High Sierra Topix

Please don't make a gps track of the shr.that defeats the purpose of the whole thing. As for your side trips just read ropers description reversing the route. I disagree w/the opinion about fish creek.reds to iva is one day almost all down hill.then you skirt the silver divide w/many options. Highly recommended

JWreno wrote:
It looks like Second Recess to Lower and Upper Mills Creek Lakes and then to Gabbot Pass. Do you recommend returning the the trail that starts on the south shoreline of Lake Italy and travels west down the Hilgard Branch?

Exactly. After descending Gabbot Pass, you would traverse the north shore of Lake Italy to its outlet, where you can connect with the Hilgard Branch Trail and return to the JMT/PCT.

Wandering Daisy wrote:Ionian Basin is a LOT harder travel than it looks on the map! Just getting to Davis Lake from Wanda is NOT easy. Lots of talus. I have done the route you are considering, and it really deserves its own trip.

I agree the west side of the Wanda-Davis Lake pass (and the route along Davis Lake) is lots of tedious talus. But the climb to the pass from the JMT is easy and there's a great view. Probably worth the side trip to the pass, especially if you decide to camp on the peninsula at Wanda Lake.

Another option (since you've done Evolution Valley/Basin before) is to go up Goddard Canyon and North Goddard Creek to Davis Lake, then rejoin the JMT at Wanda Lake. If you camp at the North Goddard Creek junction (on the east side of the San Joaquin), then it's a full day to climb up past Davis Lake to Wanda. We met several people going that way round even though I thought heading downhill on the offtrail section made more sense (our trip report: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9921" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

McGee Lakes are just over the hill from the JMT, and they're gorgeous. Definitely an easier detour than Ionian Basin, and well worth it.

I will put a vote in for Goddard Canyon or McGee Lakes. Crossing over to Evolution Basin from Goddard via Davis Lakes was on my list - a thunderstorm precluded it, leaving us hunkered in Evolution Valley.

Plenty good fishing in Martha Lake, and there's a day trip up to Confusion Lake that would be fun.

Wow, Thanks for all the responses. I need to pan around my topo maps to evaluate all the suggestions so far.

I may do the Ionian basin with my son in the future and leave my wife at home on that trip. She has no problem with 20 mile trail days but her confidence on off trail stuff is much lower. She hates big car/bus size talus that has plenty of places to fall down into and also hates the exposure of large sloping snow/ice fields. My son and I have large size 12-13 feet and seem to keep our footing on snow fields much better than my wife. We also use the hiking poles with small snow cups. I am fortunate to have a wife that has gone backpacking with me since 1993. She also has loved the transition to multi week trips since the kids have become adults. Having to pay attention to her route safety/comfort levels isn't that much of a sacrifice. I think I will try to keep the side trips on this JMT hike to stuff that follows trails mostly. She expressed her displeasure to me after I explained my excitement of doing the cross country route over Gabbot pass.

Emigrant Wilderness off trail last year wasn't any problem other than smoke visibility issues since it was on granite slabs and not much talus. The biggest problem was the huge amount of fallen trees around many of the lakes. We kept having to leave the trace of old trails to get around fallen trees. There are several old 'trails' show on the Topos that haven't seen any wood saw in decades.

I am still using the old National Geographic TOPO! software for planning since I have the California, Nevada and Utah states data for that software. I pull it up when I start trying to follow peoples trip reports and route ideas. Any good ideas for more up to date software. I would love a program that would let me blend Sat imagery with good topo quad details so I could try to determine the type of ground cover from the Sat photos. Good interfacing with the Garmin GPS is also a plus. Google earth style imagery with a topo overlay would be cool stuff. Being able to blend the opacity of the topo layer with the sat imaging layer would be cool when printing maps.

I haven't seen Dusy Basin mentioned as a great side trip. It's easy to get to Dusy Basin from the JMT via the Bishop Pass trail and once there, cross country travel is easy and the area is extremely photogenic. Given your wife's anxiety about straying far from trails, this might just be her cup of tea.

Mike

I'll have to put my vote in for Olive, Anne, & Peter Pande Lake. I did 90 miles of the JMT last year from Tuolume Meadows to Edison then back up to Mammoth which included Peter Pande & Olive Lake. Really nice area with not to many visitors worth visiting, just please be sure to leave it as you find it. If you do decide to go to Iva Bell Hot Springs it isn't to far up the trail from there. Or you could also reach the lakes just off the trail from Purple Lake. Then you could continue with a little off trail over Graveyard pass to Graveyard Lake and down the trail to VVR for a resupply. The is some uphill Talus however. I personally hate Talus but its gotta be done, I prefer it uphill any day. The other side of the pass is mostly slabs of easy granite. You will miss out on the Silver Pass but your still headed in the same direction with the added benefit of far less people, temporarily anyway. I've been to this area for the past 3 years and wouldn't mind doing it again this summer, but I've been considering, the mono creek Goddard Pass area to break this addicting cycle I just can't seem to break.
I put together a trip report, you can fast forward to day 6 to where my hike north from VVR back up to Mammoth to get an idea what I'm talking about. Have a great hike as I'm sure you will with what ever path you choose.

http://intrek40.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since you’re looking at no-talus sidetrips, Wallace Lake is a great choice. There’s a use trail most of the way. Also, one area no one has mentioned is the Upper Kern. After going over Forester Pass and passing the lakes below the pass, head diagonally southwest toward the unnamed lake by the Lake South America Trail. This is class one all the way. Follow the Lake South America Trail up over the saddle. You’ll reach a junction with a side trail to Lake South America. From here, decide where you might want to go. You can go to Lake South America (not the best choice, but many others disagree) or follow the trail until you head off to one of the gorgeous lakes off the trail. The cross-country travel to these lakes is all class one as long as you are willing to zip-zap a little to avoid short cliffs.

Another Upper Kern alternative route that is all trail is to follow the Lake South America trail loop past Lake South America through the Upper Kern back to its interestion with the JMT about a half mile above the junction with the Shepherd Pass Trail. You can camp at one of the lakes near the trail or however far off-trail you feel like like.

@JWreno - Another easy tallus-free side trip is Bench Lake (north of Pinchot Pass). It's only two miles off the JMT, on a relatively flat side trail. The lake has excellent camping with huge views; it's worthy of a zero day.