Looking for Italy Pass and Lake Information

[iluka]

Hi,

I have a trip planned to the Sierra Nevada for a few weeks from now and was trying to find a few pieces of information. The plan is to come up Pine Creek, move over Italy Pass down to Italy Lake then down to the JMT, over Selden Pass and eventually take Piute and French Canyon over Pine Creek Pass and out. The two questions I'm trying to sort out are:

1) Snow conditions including around Italy Pass, Selden Pass and the route from Italy Lake down to the JMT

2) The nature of route is like from Italy Pass down to Italy Lake. My partner is not comfortable traveling on talus and I'm trying to gather some info on this section to guage whether it's feasible. Is there some reasonable climbers path in there or is this largely a scree and talus field?

Thanks for any input you can provide.

[cgundersen]

Hi Iluka,

I went over Italy Pass in mid-August last year and the route up to the pass should be reasonably straightforward though there may be remnant snow as you get higher on both sides of the pass. Still, by the time you head up there, I suspect enough folk will have preceded you to leave a trail. As you descend the meadows on the western side of the pass, you will get channeled into a narrow zone about halfway down to Jumble Lake. At that point, a use trail will become evident and it serves as a great conduit around Jumble Lake and extends most of the way from there to Lake Italy. This use trail is a huge relief, because otherwise the entire area is a jumble of talus. It's pretty easy to follow the use trail, but you do have to pay attention. Still, once you reach Lake Italy, the entire southern shoreline to the lake's outflow is a moderately annoying mix of talus patches interspersed with meadows. Still, as the one talus stretch on the whole trip, it should not be too bad. From the outflow of Italy to the JMT there is a use trail that may fade out occasionally, but is not hard to follow. Good luck! Cameron

[Harlen]

Hello Iluka,
Your route sounds brilliant; it covers some great country. I generally defer to veteran cgunderson, but I wonder if you might want to travel down the right/north side of long Lake Italy. The left side this year may be a rude mix of big, snow-covered blocks of talus, since that is a mostly north-facing slope. I am not sure if you want to choose the south side due to the difficulty crossing the outflow of Lake Italy? Anyhow, we wish you luck wherever you go, and recommend the campsites and the views at the top of Marie Lake.

Here's a shot looking up Lake Italy from just above the outflow area. with Bear Creek Spire in the background. This was also a very snowy year. In the photo below, you can see the outflow area, with Mt Hilgard above the questionable water crossing. It's broad, level ground at the outflow, and I reckon the crossing might be long and cold, but not too risky.

Lake Marie, and the view north. Have a great trip Iluka! The Harlens.

[LMBSGV]

I went over Italy Pass in late August 1998, another heavy snow year. There was solid snow from a little above the uppermost lake to about a quarter mile down the other side. There were two large snowfields covering the trail on the south side of Lake Italy hanging out over the water. The first one was pretty level while the second one was a bit steeper so one needs to be cautious.

Back then, the trail from Lake Italy to the JMT, was a little hard to follow until Hilgard Meadow. From Hilgard Meadow, the trail was clear and easy to follow.

[SSSdave]

Part of that route here:
https://www.davidsenesac.com/2016_Trip_ ... 16-13.html

[jdogrunner]

We were just up there. It's still very wet and lots of tedious snow the higher you get into Granite Park. We got turned around before the pass by thunderstorms and decided to reroute to Golden Lake because I didn't think there'd be a dry campsite near Lake Italy. I didn't take a photo of the pass but it's basically all snow and water above 11k feet.

[giantbrookie]

The July 24 satellite view shows Lake Italy and all neighboring lakes still frozen over and surrounded by lots of snow. The prospects of a more open water and less snow travel will depend partly on how long "a few weeks from now" is.

[cgundersen]

Hi Iluka,

Good point in the prior post: if you're heading up there later in August, the snow may have dwindled significantly, but if it's a couple weeks from now, you may hit snow much earlier than I predicted. Just for comparison, here's how things looked in late August last year right on the other side of Italy pass. If you raise the magnification of the photo, you'll see a bit of Jumble Lake in line with my left shoulder. Even with some snow, this would not be a tricky descent, but if there is still snow around Lake Italy it could get a bit messy. Cameron

Italy Pass looking toward the west and Jumble Lake

[rjszanto]

I am planning on doing the reverse of this trip - Pine Creek clockwise down to French Canyon . Merriam Lake and then around to Lake Italy and the pass and out. I have permits for 8/6 and thinking 2 weeks out could be a mess . I am checking sentinel hub every few days for the satellite photos. Going clockwise, I guess we get another 3-4 days of snow melt on the Italy side of the route, but not sure it will be enough.

[talleycat]

I am also considering the reverse route with an 8/3 entry (though if it looks manageable I might cut over Feather Pass and through Bear Lakes Basin on the SHR). Between rjszanto and me, it sounds like you might get some good beta here if you have a late August departure.

Regardless: I hiked French Canyon —> JMT —> Hilgard Creek—> Lake Italy most recently in 2019 (a snowy year, though nowhere near this one). Bear Creek was above my knees that year (at the crossing in Upper Bear Creek Meadows), so I'm wary of that water crossing this season. I remember the trail along Hilgard Creek growing faint as I climbed, with some brushy sections and frustrating/misleading cairns in the "narrows" above Hilgard Meadow. When I arrived to Lake Italy, I opted for the north side due to undercut snowbanks on the south side. The north side alternated between snow, soaking-wet meadows, stretches of flat granite, and (sorry) talus.

When I hear "my partner is not comfortable traveling on talus" I wonder; with the exception of passes on heavily used trails, most of the passes I've crossed over 11,000 feet in the Sierra have involved talus and scree. But if you and your partner are comfier on snow, I suppose this is your lucky year. Safe travels!