North-South Lake Loop Starting July 1

[sukhoi_584th]

Any thoughts on how high the creeks are likely to be flowing for this? I'm looking at doing July 2 entry for Lamarck-Piute loop. Seems like the meadow crossing of Evolution is usually fine, but I'm a bit concerned about Piute Canyon and the various side creeks such as East Pinnacles Creek.

[kpeter]

Looking at that Sentinel Hub site, on June 15 the snow cover had retreated further than it was on my late July 2011 loop. It has retreated beyond Sapphire now. Based on that, the stream crossings should be somewhat easier than they were for me, and I managed them all--and I am short and conservative about risk taking. Of course, rainstorms, sudden heat spells, etc. can change stream flows quickly, but the trend looks quite good.

[2020hiker]

Hi - has anyone been up in this area the past couple of days?

I started this thread a few weeks ago. We've changed plans and will go over lamarck col and finish at south lake over 4 nights/5 days, starting mid week this week.

Few questions:

1. Anyone who has been up lamarck or any of the passes, how's the snow? I have microspikes and am happy to bring them, but if not needed I'd like to save the weight

2. With the road construction, is the bishop shuttle generally running on time? Are they placing any restrictions on capacity? Also, do I need to buy my shuttle pass ahead of time? I can just bring cash if that's possible

3. How's south lake parking mid week even during holiday? I was thinking of parking at south lake, taking the shuttle and hopping out, hiking into north lake start. Otherwise I'll park at north lake and finish at south/take shuttle.

4. Mosquitos - Did a day hike up pine creek pass over this weekend. Certain spots without breeze was eaten alive. Any elevations that are ''safe'' right now?

Cheers,

[notis]

1. Haven't been up, but based on satellite images the snow field at the base of the S side of Lamarck Col is larger than when I went over in early August 2019. I used just Altra Lone Peaks, trekking poles, and caution crossing N-S around 12pm when the snow was sticky. I would consider what time you'd be going over the pass: if it's between 1030-630pm, I would reckon that you may not need any devices besides poles. I like an axe more than microspikes, personally--the former I've found more helpful for safety (and weighs less), IMHO. I would confirm with folks here, the conditions page here, Facebook pages ("Sierra Nevada Current Conditions..., Eastern Sierra Hiking...), etc. for the Col. From what I've seen on the FB pages, other passes should be alright without any devices besides poles, esp. if you hit in middle of day. Muir's S side has a good enough boot pack. Good luck!

2. Per confirmation with the ESTA, BCS is running. Running reasonably on time, considering construction delays have been 15-30 minutes. There is no option on the ESTA page to buy a pass other than a 10-day/use pass. I had this problem/question last year, and they told me that you just need to bring exact change and pay on the bus.

3. Look on the transport page here for a recent update on parking at South Lake.