High Sierra Topix

Hey Tehipite, we had an awesome trip thanks to you! We had put off a certain trip that sort of interested us because it wasn't quite in the heart of the Sierra and looked well, not too spectacular and most definitely a trudge going in. But, some time ago on who knows which forum you said this area just might possibly be your most favorite spot in the whole Sierra. So...we decided to check it out. We were going to stay on trail, honest......but, I wanted to cut miles to save my ankle and I remembered your comments, so day 3 we popped off trail into what might possibly also be my most favorite spot in the whole Sierra!!! We had outrageous weather and slept under the stars sans tent. We saw not one person our whole 5 days literally trailhead to trailhead! In fact, in this area we saw precious few footprints and certainly none within a few days of us. No fire rings, no recently used sleeping "patches." We saw more bear scat than I have ever seen in my whole 40 yrs of backpacking put together! And none of the scat had a whit of backpacker litter in it. Spectacular views! Thanks! Dee

Where did you go? It sounds out of this world where you went.

It was definitely a surprise! It's Tom's spot...if he gives the thumbs up, then I will let the cat out of the bag! Dee

Shucks guys, the suspense is getting to some of us............though the fact that you mentioned a Colby Lake swim in another post may offer a hint, no?
cgundersen

It's Tom's spot...if he gives the thumbs up, then I will let the cat out of the bag!

Unbag that cat, Dee! I'm as curious as everybody else.

Volcanic Lakes!:) Didn't make it to Kidd Lakes...didn't need to this trip!
Went in Lewis Creek, cut over to Volcanic Lakes from Kennedy Pass, went out to Granite Pass and down Copper Creek. Like I said before...saw nary a soul, hardly any foot prints and once off trail, hardly any sleeping spots. Please folks, keep this one this way!:)
dee

Amazing!

I've always thought about that area above Road's End but never seriously thought about it.

Nice! It is a great area, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

The Monarch Divide is wonderful--the views are amazing, and there's so much good stuff to explore up there...and there's a way over just about every ridge, so it's not hard to work out any number of different trip configs.

I couldn't guess, though, because I tend to have a new 'favorite spot' every time I do another trip.

Hi Dee

Not many people check out Volcanic Lakes even though they are quite
spectacular.
I really enjoyed the small ponds in route to the upper lakes which made
for some nice photos during one of many thunderstorms that passed
through on my trip several years back.
Lake 9046 of the Swamp lake chain is very pretty as are the upper and
third lake of the Slide chain of lakes.
The upper lake is quite a sight from the class 2 pass coming from
Slide Lake(emerald green).
Did you get down to the last lake in the Volcanic chain with the cool
glacier right behind it? Its quite a sight.

Hi Dee, I'm interested in where all the bear activity took place. I was up to Kennedy Pass last autumn, the only bear activity I noticed was the fresh tracks below Frypan Mdws that were covering my inbound treds.