, please start your own thread.

dreamer1, for fewer crowds, consider the area south of Muir Trail Ranch -- taking some side trips from the JMT into places like Darwin Bench or McGee, or Goddard Canyon.

[wildhiker]

Hi Dreamer1,

I would consider the northern Yosemite/Hoover Wilderness region, starting from Twin Lakes on the east side near the town of Bridgeport. I did the loop up to Peeler Lake, down Kerrick Creek to the PCT, then east to Benson
and Smedberg Lakes, and then cross-country up Slide Canyon and back over Mule (Burro?) Pass in five days back in September '74, and have done other hikes in that area since. An all trail version would stay on the PCT east of Smedberg Lake to Matterhorn Canyon and then up it - a truly gorgeous granite canyon. This region has some big mountains along the crest and lots and lots of bare granite and meadows elsewhere. And Benson Lake has the most amazing large sandy beach. Third week of September can have cold weather - this area is lower than the southern Sierra (generally between 7,000 and 10,000 feet elevation) and thus possibly a bit warmer. It is also less used than many of the main trailheads to the south.

-Phil

[Graydog]

You have covered a few of the ones I have done on the east side which are all great trips, but if you would be open to going in on the west side I would highly recommend the mineral king loop. Our trip there went day 1 hike to Pinto Lake, Day 2 to Little 5 lakes, Day 3 to Big Five lakes (spent a couple layover days here), Day 4 to Columbine lake, day 5 out to trailhead. For your timeline I would spend 1 layover day at Big Five.

This was one of my favorite trips, not crowded, good fishing (which wont apply for you) and great scenery with a lot of variety.

[dreamer1]

Many thanks for the suggestions.

Almostthere: Was not familiar with the trails south of Muir Trail Ranch (have never ventured in that region) but have started to read up on the area to get a better sense of what a 5-6 day route could look like.

The proposed option (thank you wildhiker) starting from Twin Lakes near Bridgeport sounds most interesting. We’ve driven up the 395 to Lee Vining several times before so have a good sense of the driving involved. We’ve always come to hike in the Sierra around mid-September so well aware that it can get very cold at that time of year, and recall waking up to an inch of the white stuff on one occasion, and woke up with frozen water bottles inside our tents last year while in the 60 Lakes Basin area, but hey, way better than being stuck in traffic or at work ☺

The Mineral King Loops has been on my radar for a few years, quiet area, big scenery, fantastic yet challenging sections, and great camping spots to boot. My hesitation lies with the extra 2 hours of driving needed to access the area as compared to Mammoth or Lee Vining. We always fly in to Vegas as there are direct early morning flights from Montreal (where we live) and then grab the rental and we’re off to base camp (preferably at decent elevation) that same day. After a 4am wake-up call, almost 5.5 hr flight, 3hr time zone change, and 5-6 hour drive (with a lunch break), we’re usually wasted by day’s end. Day 2 is usually spent finalizing supplies and purchases (like fuel), putting in a good acclimatizing hike, and getting backpacks ready before heading into the back country the next morning. As we have limited days for these trips, being able to head out a day after leaving home is always welcome but the extra 2 hr drive at the end of the day worries me a bit as we’re pretty exhausted upon arrival as it is. That said, the trek looks mighty enticing.

Two other ideas from previous (non-executed) plans were a) Tuolumne Meadows southbound on the JMT, exiting at Agnew Meadows with plenty of side trips, but again worried about finding timely transport to Mammoth and from there back to TM (we’d be exiting on a Friday); b) same start but looping back north from Thousand Island / Garnet Lake area (which we found to be stunning) via Gem and Alger lakes, Kopi Peak Pass, Parker Pass and exit to Mono Pass trailhead. We could then walk or hitch a short ride to the car. This might be a little ambitious if we want zero days or if we get caught in some nasty weather but certainly a wonderful hike.

Any thoughts/suggestions welcome. One thing for sure, we’ll definitely be coming back for years to come! The area has a truly special vibe and the people we’ve met along the way have always been so nice and so “in tune” with the unique setting. Only wish we lived closer ...

[AlmostThere]

If you do Mineral King make sure it is not a holiday weekend. It gets very busy. Parking lots get real full even on non-holiday weekends.
My preference in recent years has been car camping and day hiking in Mineral King, because an ambitious day hiker can go up the various trails and see quite a lot but the various areas around Mineral King can't be strung together in a great loop. It's great for longer loops as you're planning if you are good with repeated 5000+ foot climbs and losses, and some cross country travel.

Franklin Lakes, Monarch Lakes, the camping near the creek on the other side of Timber Gap (name escapes me) and the campsites around Pinto Lake are all crazy busy places. We ran into quite a lot of people, probably 50 or so, in Little 5 Lakes basin. It was an interesting day on Black Rock when I could look up and see short lines of people on those exposed switchbacks crawling slowly up, up, up. Felt like Yosemite Valley all over again. I think that over the past five years all the parks have seen a dramatic upswing in traffic on the trails -- the trailheads page on the SEKI website used to look pretty bare, now you look and there are many more fully reserved days than in past years, on its way to the jam-packed reservations page Yosemite has.

The lake basins off the JMT south of Muir Trail Ranch will give you more solitude yet, since most people are hyper-focused on the Muir Freeway and haven't a clue of the riches that await any hiker willing to wander off the beaten path. One could easily spend four days in solitude going from one Bear Lake to the next fishing and drinking in the scenery. Just be careful who you share the photos with, all the folks thwarted by trailhead quotas in the parks will start showing up there... sssshhh....

[Wandering Daisy]

The South Lake to North Lake loop would be something that would have an easy first day. Return either via LaMark Col or the long all-trail way around via Evolution Valley and out Piute Pass. Day 1 upper Dusy Basin (or east of Bishop Pass), Day 2 along the JMT in LeConte Canyon, Day 3, Day 4 Saphire Lake or Evolution Lake, Day 5, Darwin Bench (day-hike to upper lakes) day 6 out via LaMark Col (long day). It is not too hard to hitch from North Lake back to South Lake. North Lake is a popular day-fishing location. There is also a shuttle service in Bishop who could take you back to South Lake.

Or loop through Bear Basin. I prefer to loop from Pine Creek, but that would not be an easy first day. You coulda also access from North Lake, but it would be longer. The basic loop is: Pine Lake, Pine Creek Pass, drop to French Canyon, up to Merriam Lake, LeSalle Lake, pass southwet of Feather Peak into Bear Paw Lake, White Bear Lake, Dancing Bear Pass to Italy Pass, Granite Basin, Royce Lakes (two passes are available - go in the one that drops you into the upper lake and out the one that drops you into Honeymoon Lake. Or reverse.

You could also easily spend 5-6 days in Humphreys Basin on both sides of Piute Creek from North Lake.

[paul]

Piute Pass to Humphreys Basin and French Canyon and Merriam and Royce lakes is awful nice. You can go from French Canyon over your choice of a couple off-trail passes back into Humphreys basin to make it a lollipop.

[lambertiana]

Franklin Lakes, Monarch Lakes, the camping near the creek on the other side of Timber Gap (name escapes me) and the campsites around Pinto Lake are all crazy busy places. We ran into quite a lot of people, probably 50 or so, in Little 5 Lakes basin. It was an interesting day on Black Rock when I could look up and see short lines of people on those exposed switchbacks crawling slowly up, up, up. Felt like Yosemite Valley all over again. I think that over the past five years all the parks have seen a dramatic upswing in traffic on the trails -- the trailheads page on the SEKI website used to look pretty bare, now you look and there are many more fully reserved days than in past years, on its way to the jam-packed reservations page Yosemite has.

Interesting that your experience has been very different from mine. The first time I went through that area (July 2013), I saw a couple people at Cliff Creek where the trail from Timber Gap drops down. We had Pinto Lake to ourselves, and saw only one person on the way over Black Rock Pass (looking across from the Black Rock trail, I think I saw a couple people at Spring Lake). There were a handful of people at Little Five, and we went on to Big Five, camping at Lake 10,192. As far as we could tell, we were the only ones in the basin. The following year (July 2014), I did a solo loop, and did not see another person at all, from the Sawtooth trailhead all the way over Black Rock and on to the Big Arroyo Junction (where I encountered some people doing the HST). There were probably people at Little Five, but I didn't see anyone.

Franklin Lake, however, has always had a few people there. I have been there almost every year since 2000, and have never had it to myself. But if you cross the pass, I have passed by Forester Lake, Little Claire, and Soda Creek on both of the above-mentioned trips and only saw a packer with mules along Soda Creek in 2014, probably supplying the ranger station at Little Five.

Likewise, both times I have camped at Columbine Lake there were a good number of people there.

I think the hike up Cliff Creek is underrated. I really like the views at Pinto Lake, it is a spectacular location.