High Sierra Topix

Hello highsierratopix,

I have been reading post after post on the area mentioned in my subject line but would really like to get some more personalized help if I'm able. I would love to be able to explore the Dusy and Ionian Basins in one off trail trek this upcoming summer, but am in need of some more direction. I have been looking at the Tom Harrison Kings Canyon High Country and Mono Divide High Country maps and will be picking up the Secor book here soon too. My extremely, incredibly preliminary thought is some sort of route that starts at South Lake, drops into Dusy and then makes its way over into Ionian and then exits at Wanda Pass and heads to North Lake by Darwin Bench and Lamarck Col in an almost loop of sorts as my exit. I'm thinking 7/8 days for this. There are just so many options it seems and I'm hoping to get some advice on potential routes, changes I should make, cautions and must sees etc. I'm very open to any and all of it right now. Tell me I'm foolish if necessary. Just very excited to get this process kicked into higher gear.

In my mind, locating a suitable campsite in Ionian is key. I posted a request for info some time ago and plotted the suggested sites on CalTopo, though I've yet to travel there.

viewtopic.php?t=21163

Bishop_Bob wrote: ↑Mon Dec 11, 2023 6:04 pm In my mind, locating a suitable campsite in Ionian is key. I posted a request for info some time ago and plotted the suggested sites on CalTopo, though I've yet to travel there.

viewtopic.php?t=21163

Great to know, thanks for the link.

Depends on exactly where you want to explore in Ionian Basin. If you go in Black Giant Pass and out Wanda Pass you will miss the western part of the basin. This however would allow you to explore the remote lakes south of Black Giant Pass. Search the forum for trip reports by RoguePhotonic or Alpine Mike- they are the only ones I know that have been in those high lakes.

In my opinion, you see more if you continue west and drop into Martha Lake (via Goddard or Reinstein Pass) and then traverse over to Davis Lake. If you go in South Lake, you automatically go through Dusy Basin, but just how much of off-trail Dusy Basin do you want to see? As for exit, from Darwin Bench/Lakes you can to out Lemark or Alpine Col/Goethe Lakes. Pretty easy too to swing through McGee Lakes on the way out.

If you want to keep things more "off-trail" AND if you go late season when you can cross the creek in LeConte Canyon, you can go up to Ladder Lake and then traverse high to the upper part, just below Helen Lake. It would take an extra day.

Dusy Basin is easy to get to and deserves a bit more time (think there is a 2-night limit) and pairs well with a loop to Barrett Basin via Thunderbolt and Knapsack passes; maybe save it for another trip. In Lemark/out Alpine Col route would let you spend more time in Ionian Basin. Other possibility is an in-and-out from Florence Lake which would be the least total elevation gain because it is a straight shot to Martha Lake with no passes. With more time you could drop a beautiful lake south of Reinstein Pass and the lakes below Finger Peak.

I am not sure how much of the epic 2023 snowpack will remain, but there may be significant snowfields remaining. In high snow years I have taken and used crampons and ice axe.

Wandering Daisy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 1:53 pm Depends on exactly where you want to explore in Ionian Basin. If you go in Black Giant Pass and out Wanda Pass you will miss the western part of the basin. This however would allow you to explore the remote lakes south of Black Giant Pass. Search the forum for trip reports by RoguePhotonic or Alpine Mike- they are the only ones I know that have been in those high lakes.

In my opinion, you see more if you continue west and drop into Martha Lake (via Goddard or Reinstein Pass) and then traverse over to Davis Lake. If you go in South Lake, you automatically go through Dusy Basin, but just how much of off-trail Dusy Basin do you want to see? As for exit, from Darwin Bench/Lakes you can to out Lemark or Alpine Col/Goethe Lakes. Pretty easy too to swing through McGee Lakes on the way out.

If you want to keep things more "off-trail" AND if you go late season when you can cross the creek in LeConte Canyon, you can go up to Ladder Lake and then traverse high to the upper part, just below Helen Lake. It would take an extra day.

Dusy Basin is easy to get to and deserves a bit more time (think there is a 2-night limit) and pairs well with a loop to Barrett Basin via Thunderbolt and Knapsack passes; maybe save it for another trip. In Lemark/out Alpine Col route would let you spend more time in Ionian Basin. Other possibility is an in-and-out from Florence Lake which would be the least total elevation gain because it is a straight shot to Martha Lake with no passes. With more time you could drop a beautiful lake south of Reinstein Pass and the lakes below Finger Peak.

I am not sure how much of the epic 2023 snowpack will remain, but there may be significant snowfields remaining. In high snow years I have taken and used crampons and ice axe.

Okay very interesting, so much to consider. Yeah my very rudimentary trial in CalTopo saw me creating a route that skipped the western part of Ionian in favor of going over black giant pass and down to those lakes and working over to chasm lake and eventually Wanda Pass and out on the JMT through evolution valley to Darwin Canyon and to Lamarck > North Lake. It sounds like I may be missing some key areas by your estimation though going that route? (That's how I feel every outing regardless haha).

2 Days in Dusy sounds great and like something I'd like to do, but we probably couldn't get too deep in considering trying to hitch up to the JMT through little and big Pete meadows to get to black giant efficiently.

Thanks or the direction!

you could do this a little class 3 but beautiful! https://caltopo.com/m/JU0M8. you can look up bob burds langille peak and black divide peak for info I also think rogue might have done something similar.

Wandering Daisy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 1:53 pm Depends on exactly where you want to explore in Ionian Basin. If you go in Black Giant Pass and out Wanda Pass you will miss the western part of the basin. This however would allow you to explore the remote lakes south of Black Giant Pass. Search the forum for trip reports by RoguePhotonic or Alpine Mike- they are the only ones I know that have been in those high lakes.

In my opinion, you see more if you continue west and drop into Martha Lake (via Goddard or Reinstein Pass) and then traverse over to Davis Lake. If you go in South Lake, you automatically go through Dusy Basin, but just how much of off-trail Dusy Basin do you want to see? As for exit, from Darwin Bench/Lakes you can to out Lemark or Alpine Col/Goethe Lakes. Pretty easy too to swing through McGee Lakes on the way out.

If you want to keep things more "off-trail" AND if you go late season when you can cross the creek in LeConte Canyon, you can go up to Ladder Lake and then traverse high to the upper part, just below Helen Lake. It would take an extra day.

Dusy Basin is easy to get to and deserves a bit more time (think there is a 2-night limit) and pairs well with a loop to Barrett Basin via Thunderbolt and Knapsack passes; maybe save it for another trip. In Lemark/out Alpine Col route would let you spend more time in Ionian Basin. Other possibility is an in-and-out from Florence Lake which would be the least total elevation gain because it is a straight shot to Martha Lake with no passes. With more time you could drop a beautiful lake south of Reinstein Pass and the lakes below Finger Peak.

I am not sure how much of the epic 2023 snowpack will remain, but there may be significant snowfields remaining. In high snow years I have taken and used crampons and ice axe.

Hey Wandering Daisy,

Could I get your thoughts on this route?

https://caltopo.com/m/18102

I did a trip through the Ionian Basis in early July 2022. We entered through Goddard Col and exited via Black Giant Pass. My main takeaways were: 1) The Ionian Basin holds a lot of snow, even in dry years. We encountered multiple lengthy, somewhat sketchy snowfields in the Ionian Basis while the rest of the trip was basically snow-free. 2) Camping is extremely limited. We camped at Chasm Lake. There was nowhere to camp between Goddard Col and Chasm Lake. Between Chasm Lake and Black Giant Pass, there were a few scattered spots but it was still very limited. 3) Do your research and plan in advance how to get around the many lakes in the basin. The terrain in the Ionian Basin is steep, rugged and unfriendly. It's not a place where you can assume your route will work out. You'll probably end up having to backtrack if you do that.

Overall, the Ionian Basin is a cool place and I'm glad that I explored it. But it was definitely not a relaxing leg of the trip...it's one of those places where you feel like your skills are constantly being tested and you can never let your guard down.

The following 10-day trip was among the most magnificent and memorable I've ever done. Recommended. To avoid snow in Ionian, do in a low-snow year or later in the summer. Had to train up for it; required above-average fitness.

1. South Lake to upper Dusy Basin. Pick a lake to camp at.
2. Follow the chains of lakes back to the main trail that drops into Leconte Canyon. Turn right up the JMT. I camped somewhere near Helen Lake.
3. Over Black Giant Pass (can take a moment to climb Black Giant if you're into that) and down to Chasm Lake. Chasm has some of the better camping in Ionian.
4. Trended west through Ionian to the big lake with the peninsula. Stayed on the west side of that lake.
5. Followed outlet south/southwest down to Lake 10,232. Camped on south end of that lake.
6. Layover. Visited lakes to east of Finger Peak.
7. Very long day over Reinstein Pass to Martha Lake, then from the eastern end of Martha, follow chain of lakes north, till you drop down to the North Fork Goddard Creek. Camp along the creek. This day was the only one with any tricky route-finding (the drop down into North Fork Goddard Creek). Really convoluted (and cool!) landscape.
8. East to Davis Lakes and JMT; left onto JMT; right onto use trail that goes to Darwin Basin; camped at Darwin Bench
9. Over LaMark Col and down to Lower LaMark Lake
10. Quick out to car

Bluewater here did a nearly identical trip some year before 2015; search for that here because he had a map.

Oleander

I have found numerous small but adequate camp areas in Ionian Basin. For example, if you follow the creek up from Chasm Lake to the next lake, there are some flat sandy sites among some large rocks. The sites are very windy. I even found arrowheads up there. I also looked around the north shores of this lake and found some nice but tight sites with much less wind. They may be lumpy, windy, tight. You may have to do a bit of looking around to find them. And most are technically illegal. Just camp carefully to do minimal damage. The smaller the footprint of your tent the better. In fact a high quality bivy sack really expands your possibilities. Using a sleeping pad that works on rocky, lumpy soil will help. Chasm Lake is definitely a prime site that works well even with a larger tent. I have been lucky in that every time I have been in the basin the weather has been good. Micro-route finding is very tricky. Be sure to give yourself enough time. 1mph travel is not unreasonable.

From Martha Lake, rather than drop down the outlet, you can climb up to the bench above (about 300 feet gain?) then traverse this bench and drop into the outlet of Davis Lake. I am not sure this is the route that oleander did or not.

Ionian Basin is high altitude mountaineering terrain and if you can relax/enjoy has a lot to do with experience in this type of terrain and the pace you set. A relaxed pace makes a more relaxed trip. And to ease anxiety about navigation, a GPS as an addition to visual map reading is a good backup. Visually it is at its best on clear blue days. It CAN be gloomy in overcast, and miserable in rain. Personally, I would just sit out rain and not even try to travel in it. In some ways snow cover makes it easier, IF you have the experience and equipment. The snow covers the sharp talus. Late season snow can be hard and crampons needed. I am not sure microspikes would be sufficient given the steepness.


Some typical campsites