Nine Lakes Basin lollipop advice

[bbayley80]

Hi all.
i have a pretty straightforward six day trip planned for early September out to Nine Lakes Basin by way of Wolverton's Lakes Trail and with that extra time i was looking to perhaps upgrade my route from a simple out and back on the HST to a lollipop that would take me over Lion Rock Pass down to Tamarack Lake/ Lone Pine Creek before intersecting back with the HST. Ive found Rogue's writeup and WanderingDaisy's comments on the pass itself and it looks fun and totally doable within my time frame-still leaving plenty of time to explore and fish Nine Lakes too.

My question to the forum is- in your opinions, would it be better to attack the loop portion clockwise or counter? looking at google earth and topo it seems the north side is steeper, so maybe better to go up that rather than down?

also any 'don't miss' highlights for Nine Lakes? was looking at 10,725 as base camp for a night if not two. good sites? good views? good fishing? Mav, i think i remember reading a ways back Nine Lakes was one of your favorite spots?

thanks as always for the info.

[maverick]

Easier to do from the north, south side is a breeze. Tamarack Lake is a favorite, Nine Lakes Basin is pretty too, Kaweah Basin is gorgeous.
The maze of ramps leading up to Lion Lake is the most time consuming part, and the section above Tamarack may still be flooded this year.
Lake 11682 is pretty, and a climb up Mt Kaweah is quite nice too, with great views, class 1 from the south.

[bbayley80]

Mav.
thank you for your reply- i just realized i probably misplaced this in cross country passes, sorry.

noted on your advice, looking at Rogues pics it looks real solid but yes a maze is the perfect word to describe it.
ill have to add 11682 and the Kaweah summit to the list also. thanks so much.

[maverick]

i just realized i probably misplaced this in cross country passes, sorry.

Moved.

[Wandering Daisy]

I have done this route from Tamarack Lake to Lion Lake on the south side. I recall reading somewhere that route is on the north side . Any consensus as to which side is the best?