High Sierra Topix

I’m planning on doing an abbreviated version of the North Lake/South Lake loop (going over Lamarck Col) in a couple of weeks and am in the process of planning my daily miles.

What are the best places to camp in (a) Evolution Basin and (b) Dusy Basin? I am mostly optimizing for photography, somewhere with a good sunset/sunrise would be perfect!

Specifically, for (a) it seems there are options at Evolution, Sapphire, and Wanda lakes. And for (b), the lake closest to the Bishop Pass Trail seems to be over-used, so I’m looking at Lake 11388 and the larger lake directly above it.

As always, thank you for any advice!

Darwin Bench (above Evo Basin) has great views of the canyon below. I've always been tuckered out and wanting to camp by the time I reach the bench from North Lake.

Lake 11393 in Dusy is a great one for photography purposes, but they are also all good. I’ve had some good reflection photos at that first lake, but really enjoyed the solitude at 11393 when I was there (about 6 years ago?!). Might not be as much solitude now, but there are always ways to find it.

Another vote for Darwin Bench. That area and the view it affords are spectacular.

http://highsierratopix.com/community/d ... &mode=view

Agree, the larger lake (at 11427') above Lake 11388 is beautiful. When perched on the bench above it, the alpenglow off of Isosceles Peak with Lake 11427 below is awesome.

You can hardly go wrong with anything between Darwin Bench and Sapphire Lake. It's all wonderful. Perhaps not helpful, but IMO accurate at least!

I will note that if not well acclimatized, depending on what direction you go over, that getting to Darwin Bench from the Lamarck TH in one day wore me the **** out and gave me pretty gross AMS.

I ended up camping in between the two main lakes in Darwin Canyon, and for my dinner, I only had the energy to lie in a fetal position in my tent and eat pathetic fistfuls of trail mix in between quietly groaning...

hahaha duly noted!