High Sierra Topix

Hey yall!
This is my first post so hopefully I'm doing this correctly, if not please correct me lol.

So I'm in the process of planning a backpacking trip for me and my friend, and we're looking to head into Upper Fish Creek basin, Tully Lake area. We were only able to get a permit for the Mono Pass entrance for the day we needed, so it looks like we're making the longg trek in there.

But my question is, what is the safest, shortest, most efficient route to get into there? We were looking at heading down Mono Creek drainage, then up the Laurel Creek drainage, and over the ridge to Ross Finch and then staying high and dropping into the basin. Is this a viable option with a full heavy pack?
Please, any advice helps!!

Pace Col is what you want, if you're looking to connect Laurel creek to Fish creek.

Also: Hi

Wow. McGee Creek Trailhead is usually the last to be fully booked up. I presume that was your first choice before getting stuck coming in the long way over Mono Pass? Duck Lake Pass to the PCT to Fish Creek is also not too terrible. But that trailhead does book up fast.

I did your route (with an excursion to Pioneer Basin) as part of the 2018 HST Meetup. From Grinnell Lake, I went over Bighorn Pass and Shout of Relief Pass to the Tully Lake area. You could also take a more direct route to Bighorn Pass from Laurel Lake. Pace Col is more direct from Grinnell Lake but there was a snow field I did not want to deal with. At Rosy Finch, I thought it would be faster to just descend to the lake and back up so did not attempt to stay high. In my opinion, the route I took was very safe and easy. I posted my report in the Meetup thread here, halfway down the page. In retrospect, I guess I should have started a new thread.
http://www.highsierratopix.com/communit ... &start=190

I would not consider Pace col easier or safer,Bighorn to Shout of relief is beautiful, but so is Grinnell lake but you can traverse over to Bighorn pass quite well. I came down by Pace col on day hike from Grinnell to many peaks close by and not sure I would choose that pass with a backpack.

I backpacked from Grinnell Lake over Bighorn to Shout of Relief and then on to McGee Pass, and in the other direction from Tully Lake across Shout of Relief, Bighorn, to Grinnell Lake. The traverse from Bighorn Pass to Shout of Relief isn't difficult, just a short climb and an easy walk up Shout of Relief. No need to drop all the way down to Rosy Finch Lake and back up, though some prefer that. The hike from Tully Lake to below Shout of Relief is beautiful and easy. There's a short steep climb on mostly grass from Tully Lake.

We started at Mono Pass on both of these trips. On the one from Mono Pass to Tully Lake, we hiked all the way down Mono Creek and started looking on a steep hillside for campsites near dusk. There were none to be found anywhere else. We found one that hadn't been used much but it fit. It was a long day but a good hike. The next day we left the McGee Pass trail and hiked cross-country to Tully Lake. There was a slope with a short stretch of big talus to cross before reaching the lake.