High Sierra Topix

I agree with what has been said. Watch the weather very carefully. Take warmer clothes and if possible a warmer sleeping bag than you would for the summer. Be prepared, therefore, to carry more weight. Understand that your daylight is restricted and you won't be able to move as far because of that. Understand that you will be hiking lake to lake since most streams will be dry, so bring sufficient water carrying capacity.

If you are wrong about the weather in the summer, you might be miserable, but probably will be safe. If you are wrong about the weather in October, it can be truly dangerous. And so you need to plan more conservatively.

Do all that, then go out and have a good time, without the crowds.

IF they reopen for camping/overnight stuff in Eldorado NF/Desolation and IF the weather report looks good (within a day or two of departure on the NOAA site), then this certainly works as a trip.

I have in fact done late season trips in this area in past years. Whether or not this is the best place to go on a short trip in late Oct depend on what one is after. If fishing is an objective, then this is a nice choice (why I went in there at this time of year in the past). For scenery though, late season to this region is not so nice. The drawdown on the lakes gives them pretty ugly bathtub rings which will be even more extreme because of the dry year we've had--this will impact Loon, Buck Island (which, in its fall state gets my vote as ugliest lake in the Sierra backcountry),and Rubicon Reservoir. For quick hitters, something in western Emigrant Wilderness, or the Grouse Ridge area north of I 80 or the Lakes Basin area north of the Yuba R. may be better choices if scenery is higher on the priority rankings than fishing.

Some of it is opening back up:

http://southtahoenow.com/story/10/14/20 ... nal-forest

Thanks for sharing, Jeff. Just to confirm, does this new FS order #03-21-19 overrule the previous FS order #19-21-07 which had closed Desolation Wilderness until Oct. 20? Or are the two orders concurrent as one relates to the Caldor Fire closure and the other is regarding the LTBMU backcountry closure?

Edit: disregard, this page confirms that the FS has lifted the LTBMU backcountry closure early.

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I didn't end up going this year, but your ideas have inspired me to aim for alate-ish season trip in a future year!