TR: Lamarck Col out Kearsarge Pass 9/9/2017-9/16/2017
Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2018 4:05 pm
Finally found the cable to my camera and dowloaded pictures from my september trip.
Trip plan: North Lake to JMT over Lamarck Col. The roughly follow JMT to Kearsarge Pass and out. Options to go off trail through Dusy/Palisade basins. Option to go off trail through Dumbell/Lake basins. I have never been on any part of the JMT before. This plan gets me through the Kings Canyon NP part, with some potentially spectacular off trail parts. Lots of flexibility in case we are slower than expected, or have issues dealing with the sustained elevation, or have physical limitations (Bailed halfway through a N. Cascades trip last year due to a bum knee. Got my issues sorted out, but my partner has some knee concerns as well. Trails shouldn’t be a problem, but not sure how will react to the planned scrambles) There were many wildfires in oregon, and a couple in the sierras to the north and south of our route. On the smokemap, most of the west coast was covered in smoke, except for a small pocket in the sierras, which just happened to be where our route would take us. Luck was good. I wish I had saved a screen capture of the smoke map, it was really remarkable how lucky the route choice was.
Day0:
My buddy leaves Olympia ~4am.picks me up in Portland at ~6am and drive to Onion Valley to a reserved campsite. Sleep at ~9K elevation (help acclimate). Driving took most of the day, so we were not able to get to any of the permit offices before they closed.
Day1:
Drive to Lone Pine. Breakfast. Pick up permits. Last minute shopping. Drive back up to onion valley and hang out waiting for shuttle. Frustration at all of this logistics before we get to hike. Shuttle to North Lake. Start hiking around 4pm. I was initially hoping to start hiking at ~1 and get to Darwin Canyon or Bench today. But that was not to be with when I could schedule the shuttle. So, with not enough time to get over Lamarck Col today. Camp at Upper Lamarck Lake. So beautiful. For some reason, I had to get up and pee 5 or 6 times in the middle of the night. Definitely not usual for me. I wonder if it was due to the elevation... Day2:
Up and over the Col. Nice trail most of the way up, with fairly easy navigation. When I got my first view of the ridge with the Col in it, I thought that I might have to pull out my compass for the first time in a couple of decades to chart the route. Which of the notches was the correct Col? Upon closer look, there was a clear use trail in the snow telling us where to go. No use for the compass yet (still carry it, one of these decades I might actually use it...) Up and over the col and into the National Park. Descending down to the lakes was much gentler than I had been fearing. I was worried it would be a talus slog. And this was the only part of the trip we couldn’t bypass on the JMT. So that went well. The route along the lakeshore was actually much worse. Not much elevation change, but a lot of places where the route went over talus and was kind of scrambly. Finally dropped down into Darwin bench. So beautiful. Still 3-4 hours of daylight, and we wanted to be further at the end of day 2. But a combination of the beauty, and fear of crowds on the JMT, we decided to stop here for the night. Day 3:
Down to the JMT and up through Evolution Basin.Gawking and Rubbernecking. Finally start the ascent to Muir pass and the hut. Starts to rain a little. On goes the rain gear for the last 20minutes of the ascent. Hang out in the hut for a bit, and then it starts to pour with thunder and lightning. How cool to actually use the hut to shelter from a thunderstorm! About 30 minutes into it., we are joined by another hiker who is completely soaked and just happy to be away from the lightning. After the storm passes, it is down from the pass and into LeConte canyon, where we find a place to camp for the night. Day4:
Down we go. And back up the bishop pass trail to Dusy Basin. Up and over Knapsack pass. Down, then up to the upper Barrett lake. Stop to pitch camp and sit in the tent for the last hour of daylight as a brief thunderstorm rolls through. Sunset is glorious. Views for days. Close up to the Palisades. I wish I was good enough with a camera to do it justice.
Trip plan: North Lake to JMT over Lamarck Col. The roughly follow JMT to Kearsarge Pass and out. Options to go off trail through Dusy/Palisade basins. Option to go off trail through Dumbell/Lake basins. I have never been on any part of the JMT before. This plan gets me through the Kings Canyon NP part, with some potentially spectacular off trail parts. Lots of flexibility in case we are slower than expected, or have issues dealing with the sustained elevation, or have physical limitations (Bailed halfway through a N. Cascades trip last year due to a bum knee. Got my issues sorted out, but my partner has some knee concerns as well. Trails shouldn’t be a problem, but not sure how will react to the planned scrambles) There were many wildfires in oregon, and a couple in the sierras to the north and south of our route. On the smokemap, most of the west coast was covered in smoke, except for a small pocket in the sierras, which just happened to be where our route would take us. Luck was good. I wish I had saved a screen capture of the smoke map, it was really remarkable how lucky the route choice was.
Day0:
My buddy leaves Olympia ~4am.picks me up in Portland at ~6am and drive to Onion Valley to a reserved campsite. Sleep at ~9K elevation (help acclimate). Driving took most of the day, so we were not able to get to any of the permit offices before they closed.
Day1:
Drive to Lone Pine. Breakfast. Pick up permits. Last minute shopping. Drive back up to onion valley and hang out waiting for shuttle. Frustration at all of this logistics before we get to hike. Shuttle to North Lake. Start hiking around 4pm. I was initially hoping to start hiking at ~1 and get to Darwin Canyon or Bench today. But that was not to be with when I could schedule the shuttle. So, with not enough time to get over Lamarck Col today. Camp at Upper Lamarck Lake. So beautiful. For some reason, I had to get up and pee 5 or 6 times in the middle of the night. Definitely not usual for me. I wonder if it was due to the elevation... Day2:
Up and over the Col. Nice trail most of the way up, with fairly easy navigation. When I got my first view of the ridge with the Col in it, I thought that I might have to pull out my compass for the first time in a couple of decades to chart the route. Which of the notches was the correct Col? Upon closer look, there was a clear use trail in the snow telling us where to go. No use for the compass yet (still carry it, one of these decades I might actually use it...) Up and over the col and into the National Park. Descending down to the lakes was much gentler than I had been fearing. I was worried it would be a talus slog. And this was the only part of the trip we couldn’t bypass on the JMT. So that went well. The route along the lakeshore was actually much worse. Not much elevation change, but a lot of places where the route went over talus and was kind of scrambly. Finally dropped down into Darwin bench. So beautiful. Still 3-4 hours of daylight, and we wanted to be further at the end of day 2. But a combination of the beauty, and fear of crowds on the JMT, we decided to stop here for the night. Day 3:
Down to the JMT and up through Evolution Basin.Gawking and Rubbernecking. Finally start the ascent to Muir pass and the hut. Starts to rain a little. On goes the rain gear for the last 20minutes of the ascent. Hang out in the hut for a bit, and then it starts to pour with thunder and lightning. How cool to actually use the hut to shelter from a thunderstorm! About 30 minutes into it., we are joined by another hiker who is completely soaked and just happy to be away from the lightning. After the storm passes, it is down from the pass and into LeConte canyon, where we find a place to camp for the night. Day4:
Down we go. And back up the bishop pass trail to Dusy Basin. Up and over Knapsack pass. Down, then up to the upper Barrett lake. Stop to pitch camp and sit in the tent for the last hour of daylight as a brief thunderstorm rolls through. Sunset is glorious. Views for days. Close up to the Palisades. I wish I was good enough with a camera to do it justice.