My son Quinn and I went in at Taboose Pass trailhead to tour Ionian Basin during the wet second week of August. Lots of snow due to the record winter rains meant many of the routes were completely altered, usually making things easier technically, if sloppy later in the day. The JMT bits were less crowded than usual, and I felt strong bonds among the few people we met. Saw not a soul in Ionian Basin, which was unsurprising. Met a young couple doing the complete Roper High Route in Palisade Basin, just after Cirque Pass. Shout out to Caleb (happyfeet) and his friend who were doing the JMT.
We are both pretty stout hikers; I'm 64 and have been hiking off-trail in the high Sierra for many years, though I avoid exposed class 3. Q had just run the TRT 50 mile race a few weeks earlier. Appallingly, he wore his Hoka Clifton 8 running shoes. I wore a new pair of Altra Lone Peak Hiker 2's, which were perfect, like wearing moccasins. The slushy snow soaked our feet on most days, but these shoes dried quickly. We went stoveless, eating bars, cheese, jerky, and chews/gels. 2650 calories and 142 grams of protein per day. I gained a pound or two. My base weight was 15 lbs, 30 with food. I remember I once carried a heavy pack, and saw no downside, but now I appreciate the ability to hike basically all day without sore feet. We were glad we didn't bring microspikes and ice axes. Poles were useful. Didn't use my water filter even once, drinking without consequence from the side of the mountain.
Day 1: Taboose Creek was easier than it looked. We realized this after wasting over an hour poking around for a tamer looking crossing. None of the other water crossings on this trip required shoe removal, in fact. The bugs were intense down in the valley going up to Upper Basin. We camped just below Mather Pass, beautiful spot.
Day 2: Mather from the south is easy, though snow had erased some of the trail. On the north side the snow was hard in the morning, making it easy to cross.
- Palisade Crest north of Mather Pass
- Glacier Creek Basin north of Cirque Pass
Day 4: Storm predicted! Our goal was Ionian Basin. We hiked from LeConte Canyon ranger station up to Helen Lake on JMT, and looked with dismay at the snow-covered basin leading up to Black Giant Pass. Is it doable? Looks steep... . We decided to try it, after Quinn found a possible route. We would turn around and go back at 1:30. It again was easier than it looked, and we were standing on the pass at 1:30. Now a storm looked likely, and we couldn't tell what lay ahead. What if Ionian Basin is buried in snow? What if we can't descend the outlet of Lake 11828? We decided we'd be okay in the worst case we could think of, and after a ritual sacrifice were favored by Poseidon, who held back the furious weather that hit later that night. Much of the hiking was on snow, big contrast to recent years at this time. The north side of the outlet to 11828 was fine. Camped northwest of Charybdis.
- Black Giant Pass
- Ionian Basin
Day 7: Raining early, up over Taboose Pass and out. Really nothing to report here. Sad to leave. Taboose is beautiful when it isn't 100 degrees and sunny. In the rain, it was freaking awesome.
- Taboose Pass
