Suggestions for most scenic start out of North Lake TH

[Ontheroadagain]

Hey everyone, thanks so much for creating this forum and for any advice you can give.
I'm a fairly comfortable backpacker, with lots of multi-day and multi-week experience, comfortable with higher mileage days (read: 18-25) And comfortable with significant elevation gain. Most of my experience has been on trails, though I'm not afraid of a little cross-country travel if it's reasonably straightforward, especially above tree line.

I have a surprise week off the first week of July. I'm looking to do something vaguely from the Bishop area to the Onion Valley area. I have done the job your trail before, and I'm happy to repeat some of those miles but would also love the opportunity to see some new places and get off the beaten path. I was looking at starting from the North Lake trailhead, and then eventually joining up with the John Muir trail to follow it a ways, but I can't decide between going up and over Paiute pass and taking the Paiute Canyon trail with potential side trips to Muriel/Goethe Lake/Desolation Lake - OR - taking the trail to Lamarck Col/Darwin Bench.

Wanted to get your thoughts on which of these might be more beautiful, or more exciting. My suspicion is that you can't really go wrong in this region, but I like to spend a lot of time above tree line and have pretty big sweeping views. Solitude is always welcome.

[Wandering Daisy]

Yes, both are great. Other factors may determine your route, such as ease of getting permits, snow conditions (early July could have snow on north sides of passes- including a cornice on Lemark Col), high water flows. If you cannot safely cross the San Joaquin at the washed-out bridge-Evolution junction you would not be able to loop back via Piute Pass. You can go over Alpine Col or Snow Tongue Pass to get between the Evolution side and Piute side, but there likely will be snow on the north sides that would need some experience with steep snow. For fewer crowds I would choose Piute Pass- so many easy off-trail options up into cirques on both sides.

Darwin and Evolution have more close-up mountains, Humphreys Basin is more spread out. If you fish, Humphreys is the best choice. I think most would give Darwin-Evolution a higher scenic score. However, the PCT will be very crowded this timeframe but you still can have some camp privacy if you camp well off the trail. If you choose Piute, personally I would not go father down than Hutchings Meadow crossing- from where you can loop back via Puppet Pass and Humphreys Lakes.

There have been numerous posts on each route and reading the reports and seeing the photos will be very informative, especially trips taken during a similar timeframe (early June drought year is similar to normal year early July and this year is about normal). As for snowmelt, conditions will be clearer by mid-June. Unless you can get a reserved permit now, I would wait a bit and pick up a "W" permit when they are released. Also, you can do almost the same loop to Humphreys Basin from Pine Creek trailhead if North Lake permits are all gone.

viewtopic.php?p=183110&hilit=Piute+Pass#p183110

This trip report is early August 2008 which was also a normal snowpack year, so you can compare scenery for both- I went in Piute and out Lemark, connecting via Snow Tongue Pass which may be snow covered in early July. Conditions shown would not be what you would see during your timeframe.

[c9h13no3]

Most of my experience has been on trails, though I'm not afraid of a little cross-country travel if it's reasonably straightforward, especially above tree line.

As usual, WD gives a better reply than I could hope to. But I can add a little note about snow.

Paiute Pass is simpler than Lamarck Col (although, Lamarck is about as gentle as cross country passes get). I will say, while I didn't think an ice axe was necessary when I went over Lamarck on June 19th of a low snow year (2022), I did pull mine off my pack and use it (no crampons). Your comfort level on snow will dictate what you think is sketchy. There is likely to be a boot pack pounded into the snow. The snowpack up high has been pretty robust this year, and worse case scenario you encounter alpine ice that has been around since the 2022-2023 snowpack. The picture below will give you an idea what you're in for.

Paiute Pass will have no such issues, as it isn't that steep and isn't north facing.

PXL_20220619_154208642_resize.jpg

[mkhaley]

After receiving very helpful advice on this forum, I went over both Paiute and Lamarck on separate trips last September an can share some impressions. It sounds like I have less backpacking experience than you, and I still found Lamarck to be quite manageable in terms of cross-country travel. However, I did split the trip to Darwin Bench across two days and was glad to have done so. I would have personally found it really strenuous, especially because the technically hardest part is not going over the col but rather rock hopping the few miles alongside the Darwin lakes at the end. That being said, my usual mileage for a backpacking trip is under 10/day.

I found the Lamarck to Darwin to PCT trip to be grand, and more scenic than the trip over Paiute pass, which is also very beautiful. But Humphry's Basin was a stunning, magical place to spend a layover day and would probably feel less crowded than anywhere else on the other route.

[stevet]

At a minimum, for July, would recommend microspikes for any cross county pass. As a suggestion, perhaps head north and exit instead at Pine Creek. Would allow for an easy entry over Piute Pass, exploration of Desolation Basin, and then options to descend Puppet Pass or return to trail to enter French Canyon. There are many lakes below Puppet Pass worth exploring (can also access these from French Canyon), time allowing you can out and back side trip to Merriam Lake and the smaller lake chain above it, and then up French Canyon to Pine Creek Pass and some easy cross country over to Royce Lakes. From there over to Granite Park, and then exit to Pine Creek. This area provides a lot more solitude and scenery than the trek along the JMT to exit at Onion Valley.

[wearigo]

I noticed that no one has mentioned the South Lake exit option, which is a very popular and spectacular way to tour the Evolution Valley area after Lamarck->Darwin Bench. It would require a ride/hitchhike back to your car at North Lake, if you're solo (I had friends with me so it was a short car shuttle). The JMT gets a lot of traffic, but it was worth it in my opinion to see Evolution Valley. The descent from Muir Pass and Helen Lake down LeConte Canyon is very scenic, especially if you like geology. The climb from the ranger station up to Dusy Basin provides an outstanding view of the spectacular Black Divide, and in Dusy you have the Palisades to view and an option to explore past Knapsack pass. I enjoyed the entire route over Bishop Pass and down to South Lake, which continued to have surprising geology. (Don't get me wrong, I love granite too!)

FWIW, several of the lakes along the south side of Piute Canyon (e.g., Honeymoon, Packsaddle) have that remarkable blue color that draws attention elsewhere in the Sierra. It sounds like that would be out of your way though.