Brother Van and I try to get together for an extended hike every other summer. We grew up in Sacramento, but Van now lives in Charlotte, NC. I live in Portland, OR, but backpack in the Sierra every year. Van is six years younger than me and in better shape. He is a glutton for punishment.
For our 2018 hike, we decided months before to focus on the old 15" Mt. Goddard quad and venture into the Ionian Basin, which we both really enjoy. But then Van got Tehipite fever and blew up my carefully crafted route, which had us entering the wilderness from North Lake and entering Ionian Basin by way of Black Giant Pass.
Van decided he couldn't resist the lure of Tehipite Valley, one of his favorite places in the Sierra. He's been there several times over the years (first in 1976 as a teenager) and loves the remote, wild location. In 1987, he and a friend camped in the valley for 10 days; then again, in 1988, he and a group of friends from high school hiked in from the west side and camped in the valley for a week, fishing and exploring. On his recommendation, I hiked down there in the summer of 1978, coming in from the east side via the Simpson Meadow trail. But I didn't care for the heat, bugs and rattlesnakes, not to mention the poison oak.
I didn't want to go to Tehipite Valley. I struggled to come up with an itinerary that would accommodate Van and his Tehipite fever. His idea was to get down to Tehipite Valley via the Simpson Meadow Trail, climb out of the valley via the Tehipite switchbacks, hook up with the Crown Valley trail, then loop through Blue Canyon, take a side trip to Tunemah Lake, then drop down to Goddard Creek via Blue Canyon Pass, just east of Finger Peak. Blue Canyon and Tunemah Lake are places I've always wanted to visit but I couldn't figure out what I was going to do while he was getting down to and then out of Tehipite Valley and I didn't see how we had enough days to then execute an exit out through the Ionian Basin and back to the JMT. Just getting down to Tehipite Valley from North Lake would take me a minimum of 5 days, but I hike slower than Van does. And, my thinking went, if I were Van and busted butt to get all the way down to Tehipite, I would want to stay a few days there. But we didn't have enough time.
So, we decided to wing it. We would start out hiking together, then go our separate ways before re-uniting at Lake 10,232, at the head of Goddard Creek, just below the Ionian Basin. We already had a reservation for Lamarck Col and were hoping we might get lucky and get a permit to enter at Bishop Pass, which would buy Van an extra day in Tehipite Valley. But no such luck -- reservations for Bishop Pass were gone by the time we arrived at the ranger station in Bishop to pick up our permit on Sunday afternoon, August 5th. So Lamarck Col it would be. We picked up delicious steak burritos at the Mexican restaurant in town (next to the Bishop Grill) to eat for dinner that night, and then motored up to the North Lake campground and found a comfortable campsite right near the trail head.
Smoke from wildfires was an issue during my drive down from Oregon and we were concerned it would affect our hike. Reno (where I picked Van up) was clear but around Yosemite and Mammoth smoke was thick. Fortunately Bishop wasn't bad and although some smoke had drifted in, the haze wasn't awful. Our luck held and mostly smoke-free skies prevailed for the entire hike.
That evening, we talked about route options, organized our backpacks, and caught up with one another over beers.
- Van at North Lake.
Our first day on the trail (Monday the 6th) was an easy one. We hiked up to Upper Lamarck Lake, getting used to the heavy packs and the altitude. We camped on the far side of the outlet stream, in a treed area above the creek. The Lamarck switchbacks were clearly visible from our campsite.
- Ready to hit the trail.
- Lamarck switchbacks from our campsite.
On Tuesday, we hiked over Lamarck Col and camped at the second of the string of lakes in Darwin Canyon. We both had a good day and were not bothered by the altitude or the weight of our packs. Van was in camp at least an our before I arrived.
- Snow field leading to Lamarck Col.
- Lamarck Col.
- Darwin Lakes.
- Darwin and Mendel from col.
- Darwin Lakes.
- Evening reflection.
The next morning we woke to a bright blue sky.
- Morning light.
- Morning reflection.
After a leisurely breakfast, Van galloped down to the JMT and headed south, over Muir Pass into LeConte Canyon. He ended up staying the night below Helen Lake, on a lovely bench (with creek) near where you would turn to head up to Echo Col. We have made a tradition of camping at this spot -- we call it the "Moonsite" because, in the right conditions, it provides awesome framing for photos of the moon. Van's adventure can be found here: https://wildernessjournals.tumblr.com/
I chose a more leisurely high route (mostly cross country) to Lake 10,232, via McGee Pass, Davis Lakes Pass, and Reinstein Pass.
My itinerary was as follows:
8/6 -- Day 1 -- Upper Lamarck Lake
8/7 -- Day 2 -- Darwin Basin via Lamarck Col
8/8 -- Day 3 -- Lower Darwin Basin
8/9 -- Day 4 -- McGee Lakes Basin
8/10 -- Day 5 -- Wanda Lake via "McGee Pass"
8/11 -- Day 6 -- Davis Lakes Basin
8/12 -- Day 7 -- Above Martha Lake
8/13 -- Day 8 -- Lake 10,232 via Reinstein Pass; rendezvous with Van
8/14 -- Day 9 -- Layover, Lake 10,232
8/15 -- Day 10 -- Layover, Lake 10,232
8/16 -- Day 11 -- Martha Lake via Reinstein Pass
8/17 -- Day 12 -- JMT/Piute Pass Junction
8/18 -- Day 13 -- Above Hutchinson Meadow
8/19 -- Day 14 -- Out via Piute Pass
While Van was making miles, I hopped down to lower Darwin Basin and camped just below where Darwin Canyon's creek joins the creek coming from the basin below Muriel Peak and Mt. Goethe. There is a good use trail here and my campsite was just off the trail, with shade from lodgepole pines and nice views in all directions.
- On the way through Darwin Canyon.