High Sierra Topix

So, is this a zoo at the beginning of August? Some friends are going and trying to talk me into it. . .

kgw,
It may be a zoo, but a very worthwhile zoo (to give you an idea, in late June last year, my wife & I accessed Ionian basin by doing the stretch from Darwin Bench to Wanda Pass that hits a few miles of the JMT through Evo Basin and we ran into a couple dozen folks on the trail on the way in, and >50 on the way out). Of course, if your cohorts are semi-ambitious, you can fairly easily get off the "beaten" path by heading into McGee Lakes basin. Or, more ambitious would be to take the use trail up to Darwin Bench (it peels off the JMT near the upper end of the valley before you reach Evo Lake). The first lake you hit on Darwin Bench (as you come from below) has "infinity pool" views to the North that, in valleyspeak, are "to-die-for". Anyway, it's gorgeous even with lotsa folks.
cg

I did it at the tail end of August and it wasn't too bad at all. At Evolution, we found a very nice, wide open, campsite out of the way, above the trail, so we were completely hidden and had spectacular views of the Valley.
Watched a few people walk by us, but it wasn't a cattle drive by any stretch.
When we headed out and hit the boat to take us to the car, it was packed, we got the last seats. We were amazed, and wondered where everyone had come from.
I think we only had company at one campsite and that was on the first day. We did pass a few spots that seemed to have multiple tents scattered about, but it was difficult to tell if they were one group, or several parties, just clumped together.