High Sierra Topix

So the airline tickets are bought, the wilderness permit is secured.....time to go hiking. We are flying into Sacramento (from Boston) around noon on Aug. 27th (Tuesday). Looks like about a 6 hour ride over to Bishop. The question: if we head up to North Lake, what are the odds of finding an open campsite? If that's pretty risky, we'd be OK with grabbing a hotel down in town. Since we realistically won't be rolling into North Lake until about 7, it would be a drag to have to turn around and go back to town if everything is full. I've never been there, so this is a new adventure going over Paiute Pass into Humphrey Basin. Can't wait.
ts

North Lake does not have very many campsites, so arriving there at 7 p.m. to look for one would be very risky. Last year I arrived at 1 p.m. and found the last open site.

Tuesday should be a lucky day, but you never know until you get there. Don't overlook the walk in campsites towards the west of the campground.
Getting used to the altitude would be worth staying in the campground anyway.

There are at least two other campgrounds in the area (below Aspendell and at South lake.)

There are also plenty of backup campgrounds in that area---Four Jeffrey, Intake 2, Sabrina, Forks, Mountain Glen, Bishop Park, Big Trees... you'll find something at one of those easily at 7pm on a Tuesday. Just start with North Lake and if you don't find an open site, hit up the lower sites. I found a spot at Intake 2 at 9pm on the friday of Labor Day weekend a couple years back.

Thanks much for the input. It is always a little strange going to a new area (all of my hikes over the last 6 years have been from the west side, except for one trip out of Mammoth). Looking forward to a big loop-- in through Paiute, out through Lamarck. It has been a horrid hiking season so far back in the Whites of NH. Really late snow, and now tons of bugs-- which usually are gone by this point. Oh well, as I say to my kids, these are first world problems.
ts

Just a heads up that the North Lake Campground has no trashcans. You have to haul out your trash to one of the campgrounds along Hwy 168. That's no big deal if you're camping there and then driving back down to Bishop, but if you're taking off to go backpacking, your options are 1) carry all of the trash that you generated while camping with you on your trip or 2) drive back down to Hwy 168 the morning of your trip to toss your trash. I suppose you could try to find a nice person who isn't backpacking and doesn't mind hauling your trash out, but that's never a sure thing.

You can reserve a spot at Four Jeffrey through recreation.gov. Plenty of availability for Aug 27.