North Lake - Lamarck Cole - Piute Pass Loop 7/21-22/17
Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:02 pm
(Part 1)
Balancing my summer commitments, I decided to slip in a long overnighter before we head out on a family vacation. I managed to get the last available reservation for Lamarck Lakes and headed to North Lake above Bishop.
For those who don't know, the trail head for Lamarck Lakes and Piute Pass are located at the same spot so this creates the great opportunity for a loop hike. The loop from North Lake over Lamarck Col, down Darwin Canyon, north into Evolution Valley on the JMT/PCT, then up Piute Canyon over the pass, and back to the trail head is something like 35+/- miles. There's one pass going in and one coming out. There's much to see along the way and you could easily stretch this into a many-day adventure if you were so inclined.
I picked up my permit in Lone Pine and managed to leave the trail head at North Lake around 10am. It was a quick hike up to Lower Lamarck Lake. I continued on and due to a inconveniently located snow field, I missed the trail around the moraine above Upper Lamarck Lake. I backtracked and ran into a couple that was having the same experience. Eventually we all got sorted out and continued on. After a few small snow fields and many vertical feet I had the Col in sight. With the afternoon warmth I easily traversed the snowfield up to the Col with just trekking poles and trail runners. The view from the Col down into Darwin Canyon was beautiful. There was still some snow to traverse or avoid around the lakes as I made my way down the valley. There are at least a couple epic camping spots I saw along the way, otherwise it was very wet. As I made my way lower towards "the bench" the bugs began to notice me. At one spot I stopped to take a picture of the water outflow and I was swarmed. But a few sprays of deet kept them mostly at bay. The snow was melted out below the bench and the trail into Evolution Valley was clear and in good shape. Evolution Creek flowing through Colby Meadow was very wide. I started running into a few hikers along the way, but not as many as I anticipated considering I going north on the mostly southward bound JMT. McClure Meadow was virtually a lake. I hiked on because I wanted to make the creek crossing before I stopped for the night. I chose to take the safer meadow crossing. I didn't go straight across but rather stayed in the "swifter" sections (relative to the calm meadow flow) with my logic being that they'd be shallower. I was rewarded with only crotch-deep water (32" inseam) when I'd heard reports of belly-button depths. The normal trail crossing was pretty intimidating. I spoke to a young man who'd tried it first without a pack and scared himself by only going about 1/3 of the way. He backed up and went to the meadow crossing. I'm not sure why you'd do anything different except that the mosquitoes in meadow were a 5+ (swarms of blood sucking critters vs possible death - mmmm). I stopped for the night just below the crossing and was rewarded with an incredible night sky and thai curry (Got-to-Go dehydrated). I tried out a new toy: a thermocell bug repeller that uses a standard stove canister. It seemed to work decently with the bug level around a 2. When I turned in off to pack up the next day the bugs started swarming so I think it was working.
Part 2 next.
Balancing my summer commitments, I decided to slip in a long overnighter before we head out on a family vacation. I managed to get the last available reservation for Lamarck Lakes and headed to North Lake above Bishop.
For those who don't know, the trail head for Lamarck Lakes and Piute Pass are located at the same spot so this creates the great opportunity for a loop hike. The loop from North Lake over Lamarck Col, down Darwin Canyon, north into Evolution Valley on the JMT/PCT, then up Piute Canyon over the pass, and back to the trail head is something like 35+/- miles. There's one pass going in and one coming out. There's much to see along the way and you could easily stretch this into a many-day adventure if you were so inclined.
I picked up my permit in Lone Pine and managed to leave the trail head at North Lake around 10am. It was a quick hike up to Lower Lamarck Lake. I continued on and due to a inconveniently located snow field, I missed the trail around the moraine above Upper Lamarck Lake. I backtracked and ran into a couple that was having the same experience. Eventually we all got sorted out and continued on. After a few small snow fields and many vertical feet I had the Col in sight. With the afternoon warmth I easily traversed the snowfield up to the Col with just trekking poles and trail runners. The view from the Col down into Darwin Canyon was beautiful. There was still some snow to traverse or avoid around the lakes as I made my way down the valley. There are at least a couple epic camping spots I saw along the way, otherwise it was very wet. As I made my way lower towards "the bench" the bugs began to notice me. At one spot I stopped to take a picture of the water outflow and I was swarmed. But a few sprays of deet kept them mostly at bay. The snow was melted out below the bench and the trail into Evolution Valley was clear and in good shape. Evolution Creek flowing through Colby Meadow was very wide. I started running into a few hikers along the way, but not as many as I anticipated considering I going north on the mostly southward bound JMT. McClure Meadow was virtually a lake. I hiked on because I wanted to make the creek crossing before I stopped for the night. I chose to take the safer meadow crossing. I didn't go straight across but rather stayed in the "swifter" sections (relative to the calm meadow flow) with my logic being that they'd be shallower. I was rewarded with only crotch-deep water (32" inseam) when I'd heard reports of belly-button depths. The normal trail crossing was pretty intimidating. I spoke to a young man who'd tried it first without a pack and scared himself by only going about 1/3 of the way. He backed up and went to the meadow crossing. I'm not sure why you'd do anything different except that the mosquitoes in meadow were a 5+ (swarms of blood sucking critters vs possible death - mmmm). I stopped for the night just below the crossing and was rewarded with an incredible night sky and thai curry (Got-to-Go dehydrated). I tried out a new toy: a thermocell bug repeller that uses a standard stove canister. It seemed to work decently with the bug level around a 2. When I turned in off to pack up the next day the bugs started swarming so I think it was working.
Part 2 next.