High Sierra Topix

I also would not camp at Bearpaw Meadow unless I was absolutely beat and couldn't go any further (which was the case the one time I did camp there in 2018). I've camped at hundreds of spots throughout the Sierra and Bearpaw Meadow was by far the darkest, gloomiest, dustiest, most crowded and all-around nastiest one of them all. You are in a dense dark fir forest with no undergrowth - just beaten down dirt - little flat ground, and no views at all. And you share it with a crowd. Buck Creek was much nicer - you had a real creek and some granite walls to look at and an open sunny feeling. But it had only 3 sites I could see. An even better campsite, in my opinion, is on the broad ridge west of Buck Creek between it and Nine Mile Creek. The trail passes by an open area with granite slabs and some good tent sites and a real view! No water, but less than 10 minute walk to Nine Mile Creek to get some water.

-Phil

No tragic lawn maintenance scenarios are necessary here.
She says: There's solid reasoning behind preferring smaller lakes. Large lakes take longer to search for the perfect camp spot.
You can't fight logic.

If Tamarack Lake is out of the question, I'd give the area south of Elizabeth pass (where the trail crosses the creek) a look. It doesn't look like much on the map but there are some camping areas, it offers better views, and is more private. As a second choice, I'd camp along the creek that heads to Tamarack Lake. Both of these areas are far better than Bearpaw