High Sierra Topix

Hello! I'm looking for advice on a backpacking route. There are so many options to consider.

I have a solo permit for Pine Creek Trailhead in late June. I plan on doing 4 full days of hiking (3 nights). I have to return via the same trailhead. The permit requires me to head south at the Honeymoon Lake junction (not go towards Italy Pass).

I've done one backpacking trip in Sequoia so I have a sense of what it's like, but most of my hiking has been on the east coast. I should be capable of ~15 miles/day on decent terrain. I don't want to limit myself to established trails. But I want to max out at Class 2, with maybe a sprinkle of Class 3 here or there. I plan to bring microspikes but would prefer to avoid using them. I would really love to climb a summit or two if possible.

Any suggestions on where to go? I had a few ideas, but it's hard to tell what actually makes sense.

1. Head south, enter the area around Four Gables / Mount Humphreys / Desolation Lake. And then loop back.
2. Make a big loop on what seems to be all established trails - French Canyon south, to the JMT northbound, then east through Italy Pass area and back.
3. Some way of entering the Bear Lakes basin / Seven Gables area, by way of Merriam Lake, or by some other route that can be turned into a loop?

Thanks in advance!

All of your suggestions are probably too long for a 4 day/3 night trip. Humphreys Basin is better accessed from North Lake. If going off trail, 7-8 miles a day is making good time. Too bad you do not have one more day- that would really increase possibilities. You really need to sit down with a map and figure out the mileages.

The real gems of this area are: Granite Park and Royce Lakes, Merrium Lake. I think it would be a bit tight to do Bear Basin.

What is your actual experience "maxing out class 2 and a sprinkle of class 3"? If you are experienced enough you could do: 1) Granite Park, 2) Royce Lakes 3) French Lake 4) out. Or from Royce Lake, day hike to Merrium Lake then out via Pine Creek Pass skipping French Lake.

There are several trip reports for that area- search for them and read them.

Pine Creek approach is almost 6k vert up over Italy Pass, which means it can take a whole day on each end of your trip. With 4 days you can do Bear Lakes Basin I think.

Day 1: Pine Creek TH to Granite Park
Day 2: Over Italy Pass to Dancing Bear Pass, explore basin, head up towards Feather Pass
Day 3: Over Feather Pass, down to Merriam, up French Canyon to its head or maybe Puppet Lake if you still have energy
Day 4: Out

Or maybe it's easier to do the lollipop the other way around.

I have gone lower French Canyon to Bear Lakes to Italy through Granite Park back around to Puppet in 3 days with some medium-newbies and it didn't seem too rushed.

Hello and Welcome,

I have been in and around that area a lot over the years. It is an exciting and scenic area. You already have some good ideas-- that is, your:

"head south, enter the area around Four Gables / Mt H./Desolation Lake." along with your desire to get into Bear Lakes Basin. Not sure you can enjoy both in just 4 days.

Here is the view south east from Bear-Royce Pass, Royce Lakes below.


If had to choose a favorite trip that suits 4 days, I would choose to get over Pine Creek Pass the first day, and either camp at one of the nice lakes on the terrace on the south side of French Canyon, or try to make it on to the very scenic Merriam - LaSalle Lakes area. The former camp would be a lot easier to reach. Second day you could choose either LaSalle or Feather Pass to cross into Bear Basin. The latter pass is on the Sierra High Route, and much easier route-finding--both are great passes. Choose any of the nice camping areas in Bear Basin- we love Vee Lake! There are lots of climbing options. The south west slope of Feather Peak is very fun climbing, and the east face of Seven Gables can be challenging, but worth the effort. There are many other fine high viewpoints.

The scenery at Vee Lake, Seven Gables Mountain.


It would be a fine idea to explore all around Bear Basin for your 3rd day. That would make your final day a long one, crossing over into Granite Park, and hiking all the way back down and out. Everyone has a favorite crossing out of Bear, mine is probably Bear-Royce, over the shoulder of Feather Peak and down an easy, sandy slope to the beautiful Royce Lakes. The west side is just a little tricky, stay on the solid rocks where you can to avoid the sliding back down part. The view all the way up and down Bear-Royce is just spectacular! Others may prefer Granite-Bear Pass, which is also fantastic, but then you miss Royce Lakes Basin, and there's the saddle "Dancing Bear," that leads out of Bear Basin to Italy Pass, for an easier route, which would allow you to see the entire Granite Park.

Are you sure you can't find another day? It would be really nice to camp in Granite Park.

Granite Park.


I'll add one more, out of 20 other possibilities. A very different sort of trip would be to base yourself in either French Canyon at those Lakes again, or up in Granite Park, and do epic day hikes/climbs from there. One day trip could be over the ridge into Humphreys Basin to explore Big Deso. Lake, and climb the challenging, and exposed (at least the final 500') Mt. Humphreys, or the easier Four Gables, or Mount Emerson, or ....

A second epic day trip from French Canyon could be up into Royce Lakes Basin, over Bear-Royce Pass, then down and back around via Feather Pass, possibly climbing up easy Mt Royce, or harder Feather Peak on the way. If you were based in Granite Park (small stretch of the rules) you would also have many great day hiking possibilities too. Some prefer to base camp, and then do these long, lightweight day trips. Your short stay might lend itself to that M.O. Will you already be well-acclimatized?

As I said, these are just a few of the many options from around this wonderful area you have chosen. Hopefully some others from this mountain community will add them for you ... (and while I was writing this Daisy and Maia already have!). BTW, my wife and I, and 3-4 good friends, will be in that same area for 8-10 days, beginning the last week of June. Look for gray beards, wild mountain women, and these dogs:

Lizzie plus 2 dogs.

Me plus Carleton's malinois "Smokey."


You are very welcome to visit us. Best of Luck, and please write up your trip, we'd love to see what you pull off in those 4 great days. Ian and Lizzie.

As the OP stated, the permit doesn’t allow travel over Italy Pass (on their “entry” leg, at least) - for that, they would need a Italy Pass permit.
But Maia hit the nail on the head re: “doing the lollipop the other way” ; i.e. Royce to Granite Park. See @@sturdyoak2012’s excellent Trip Report
http://highsierratopix.com/community/vi ... hp?t=20815

Or follow Harlen’s advice, which is always awesome !

Oh yeah whoops! I always forget that Italy Pass vs Pine Creek are different permits.

I think the Italy Pass permit restrictions are for continuing into Italy Lake drainage. Seems reasonable that it would be OK to just slip over Dancing Bear Pass into Bear Basin. Besides, who is going to be on the top of Italy Pass checking permits?

You need to prioritize your goals. Is making the most miles more important than exploring? In other words, do you want a quick preview of a lot of country or really delve into a smaller area? Is photography a top goal? Are you fishing? I think once you really look at your goals and do detailed calculations on miles and estimated times the answer will be clearer. How many hours per day do you want to be hiking?

A little formula that I use is: daily hours=(miles*hiking rate) + extra hours for elevation gain. Hiking rate on trails 2 to 3 mph (that takes into account rest stops and condition of the trail). Off trail usually averages out to about 1 mph if you are doing fairly complex terrain and navigation; 1.5 mph for easy off trail. Extra hours for elevation gain can be as much as 1 hour per 1000 feet if you are carrying a heavy pack or not acclimated to the altitude, 1/2 hour per 1000 feet works well for short trips with a light pack if you are fit and acclimated. Then I factor in about 1-2 hours contingency for unexpected delays. If you have 14 hours of daylight you want enough time to pack up in the morning (1-2 hours) and set up camp at night before dark.
Personally, I do not like to hike more than 8 hours a day.

Since you do not have a lot of Sierra experience, I would not necessarily just assume you can do the same rate as you did in the East.

But your permit does not limit you to a set schedule. Go ahead and plan something ambitious, but reasonable. Then pre-think out "bail outs" or what you can delete if you get behind. Another method is to plan the minimum and have "add-ons" like day hikes or climbs that would fill hours if you want to do them. I like to pre-plan for these (have it written down) because in the moment out in the wilderness I can make poor decisions because I am tired or mentally fatigued.

The lakes at the head of French Canyon, on the south side of the creek (L, Moon, Elba, etc.), are fabulous. Royce lakes are cool in an otherworldly sort of way (no trees at all). Merriam lake is fabulous. I would go up to Pine Creek pass, head south across the canyon to those lakes and wander around them for a while, then drop back down to the crrek and go downstream until you can head up to Merriam. There are adventurous ways to get to Royce Lakes from Merriam, but I'd skip that and go back down to the canyon, go up almost to Pine Creek pass and walk across that big open slope west of the pass to get to Royce Lakes because that area is really cool in my opinion. From the sort of square-ish, 11725 Royce Lake, you could hop over the ridge and drop down to Honeymoon - which might be stretching your permit but not by much.

Edit - I would not go over the ridge into Humphreys basin. It's great, but better visited coming in from North Lake, and the French canyon area has plenty to see and do.

I just want to chime in that I really appreciate the feedback! I've had an overwhelmingly busy few days with work so haven't had a chance to dive very deep lyinto these suggestions yet. There is some great advice here. I'm going to sit down and consult a map in the next few days and make a plan.

Perhaps you can make it to French lake first day. 4000' vertical and 9 ish miles. Very open lovely camping. Then down French canyon, up to Merriam lake and further towards LaSalle lake on day 2. Very pretty. Over Feather pass, across Vee lake, to one of the 'Bear' lakes for day 3. Ridiculously scenic. Thru Black and White bear lakes, over Italy pass and out day four. Do-able. Ambitious. 5 days is better, but that's one of the most scenic, most classic, 'off-trail' routes in the whole Sierra.