High Sierra Topix

Is there a logical way of combining both Deadman Canyon and Nine Lakes as destinations on the same itinerary?

I've been eying a loop from Wolverton -> Silliman Pass -> Roaring River -> Elizabeth Pass -> Bearpaw Meadow -> Wolverton.

Going up the Hamilton Creek drainage to see Precipice Lake & Nine Lakes would be interesting, but adds an odd spoke to my original loop.

If you are comfortable with off trail travel you could take Copper Mine Pass, then Lion Lake Pass, then Lion Rock Pass into Nine Lakes Basin. Click on the map in this link:

http://www.highsierratopix.com/communit ... php?t=8449

The icon for Copper Mine Pass is in the wrong location in my opinion. There is a use trail that runs *south* of peak 12,345 which you can pick up in upper Deadman Canyon if you are heading west to east. You can see it in some of the pics in the link above. Not sure that this route is any faster than just going up and back via Hamilton Lake.

Viewed from a trailed-only perspective these destinations cannot be combined in any sort of a loop and the southern part would indeed stick out like a separate spoke.

If off trail routes are considered then there are multiple possible combinations; alternatives will include at least one off trail pass, and more likely two. I have not done this particular combo, but could have tacked it on to a trip I did in '02 which went out of Wolverton over the Tablelands, down Deadman Canyon a bit, then over Glacier Ridge to Josephine Lake then down to Cloud Canyon then over Colby Pass, then over Triple Divide Pass (NE of Triple Divide Pk) then over Glacier Pass (btw headwaters of Cloud Cyn and Lion Lake) to Lion Lake, then to Tamarack L. and out. Such a loop could have been revised to include Nine Lakes Basin two different ways. The first would have been to cross Pants Pass after Colby Pass to go Nine Lakes Basin, the second would have been to cross Lion Lake Pass from Lion Lake to Nine Lakes Basin (each one would finish by going back over Kaweah Gap). For your itinerary, if you are comfortable and experienced with rough off trail travel, then you can head up to Tamarack and Lion Lake and then over Lion Lake pass to Nine Lakes Basin. Note that none of the off trail routes mentioned here are easy and steep loose rock is a common trait of much of the travel as one gets to the Triple Divide-Lion Peak-Kaweah area.

Thank you both!

Ultimately, I’m looking for the fastest way to string these two places together and it seems like the answer there is: follow the trail.