South Lake to Sawmill in early Oct - advise needed
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:54 pm
Hi everybody,
Long time lurker, first time poster. Four of us are in the midst of planning a 5-day trip to northern SEKI during the first week of October. I have the trip fairly well lined out and am looking for some feedback from the online community. I’ve spent a decent amount of time in the Sierra however this will be the other 3 guys’ first time in the Range. I’ve tried to compile a best-of trip including picturesque lake basins, x-country travel, a 14’er, and hopefully a few golden trout.
Before I get started, here’s the requested background info on us:
What level of backpacking experience do you have?
- Three of us have “Level 3” experience with numerous backpacking trips, some x-country travel. Mostly PNW stuff but I’ve done time all over the world, including the Sierras.
- One of us has “Level 2” experience with some backpacking trips, using trails. Mostly overnighters in tame terrain.
What terrain are you comfortable/uncomfortable with?
- Three of us have done and are comfortable with Class 2 terrain. The fourth guy has never done it but will be fine on Class 2. We’re all interested in trying something Class 3.
- Doubt we’ll encounter any in early Oct. but all of us would dominate river crossings.
What is your main interest?
- Enormous Mountain scenery
- Photography
- Fishing (a distant 3rd and only for goldens)
How many days/nights is your trip, not including travel to trailhead?
- 5 days/4 nights
How many miles did you want to do a day, any layovers?
- 8-15 miles/day on trail or 4-6 miles/day x-country. No layovers.
Did you prefer a loop or out and back trip?
- Either but we have 2 vehicles so we can do a 1-way trip.
Is there a particular area in the Sierra that your most interested in(Yosemite, SEKI western sierra start or eastern start ect.)?
- SEKI w/ eastern start/end
Will you be hiking with a dog?
- No.
Now that you know who we are let me line-out our planned route (***** means campsite):
South Lake
Bishop Pass
Dusy Basin
Knapsack Pass
Barrett Lakes/Palisade Basin*****
Potluck Pass
large lake SE of Potluck Pass at head of Glacier Creek
Cirque Pass
Palisade Lakes
Mather Pass
huge lake in Upper Basin*****
Split Mtn. via north slope
huge lake in Upper Basin
2 lakes just west of Striped Mtn*****
Pinchot Pass
Woods Lake*****
Sawmill Pass
Sawmill Pass trailhead
Questions/concerns of mine include:
According to MapMyRun this trip is 45 miles. Six of those miles are x-country across Palisade Basin and 4 of those miles are x-country up Split Mtn and back. The remaining 35 miles are on trail. I don’t feel like we’re biting off too much in 5 days. Right?
We’ll have no problem getting to Dusy Basin on day 1 but can we get over Knapsack Pass to Barrett Lakes that same day? I’ve seen Knapsack Pass from the NW but have never tried it. How doable is this in 1 day if we hit the trailhead around 10am? Keep in mind the shorter days of early Oct.
Is Barrett Lakes a worthy campsite? I imagine we could get some nice alpenglow on the Palisades from there. Unless we too close?
I’ve read fairly consistent comments on the descent from Cirque Pass: It can be hairy but if you take your time and stay right (west) on the decent you can avoid most of the Class 3 stuff. Is that fairly accurate? We’ll bring a rope to lower our packs over ledges so we can tackle any sketchy stuff free of their burden. I see this being the most difficult part of our trip.
Everything I’ve read about Split Mtn makes it sound doable for our group. We’ll camp at the huge lake in Upper Basin the night before and climb it via the north slope. A long, slow, talus climb? Not sexy but the view should be worth it.
Anyone have a clue where we can find some golden trout on this trip besides the Palisade Lakes? I’ve heard the huge lake in Upper Basin is devoid of fish. Could the Barrett Lakes or the lake at the head of Glacier Creek hold goldens? I’m pretty sure everything between Mather Pass and Woods Lake is a brookie/rainbow/brown show. 3 of us are fish biologists so we want to catch the real deal!
The only possible modification I see us making would be to shorten the trip (mileage-wise) and exit via Taboose. By still taking the full 5 days we’d give ourselves a window for a layover day in case we get some weather. We’re all quite comfortable in lousy weather (we live in the PNW) but I don’t want it hindering our views. We can walk in the rain/snow/clouds any day up here, we’re heading south for that big mountain scenery!
Speaking of weather, this will be the latest I’ve backpacked in the Sierra. Thoughts on weather this time of year?
Thanks in advance,
47energy
Long time lurker, first time poster. Four of us are in the midst of planning a 5-day trip to northern SEKI during the first week of October. I have the trip fairly well lined out and am looking for some feedback from the online community. I’ve spent a decent amount of time in the Sierra however this will be the other 3 guys’ first time in the Range. I’ve tried to compile a best-of trip including picturesque lake basins, x-country travel, a 14’er, and hopefully a few golden trout.
Before I get started, here’s the requested background info on us:
What level of backpacking experience do you have?
- Three of us have “Level 3” experience with numerous backpacking trips, some x-country travel. Mostly PNW stuff but I’ve done time all over the world, including the Sierras.
- One of us has “Level 2” experience with some backpacking trips, using trails. Mostly overnighters in tame terrain.
What terrain are you comfortable/uncomfortable with?
- Three of us have done and are comfortable with Class 2 terrain. The fourth guy has never done it but will be fine on Class 2. We’re all interested in trying something Class 3.
- Doubt we’ll encounter any in early Oct. but all of us would dominate river crossings.
What is your main interest?
- Enormous Mountain scenery
- Photography
- Fishing (a distant 3rd and only for goldens)
How many days/nights is your trip, not including travel to trailhead?
- 5 days/4 nights
How many miles did you want to do a day, any layovers?
- 8-15 miles/day on trail or 4-6 miles/day x-country. No layovers.
Did you prefer a loop or out and back trip?
- Either but we have 2 vehicles so we can do a 1-way trip.
Is there a particular area in the Sierra that your most interested in(Yosemite, SEKI western sierra start or eastern start ect.)?
- SEKI w/ eastern start/end
Will you be hiking with a dog?
- No.
Now that you know who we are let me line-out our planned route (***** means campsite):
South Lake
Bishop Pass
Dusy Basin
Knapsack Pass
Barrett Lakes/Palisade Basin*****
Potluck Pass
large lake SE of Potluck Pass at head of Glacier Creek
Cirque Pass
Palisade Lakes
Mather Pass
huge lake in Upper Basin*****
Split Mtn. via north slope
huge lake in Upper Basin
2 lakes just west of Striped Mtn*****
Pinchot Pass
Woods Lake*****
Sawmill Pass
Sawmill Pass trailhead
Questions/concerns of mine include:
According to MapMyRun this trip is 45 miles. Six of those miles are x-country across Palisade Basin and 4 of those miles are x-country up Split Mtn and back. The remaining 35 miles are on trail. I don’t feel like we’re biting off too much in 5 days. Right?
We’ll have no problem getting to Dusy Basin on day 1 but can we get over Knapsack Pass to Barrett Lakes that same day? I’ve seen Knapsack Pass from the NW but have never tried it. How doable is this in 1 day if we hit the trailhead around 10am? Keep in mind the shorter days of early Oct.
Is Barrett Lakes a worthy campsite? I imagine we could get some nice alpenglow on the Palisades from there. Unless we too close?
I’ve read fairly consistent comments on the descent from Cirque Pass: It can be hairy but if you take your time and stay right (west) on the decent you can avoid most of the Class 3 stuff. Is that fairly accurate? We’ll bring a rope to lower our packs over ledges so we can tackle any sketchy stuff free of their burden. I see this being the most difficult part of our trip.
Everything I’ve read about Split Mtn makes it sound doable for our group. We’ll camp at the huge lake in Upper Basin the night before and climb it via the north slope. A long, slow, talus climb? Not sexy but the view should be worth it.
Anyone have a clue where we can find some golden trout on this trip besides the Palisade Lakes? I’ve heard the huge lake in Upper Basin is devoid of fish. Could the Barrett Lakes or the lake at the head of Glacier Creek hold goldens? I’m pretty sure everything between Mather Pass and Woods Lake is a brookie/rainbow/brown show. 3 of us are fish biologists so we want to catch the real deal!
The only possible modification I see us making would be to shorten the trip (mileage-wise) and exit via Taboose. By still taking the full 5 days we’d give ourselves a window for a layover day in case we get some weather. We’re all quite comfortable in lousy weather (we live in the PNW) but I don’t want it hindering our views. We can walk in the rain/snow/clouds any day up here, we’re heading south for that big mountain scenery!
Speaking of weather, this will be the latest I’ve backpacked in the Sierra. Thoughts on weather this time of year?
Thanks in advance,
47energy