R03 TR: Pine Creek Pass / Royce Lakes / Granite Park 8/8 - 8/10 2017

[jimmyjamhikes]

We just did a backcountry loop up to Pine Creek Pass then through French Lakes up to the Royce Lakes over to Granite Park and back down past Honeymoon Lake and the Pine Lakes.

Lots of intermittent snow fields, some as low as 10,000 feet, but none of them required traction devices (we just had trekking poles). The sketchiest part for us was the snow traverse above Royce Lake 11725 to Royce Pass, which people with more experience than us might not even notice as a problem.

Mosquitoes ranged from 1 to 4 depending on breeze, direct sun, proximity to water, and elevation. The French Lakes and Royce Lakes were no more than a 1, Pine Lakes, Honeymoon Lake, and Granite Park more typically 3. I'd say the one place I was surprised was the treeless (but quite tarn-ful) plateau northwest of 'L' lake where we wore head nets and resisted the urge to run.

Stream crossings on trail up to Pine Creek Pass were easy. Stream crossings on the Italy Pass Trail were more problematic, but again probably not difficult for people with stream crossing experience.

I have a full trip report in three entries on my blog:

https://jimmyjamhikingclub.wordpress.co ... ench-lake/
https://jimmyjamhikingclub.wordpress.co ... yce-lakes/
https://jimmyjamhikingclub.wordpress.co ... y-at-best/

And here's my favorite photo from the trip:

[austex]

This picture is like a WOW! Nice TR too. Thanks!

[cgundersen]

Hi JH,
Great shot there and I peeked at some of your other photos of what looks like a terrific experience; sounds like you hit the mosquito bloom that maybe had been dormant when Wandering Daisy covered similar terrain a few weeks ago. It's been a wacky summer for bugs, but the snow sure adds a "cool" dimension to the mountain shots! And, just for others who may not be looking here, I'd encourage you to duplicate this post in the backpacking forum.
Cameron

[hikerdude87]

Thanks for the great photos! I still can't believe how much snow and water is still up there. When we were there October last year we had some trouble locating a trail from Honeymoon Lake through Granite Park. So I can only imagine how much more difficult it is now with all the snow and water in that area.

[jimmyjamhikes]

Thanks guys! Two questions:

Should trip reports normally be posted in Condition Reports and Information or Backpacking / Hiking / Camping ?

Also, I see the duplicated post symbol sometimes on reports that appear in both places, but I cannot figure out how to do this.

[rlown]

Trip reports should be posted in the area that mostly represents your trip. Generally, either the Backpacking forum, The fishing forum, or Beyond the Sierra. You can copy the URL link from your current trip, start a new thread in the other forum, and paste the copied link into a basenote. Saves a ton of time that way.

Many parts of a TR get dissected into posts on other forums like conditions (skeeters, stream crossings, etc) which works perfectly fine.

[kpeter]

Gorgeous photography and an interested trip report to one of my favorites. Nicely done. Great reflection shot, and I like your ice shot too.

[giantbrookie]

The Royce Lakes reflection shot is very nice and the other photos are great, too.