Yosemite's Florence Lake?

[cgundersen]

Having recently scotched a half-baked plan to traverse from Bernice Lake over to the Florence Lake basin in southeastern Yosemite, I was curious whether there were well-trodden avenues into that area: either traversing from Bernice or by scrambling up the hillside from the area where the Florence creek falls meet the trail that leads down from/up to Vogelsang. From what I could tell from posts on HST, Oldranger (Mike) and Markskor are among the few souls who have ventured to those lakes and I was curious whether anyone else has been there? Peering at that area from the upper reaches of Hutching creek basin, it has looked pretty desolate, so if anyone has additional insights (or photos to supplement those of Mike & Mark), I'd be keen to hear about it.
Thanks,
Cameron

[c9h13no3]

Never been to Florence lake, but lake 10,541 above it is nice. But it is a little stark. I bet the small tarns just below it are almost dry.

I thought the approach from Vogelsang was nicer, albeit more heavily used. I can dig up some photos if you’re curious.

Resizing these things is so annoying :-/

Lake 10,541 and a guy in a yellow shirt

[cgundersen]

Thanks, even for a jolt of adrenaline, that was quick! So, a semi-dense question: the obvious routes into that basin (that do not require technical gear or a parachute/helicopter) are to traverse from Bernice or ascend the creek. And both of those options look moderately challenging to me. So, which way did you come? I'm guessing you'd have seen Florence Lake if you did the "up-the-creek" so was it the traverse? And how much fun was that? Cameron

[c9h13no3]

I didn't find it particularly remarkable. I think the ascent route up from the tarns just below lake 10,541 took a look or two to keep it mellow. Still easy to keep it class 2. Once you leave the Lewis Creek Trail around 9800 feet, it's pretty chill forest understory.

The tarns below lake 10,541 looked to have some gravely camp spots, and more vegetation than the lake above. The lakes above Bernice looked pretty enticing from Vogelsang pass, need to get back there at some point.

I have a GPS track if you want it, it's just the standard route for Mt Florence. But I don't think it is needed.

[cgundersen]

Hi C9,
Sounds promising; it was hard to tell with the smoke we were in whether the traverse was going to be prickly, so it's good to know that it's not anything remarkable. Even so, I'm guessing folk seldom avail themselves of the opportunity, since it's a box canyon. But, deviating there before going back out to trail via the waterfall route certainly looks like a nice, quiet addition to a trip in that area. The lakes in upper Lewis are indeed worth a visit (in clearer skies than we had on this trip). But, heck, Bernice and Gallison are pretty darn nice, too. Cameron