High Sierra Topix

Got a question on the Lamarck Col route. Can a relatively fit but unacclimated person with a full pack (est. 28 lbs) comfortably make Darwin Bench from North Lake in a single shot? Seems like a lot of elevation gain and scrambling for day-one of a trip. I can’t see a mid way camp spot except Lower Lamarck lake which is only 2 miles from the trailhead. I’m puzzled, would love to hear from those who’ve done the route.

I'm relatively fit, as was my hiking partner, and we did it in one shot without acclimatizing. I confess I live at 5400', but my friend was straight off the plane from Indiana. Now that I remember, I did it another time with 2 friends from LA, and they made it fine, too. I'm not saying you won't be tired by the end of the day....

IMHO, no. We were fit, acclimated, with ~30 lb packs, and am glad we didn't try to go farther than we did. You should plan on camping at the very nice camp at I think about 11500 ft. It's on your right. There's a creek for water and good spot for tents. We did this July 4th, 2020, and am not sure how long that creek would be flowing later in a dry year but it was fine for us. This also positions you to do the col early in the day and avoid thunderstorms. It also take a while to get down the far side and work through the boulders along the Darwin Lakes.

Depends on fitness & abilities. Hike within your abilities. If you think you'll find it uncomfortable to hike to Darwin Bench in a day, you probably will.

There are plenty of places to camp. Unless you're bringing a 6 person tent, there are lots of sandy flat areas below LaMarck Col.

In my experience it's not the muscle fatigue that would prevent a fit person from making Darwin Bench in a day, what would is Acute Mountain Sickness. AMS isn't perfectly predictable and doesn't seem directly related to fitness. Fitness helps but I've seen AMS wreck extremely fit people.

I live at sea level, me and two friends, one of whom wasn't in great shape, went all the way to the bench in a day, with heavy (~50lb) packs. We were totally knackered. It's a big first day, but imo if you are truly fit, with 30lb it is totally doable. Like c9h13no3 said, if you are small you can camp after descending from the col. You can also camp between the lakes, but it can be windy. -Eric

This depends. In 2020 my partner and I were decently fit, acclimated, and made it to the third lake in Darwin Canyon in 6 hours from the North Lake parking lot. It was tough, but we weren't exhausted at the end and could have easily gone further to Darwin Bench. Last month, we were relatively fit, not acclimated at all, camped at 7,500 feet the night before, and struggled to make it to the third lake in Darwin Canyon in 8 hours from the parking lot. Like thegib says, I'd be more worried about AMS than physical fatigue. It's all just walking, but if you start getting light-headed around 12,000 feet then the final ascent up to the Col is tough. Then there's a lot of boulder hopping to get past the Darwin Canyon lakes, so it's not just easy downhill trail cruising once you get over the other side.

With that said, no harm in trying as long as your trip isn't dependent on making miles that first day. As others have said, there are plenty of places to camp on the way up to Lamarck Col.