R03/R04 TR: Piute Pass to Humphreys Basin 7/21-7/23 2017

sws0324 · Post by **sws0324** » Wed Jul 26, 2017 2:39 pm

First trip report - here it goes!

Headed up to Piute Pass for a quick 3 day/2 night backpacking trip with my husband, our friend, and our dog. Drove most of the way on Thursday and spent the night at a campsite in Independence that night. Grabbed our permits and got onto the trail by around 10:30 Friday morning. Noticed a few mosquitoes at North Lake but they weren't that bad at that time.

Friday was a great day up to the pass with a lunch stop at Piute Lake. The scenery was filled with wildflowers, waterfalls, and snowfields. There was snow leading up to the pass from the lake but it's easily traversed. From the pass we turned off trail towards the Humphreys Lakes. This was my husband and my first time off-trail which made the adventure extra fun. We made it to Cony Lake or the lake next to it (not sure) and decided to camp there for the night. That night the wind picked up around midnight which made for a very loud and restless night of sleep.

Saturday morning we left our things at camp and went up to the Humphreys Lakes sans-packs. It's so gorgeous up there. Also empty. We also saw no one else up there after leaving the pass. We spent the morning and early afternoon exploring that area and then decided to go back and camp at Piute Lake on Saturday night to make the trip back to the car quicker the next day. We managed to dip our feet in the water there and enjoy a few rounds of cards by the lake until about 4:30 when all of the sudden the mosquitoes swarmed (we had not had this problem the night before). The head nets went on and my dog sequestered himself in the tent to get away from the bugs.

Sunday we headed back down the trail to North Lake. Got to the car around noon at which point the mosquitoes swarmed us again. We rapidly jumped in the car to get away from them and headed home. It was a great trip. First time up to Humphreys and I can't wait to go back and explore more of it!