Day zero was stressful as we needed to: make the long drive to Bishop from the Bay Area and 1) get a walk-in campsite at North Lake, 2) drive to South Lake and find a parking spot to leave our car, and 3) hitchhike back to our campsite at North Lake. It all worked, fortunately, as I didn't have a plan B. The North Lake campground initially appeared full, but it turns out the parking spots were taken up by day hikers. Maddening to say the least, but it was a relief when we realized that campsites were available. By the time I drove to South Lake (I left my son at the campground), it was late Monday afternoon, South Lake was quiet, and parking was easy. Unfortunately that meant that hitchhiking opportunities were scarce. I was clean (relatively), carrying nothing, and just wanted a ride down the hill to the highway junction (planning on another hitch up to the North Lake Rd.). But something about me was off putting and the 2-3 drivers who left the parking lot in the first 20 minutes didn't stop. But finally a nice couple did. They dropped me off at the highway, where I then tried to thumb a ride up to the North Lake Rd. junction, from where I was planning to walk. Again a few passed up the opportunity to give me a ride but then a very nice gal my age (60ish) who had a house in Aspendell stopped and insisted on driving me all the way to the North Lake campground. My faith in humanity restored, my son and I ate a hearty dinner that we had procured from a taco truck in Bishop.
Day 1: North Lake to Darwin Bench via Piute Pass and Alpine Col
We had 3 options for this day: 1) Piute Pass/Alpine Col, 2) Piute Pass/Snow Tongue Pass, and 3) Lamarck Col. We chose #1; #3 was too short (and a different permit, but that's a separate issue), and regarding #2, I wasn't keen on going up Snow Tongue Pass or dealing with the traverse above Evolution Valley. The Alpine Col route seemed like it would be nothing but beautiful country, albeit with lots of talus to enjoy.
We made good time to Piute Pass (looking towards Summit Lake and Humphries Basin):
From there it wasn't far to Muriel Lake and then to the outlet of Goethe Lake. I hadn't looked at the map closely and didn't realize that Muriel Lake was about the same elevation as Piute Pass, which was kind of nice. Muriel Lake:
From Goethe Lake the use trail ends and the talus fun begins. We were expecting it, and hopping the talus along the west shore of Goethe Lake didn't seem bad at all:
Climbing up to Alpine Col was slow, but we made steady progress. We basically aimed left, then switched back to the right to reach the top.
Alpine Col from the west shore of Goethe Lake:
On the lower slopes we decided to try going up the middle on what looked like a use trail through loose scree, thinking it might be faster than the talus. But it was too steep and loose, so we headed left to the stable (and enormous) talus:
The top is in sight:
Last few steps, Goethe Lake in the background:
View down the SE side of Alpine Col and Lake 11910:
It was only about 2pm at the summit of Alpine Col and we just had a few miles left to make it to Darwin Bench. It looked like we'd be in camp early. It ended up taking us over 3 hours! The talus was seemingly endless. I was mentally prepared for hopping talus to get up Alpine Col and then to descend to the first lake (11910), but not for it to continue for so long afterwards. We traversed the east short of Lake 11910:
We then dropped down to the isthmus between Lakes 11546 and 11540:
From there we had to choose which side of Lake 11540 to travel. The NW shore was longer and the terrain was steeper, so I had planned on the SW shore. But there was a steep snowfield along the way that went up several hundred feet from the lake. From our vantage point it looked like there were footsteps across it near lake level, and we gambled that we'd be comfortable crossing it (we weren't carrying any traction). But when we got there, it was far too steep and slick for comfort. A fall would drop us into the lake or worse. So we had to climb about 300' and do some painstaking maneuvering around some more giant talus to get around it:
I had clearly picked the wrong side of the lake. But once we were passed the snowfield, it was smooth sailing, more or less, to the Darwin Bench area which was absolutely gorgeous:
Day 2: Darwin Bench to Le Conte Canyon via Muir Pass
Today was mostly on trail, not necessarily unwelcome after all the talus yesterday. Getting down to the JMT from Darwin Bench was a little slower than expected, but was easy enough. It was certainly beautiful:
Then it was the familiar (for us) JMT over Muir Pass and down to Le Conte Canyon. It's always a bit jarring to see so many people after experiencing the solitude of being off trail, but it is truly a beautiful section of trail:
Muir Pass was busy, and quite warm for 12,000 ft. There was no snow anywhere worth mentioning. Our pace was such that we were going to end up camping somewhere in Le Conte Canyon. I knew it would be challenging to find a secluded camp spot but we were successful, finding one between the trail and the river about a mile past the Bishop Pass trail. The skies were threatening in the late afternoon and there was ominous thunder but we only got some light sprinkles.
Day 3: Le Conte Canyon to "Cirque Basin" via Cirque Pass
During the JMT portion of the day we hiked quickly, down to Piute Creek and then up through Deer Meadow and up the Golden Staircase and its beautiful views:
We left the JMT to head up Cirque Pass before reaching Lower Palisade Lake, and soon stopped to have lunch at the first little tarn on the way up. Lower slopes of Cirque Pass:
Climbing Cirque Pass was enjoyable, with only one section of talus on the second half of the climb:
We generally did well with our route finding, but I had studied the route (and routes of the other passes) prior to the trip. The weather was a bit concerning; generally OK in the direction we were headed but ominous behind us. We could see that Mather Pass was getting hammered with a thunderstorm, but we were dry for the time being (Palisade Lakes and Mather Pass):
We were planning on stopping at the lake that feeds Glacier Creek (11676, some call this Cirque Basin) and we had plenty of time to get there. Cross-country travel is so much more enjoyable when you have no time pressure. The views at the top of the pass were wonderful; it was nice to see across to the Marion Peak area that we had traveled through a couple of years ago when we did the beginning section of the SHR.
Looking south from Cirque Pass, identification of the peaks is left as an exercise for the reader (i.e. I have no idea):
Looking north from Cirque Pass:
From the top it was a straightforward descent to the outlet of Lake 11676, where we set up our tent in a stunning area beneath the Palisade Crest:
View across Paliside Creek from campsite:
Day 4: Cirque Basin to Timberline Tarns via Potluck Pass, Knapsack Pass, and Bishop Pass
Potluck Pass would have been difficult for us had I not done my research beforehand. I realize some would say I was cheating, but I'm not a fan of unplanned exposure, particularly when hiking with my son. So, it was relatively straightforward, hiking up the loose scree to the left of the pass:
Adding in some safe scrambling:
Until we reached the easy ramps to the top:
View SE from Potluck Pass:
From Potluck Pass it was relatively easy hiking to and over Roper's "Inconspicuous Saddle":
We had an early lunch at the upper Barrett Lake and then headed towards Knapsack Pass. Looking down Palisade Basin:
For some reason I had thought that the Knapsack Pass climb would be trivial but it involved traversing some steep talus. We might have erred by trying to maintain our elevation by staying right, as it looked like it might have been smoother to drop down and head up the middle. Regardless, the views were spectacular and we made it up.
Nearing the pass:
Looking SE from Knapsack Pass:
Looking NW from Knapsack Pass into Dusy Basin:
We didn't bother trying to maintain our elevation as we headed next to Bishop Pass, thinking it would be faster just to make a beeline to the Bishop Pass trail. We still botched it somewhat as instead of heading directly to the chain of lakes in the previous photo we veered right, as instinct kept us higher up. We ended up doing some needless bushwhacking. But we made it to the trail soon enough, where it was then clear sailing to Bishop Pass. Dusy Basin is always a treat to walk through. It rained lightly over the pass, but there was no threat of lightning.
Starting the descent east from Bishop Pass:
We could have easily made it out to the car well before dark, but I wasn't going to drive all the way back to the Bay Area, and staying in a motel somewhere is much less appealing to me then camping, so we hunted for a spot. Unfortunately, it was now Friday afternoon and there were tents and hikers everywhere. We eventually made our way down to the Timberline Tarns below Saddlerock Lake and scouted for a private site and succeeded.
Day 5: Timberline Tarns to South Lake
It was only 3.5 miles downhill to our car so the day was very brief. We did encounter a gentlemen who was heading up and stopped us and asked if we had any spare sunglasses. I wear prescription lenses but my son was sporting a pair of not-terribly-expensive sunglasses. Since we were about done and he was just starting out, I offered them to him. He was very appreciative and of course offered to pay, but his gratitude was payment enough.
Smug with fresh, good karma I wished him luck and then not 5 minutes later proceeded to snap one of my carbon hiking poles when I jammed it between two rocks. These are the Gossamer Gear poles that are notoriously fragile, in my experience and that of many others. I got them on sale and love them for day hikes but have never used them on a backpacking trip. Just that morning I had commented on how lucky I was that they had survived (maybe the jinx from that remark outweighed the sunglasses karma). Anyway, GG sells individual pole sections so repair isn't too expensive.
The South Lake parking lot was a very different scene from when I had dropped off the car, completely full, with cars circling like buzzards. When we told a driver who was hovering that we were leaving and our spot was his, he was more excited than the sunglasses guy.
