R03/R01 TR: Sawmill Loop Kings Canyon 7-26-19 to 8-4-19

[hotcarlos]

I just booked permits for Sawmill this morning and was scheming this exact route (except i had planned on Explorer Pass).
Great beta here and over all awesome trip report. Thank you.
How many days did you take? Any down days? I'm hoping to get it done in 7..
Scenery, Solitude, Summits and Rainbow Slabs! thats the stuff of dreams right there. Very well done
Cole

[thegib]

Those blue skies and fresh flowers make a welcome read while it's storming here (and dumping up high). That window peak/white fork drainage and area between Arrow pk and Bench lake are awfully pretty. 5400' first day, with a very full pack, is pretty strong. It almost makes me want to put down the ice cream and start training.

[robertseeburger]

I missed seeing this post. In reply to hotcarlos... I believe the total length of this trip was 10 days. It is clearly doable in 7 days for most I think.
I like to have layover days. I had three I think. But I climbed Arrow Peak and also fished a variety of lakes with my layover days.
When I reflect on my backpacking trips, this one is near the top of the list. While I dont consider Sawmill pass very scenic ( and also brutally hard),
I really enjoyed the entire terrain west of the JMT from Window Peak Lake to Arrow Peak. I have never done Explorer Pass and while more direct, I just think the route I took was easier.

[Harlen]

You wrote:

I missed seeing this post. In reply to hotcarlos... I believe the total length of this trip was 10 days. It is clearly doable in 7 days for most I think.
I like to have layover days. I had three I think. But I climbed Arrow Peak and also fished a variety of lakes with my layover days.
When I reflect on my backpacking trips, this one is near the top of the list. While I dont consider Sawmill pass very scenic ( and also brutally hard),
I really enjoyed the entire terrain west of the JMT from Window Peak Lake to Arrow Peak. I have never done Explorer Pass and while more direct, I just think the route I took was easier.

Well I missed the whole boat-- what a ride! This is a trip for the ages, and hopefully one of my ages too. I am now heading for the maps to see where the hell you went. Sorry not to have praised this great trip of yours before now. Well done per usual Roberto! Ian.

p.s. Why don't you take the cat in a hat? Cats can hike. My last cat "Owen", named after the valley where I found him, attached himself to us at a campground near Big Pine in November. He endeared himself to us by following us up a ridge for nearly a half mile! Owen the cat then lived on with us for 10 happy years.

[sparky]

im shocked no one has addressed the cat pooping on the map

hilarious

[richlong8]

Very nice report. I went up Sawmill last year for a few days. My original intent was to leave the trailhead at about 4am, after sleeping a few hours. But I struggled sleeping, so I took off about 1am, and climbed up by moonlight and headlamp. Very enjoyable way to do it, if you can ever really call Sawmill enjoyable.

[Pato]

There is an additional way to link up Window Peak basin and Bench lake. I’ve been meaning to do a write-up of an alternate route that me and a buddy took in 2021 over an unnamed pass south of Pyramid Peak. Maybe this will motivate me to do it! We named it Giza Pass and it is pretty straightforward - though it routes you through Arrow Peak Basin and Arrow Pass and it likely will take you 2 days to get from Window Peak Lake to Bench Lake. Though I haven’t been over Explorer Pass this seems to be a much preferred route.

Ascend nearly to the large tarn at 11,320 in the Window Peak Basin before turning southwest towards the ridge. The pass is the first prominent notch along the southeast ridge of Pyramid Peak. Ascend slabs and talus. Close to the notch there are some steeper slabs that require some friction climbing (class II+) but it’s not too difficult or airy.

This gains the ridge where the entire west side of the ridge is a near vertical wall - except for a small weakness in the ridge here where there’s mellow talus descending to the basin south of Pyramid Peak.

Traverse this basin at about 11,400 to the southWEST ridge of Pyramid Peak. From here it is an easy descent to the twin lakes of Arrow Peak Basin. Arrow Peak Basin is a wonderfully untrammeled basin with a real remote feeling to it - though the fishing was a bit of a let down. From there it’s a pretty straightforward ascent over Arrow Pass to the Emerald Ponds and then to Bench Lake.

Hope this helps - would love to have a second opinion of someone going this route. So far I haven’t been able to find any reports of anyone using it.

[thegib]

Hi Pato, CalTopo shows a black bar of steep across that western wall. What even made you look there for a pass?

[Pato]

I had heavily researched with google earth and it looked doable to me but at a different spot than we ended up going over. I had also read one report of someone going this way but with essentially no detail other than they went around Pyramid peak to the south so I figured it was doable. We actually found this pass on the third attempt…the first 2 places I thought might work were vertical walls on the western side and we retreated. I never completely rule out climbing peaks as potential routes as well…Pyramid Peak’s southern ridges are both rated class II so that was the backup plan.

Again been meaning to add this to the database of cross country passes as it was a very doable way to link up Window and Arrow Peak basins. Hopefully hotcarlos considers this route as both these places are well worth exploring and are some premium destinations in Kings Canyon.

[druid]

Pato, I'd love to see a "Giza Pass" description and/or a trip report!