Taboose Pass campsites?

[Wandering Daisy]

I have seen lots of bear signs, tracks, poop, at the campsites east of Taboose Pass, so be careful with food. I have always gone all the way to the top, mainly because I camp at the trailhead (PS lots of ants so have a good creepy-crawly proof tent) and get on the trail at dawn. I do not like driving the road to the trailhead in the dark.

It can get horribly hot on the lower miles once the sun hits. I always say to myself that I will camping lower but get there mid-day and just keep going. I also take a dip in each stream to cool off when I cross. I have camped on Taboose Pass and unless stormy it is nice because it is breezy which keeps one cool and mosquitoes down. I have also made it all the way up to Striped Mountain lakes. Part way up Taboose Pass near the falls to Lakes Basin makes one long second day. A group of ten will be a lot slower and someone is likely to have heat or altitude issues. I would just get a very early start and see how it goes and if possible get to the top. There should be plenty of water this year all the way up to the pass at many locations.

Have not done it myself, but lots of people start late afternoon when the trail gets into the shade and hike until dark.

[wsp_scott]

I went over Taboose in August 2022. There is a very obvious campsite at (36.99223, -118.37186), I marked the site on the Caltopo app as I passed by. I think this is the first site Harlen is talking about. This is about 1/4 mile and a couple hundred feet higher after you cross the creek. Pretty sure you could squeeze 10 people in here if some are sharing tents or cowboy camping. I saw a bear at about 8600' so definitely be food aware.

It is a long day but totally worth getting over the pass because then you get great campsite views.

[Spicer'sVet]

Thanks for the input folks. While getting to the pass on the first day sounds great, I think that would be a long and difficult climb for the first day and might wreck us for the following day. When we were younger we could probably do it but these days we pace ourselves a bit more. My tentative plan is to hike to the campsite Harlen mentioned about 2/3 way up Taboose pass, then get to that lake across the valley from Bench Lake that's about 2/3 way up Cartridge Pass for our 2nd night. I feel that's the most practical and would allow us to acclimate a bit that first day/night, before making the big push on the following day. Once we get into Lake Basin we plan to base camp a few days and do day hikes to explore the area (Marion Lake, Dumbell Lakes). If we're feeling super strong that first day perhaps we can get over the Pass, but probably not likely.

Harlen, thanks for that great trip report (and pics) you provided. I had read various trip reports when researching the area, but hadn't come across yours. I'm glad you mentioned Vernacher Col/Needle. It's my understanding that if we want to make a loop out of this we could go into Lake Basin over Cartridge Pass, then come out over Vernacher Col and camp at one of the lakes in Upper Basin. That would be ideal IMO. Is that the recommended way to do it? How difficult is it getting over Vernacher Col? I imagine there will still be significant snow on the passes this August, which might make things tricky. Anyone here have experience doing the loop I'm mentioning? Thanks.

[Harlen]

Spicer'sVet wrote:

...It's my understanding that if we want to make a loop out of this we could go into Lake Basin over Cartridge Pass, then come out over Vernacher Col and camp at one of the lakes in Upper Basin. That would be ideal IMO. Is that the recommended way to do it? How difficult is it getting over Vernacher Col? I imagine there will still be significant snow on the passes this August, which might make things tricky. Anyone here have experience doing the loop I'm mentioning? Thanks.

I think it's a great route, but not a trivial crossing. V.C. is dead easy on the east side, but challenging on the west. We came at it from the west. I may be wrong, but looking hard at the low point of VC, I thought it looked to be full of unstable rock. I will always choose stable class 3 over loose class 2-- especially in steep couloirs, and so we found a ramp to the right/south. There may have been some exposed sections on the route we climbed, both Frank and I are very comfortable with exposure as we are expendable old men, but I wonder if you mightn't find that some of your group of 10 will balk at the routes up VC.

Wandering Daisy mentioned in her Comments to our TR that she thinks that Frozen Lake Pass would be easier in snow than without. That route is more the standard one, now that Roper's "Sierra High Route" has become so popular. So you guys will probably find it well-cairned (if that's not a contradiction in terms), and easier to follow. We need to hear from someone who has done both-- commonloon has raced over FL Pass, but he moves at warp speed, and may not have noticed details, such as safety. The best I can do for you is to include a few photos of our VC route:

VC from the west

We chose to use the broken rock ramp to the right of the gray cliffs. The low point of VC is seen here in the far left; if you click twice on the image you will see the sandy route up, and from here, it looks pretty good. I think that low point route would be an easier route up, but with more likelihood of rockfall. You know the cautious routine of moving a group through such hazards- I'd practice it here.

Frank on the way up the pass.

On the pass, about where we topped out.

Nice view back on Vennacher Col from above. Good luck, wherever you go, Ian.

[Spicer'sVet]

Thanks again Harlen, your input has been everything I I hoped for when I started this thread. VC definitely looks doable, as long as there's not too much snow. Love that last pic from the peak! Those pics you provided were from early June?

[Harlen]

Those pics you provided were from early June?

Yes, the trip was 5/27-6/3/2021.

[sparky]

Group of 10 up taboose? I can hear the complaining already!

[mtanner]

I went over Taboose in August 2022. There is a very obvious campsite at (36.99223, -118.37186), I marked the site on the Caltopo app as I passed by. I think this is the first site Harlen is talking about. This is about 1/4 mile and a couple hundred feet higher after you cross the creek. Pretty sure you could squeeze 10 people in here if some are sharing tents or cowboy camping. I saw a bear at about 8600' so definitely be food aware.

It is a long day but totally worth getting over the pass because then you get great campsite views.

Can you double check your longitude coordinate for the obvious capsite? -118.37186 looks to be on Red Lake Trail to the north. Is your marker on CalTopo on a publicly viewable map? I'm looking at options to get to Marion Lake.
Thanks

[wsp_scott]

Both CalTopo and Google maps show 36.99223, -118.37186 as being on Taboose Creek

https://www.google.com/maps/place/36%C2 ... 37186,17z/

[erutan]

I'm not normally one that thinks campsites should be on maps, but I was thinking Taboose would be one of the exceptions. There's five sets of campsites of varying quality along the route that I'll add to OSM at some point.

top to bottom:

36.99181, -118.38904 crappier dry camps
36.99166, -118.38852 three decent dry camps
36.98988, -118.38502 two falls camps
36.98894, -118.37965 mediocre spot just after a crossing
36.99238, -118.37208 huge drycamps

Inyo describes two of these sites on their site: the huge ones at the bottom and then either the falls camps or more likely the three up higher.