Plan was originally to go from North Lake to Hutchinson Meadow up French Canyon and out Pine Creek through Royce Lakes and Granite Park. A hiker headed out warned about high water levels around 9,000 feet (crossing Piute and French Creeks near Hutchinson Meadow), so I decided to detour around Desolation Lake and over Steelhead Pass to reach the French Canyon and Pine Creek Pass trail.
- Approaching Piute Pass from Piute Lake
- Humphreys Basin from Piute Pass
Trail the entire way to Humphreys Basin was in good shape with a few wet areas due to snowmelt.
- Approaching Desolation Lake from the south
Snow showed up on the east side of Desolation but not significant enough to be a problem. Easy traversing all the way to Steelhead Pass with great views the whole way.
- Glacier Divide and Desolation Lake from Steelhead Pass
Route over Steelhead was very easy to follow class 2 with a couple of tricky snow chute crossings that have probably melted out by now.
- Royce Peak and Royce Lakes Basin area looking NW across French Canyon from L Lake
Views from Steelhead pass and across French Canyon from the first night's camp above L Lake were second to none. The combination of snow, mud, water, and squish on the traverse from here to French Canyon made travel a bit of an effort.
- Looking down French Canyon from the Pine Creek/L Lake junction
- Pine Creek Pass
Pine Creek Pass conditions were a little wet...and a little tricky following the trail thru the snow. By this point the wetfoot slog down from L Lake made heading down sound a lot more fun than heading up to Royce Lakes.
- View towards pass from Pine Lake
Bugs were here but were not biting. Great place for a swim.
- Water levels in some places were creating challenges
- Cascade on Pine Creek
Total of two full days hiking, probably around 24 miles. With the hot weather Royce Lakes and Granite Park should be melted and dried out in the next week or two. Though the streams could still be high for a little longer.
