High Sierra Topix

I'm in Visalia, too, so I like to use west side trailheads too.

If you do the Rae Lakes loop (crowded), take a side trip up East Creek to East Lake and Lake Reflection and spend a layover day there. It is well worth it.

I've done a number of loops from the west side, but they are all a little more than you want, averaging 8-10 miles per day with no layover days. The best ones involve some significant off trail (not very difficult route finding, but a fair distance and a lot of talus/boulders). That would include loops I have done to Kaweah Basin and Lake Basin. Both of those can be done in your time frame, but may be beyond your comfort level for off trail.

The North Lake - South Lake loop is very nice, but has a lot of people on it.

If you would be willing to forgo the layover days, you could do a loop out of Rancheria to Tehipite, then up the Middle Fork to the JMT, south to Woods Creek, and exit at Roads end. About 84 miles, but a lot of that has good solitude. You would need to be dropped off and picked up at different locations, but those trailheads are a lot closer to Visalia.

The loops out of Mineral King are also good. I am planning on an eight day loop late July/early August that you might be interested in, but it also has no layover days and will average 8-10 miles/day. It will also have some off trail. But if you're interested and think you're up to it, let me know.

Hey, I'm wondering if anybody has done the cross country between Devils Punchbowl and Schoolmarm Lake (Red Mtn. Basin and Bench Valley)? We're thinking about heading into the Red Mtn. basin but would also love to see Bench Valley. The write ups I have are very out of date. If you've done it is it easier north to south or vise versa? Are there any guidebooks that specifically talk about this area? What are some good guidebooks that I can check out. I love this site, thanks.
BTW -We're not from Visalia, my wife has family there, we're way up north, 10 hours from Visalia. I just love the high sierra.

Use the "search feature" at the top of the "Backpacking/Hiking/Camping" section
there is a lot of info on HST about this area. Here are just a few threads:

1. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8248&p=60207&hilit= ... ley#p60207" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

2. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5496&p=34565&hilit= ... sin#p34565" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

3. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4338&p=26090&hilit= ... sin#p26090" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

4. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2722&p=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I second Tim, we did Deadman's canyon 2 years ago and had a great time.. We did a night up out of the canyon at Big Bird lake that everyone loved, if we had the time we would have spent the day wandering around to the upper lakes. Our trip was just under 60miles in 6 days.


Ron

I am planning a similar trip. We plan to leave from Maxon Trailhead and proceed up the Hell-for-Sure Pass trail to Devil's Punchbowl. From there we want to go to the Schoolmarm Lake, Six Shooter Lake, Wah Hoo Lake, Holster Lake area and spend the night. The next morning we plan to go down Bench Valley to Colt Lake and Guest Lake to the Bench Valley Trail. We will return to Maxon Trailhead via Big Maxon Meadow and Post Corral Meadow. I am really interested in hearing from anyone that has gone from Devil's Punchbowl to the Bench Valley via the pass just southwest of Mt Hutton.