High Sierra Topix

Just got back from the sports medicine clinic where I am attempting to get my aging arthritic knees into good enough shape for some trails this summer. It appears I will be limited in really rugged hiking--probably recovering from arthroscopy--and so I am looking for some good trails or relatively easy C-X I have not yet done.

I am thinking of doing a shuttle to set up a through hike from Kearsarge Pass to Bishop Pass--or vice versa. I have bracketed this region with a prior North Lake to South Lake loop to its north as well as a Kearsarge to Cottonwood shuttle to its south. I have been to Rae Lakes on a dayhike from a Charlotte Lake trip decades ago but barely saw them and would love to stay there and explore a little. Otherwise, I have seen nothing of the territory from Rae Lakes north until the Dusy Basin turnoff. I have never been over Pinchot or Mathur passes.

So I am filled with questions about this.

1) Would you do it south to north or north to south?

2) What would be the most scenic side trips along the way that would not be lengthy and difficult cross-x to access? I can handle a fair bit, but the knees probably can't hold up to a cumulative effect of lots of talus-hopping or even uneven class 2 stuff--at least for now. For example, Woods Lake, the lakes at the base of Pinchot Mountain and Striped Mountain, Upper Basin, Cardinal Lake, Bench Lake, the lakes SE of Mathur, all look tempting, although I could probably only get over to a couple of them.

3) I can cram in only 8 days food at max. Is this trip doable in 8 days, for an old guy with bad knees and a desire to take a couple of layover days a bit off trail? I thought about a shorter trip exiting or entering from Taboose or Sawmill but those seem like bad options for my knees and also for a passenger car shuttle. South Lake and Onion Valley and the trails from them seem more doable in both regards.

Good luck with the knees and the trip. My two cents would be to choose either Bench Lake, or the big lakes at the top of Upper Basin for the stellar views, and ease of access. You can make a nice, easy off-trail jaunt past the 2 nice lakes SE of Mather Pass, on the way to the big round lake due west of Mt. Prather. 30 years ago I caught very nice rainbow trout in that lake, and it should have great sunset views of the colorful mountain wall that includes Split Mt. The hike up to the lakes under Striped Mt. is more of a haul, as is the route up to beautiful Dragon Lake, above Rae Lakes.

In general, this will be a crowded area, so I'd make the extra small effort to seek out camps a bit away from the JMT/PCT. E.g., the far side of lakes from the big trail. All the best Peter.

If you haven't done much in southern Yosemite, I recommend a trip from Tuolumne Meadows over Vogelsang Pass, then on the "High Trail" to the upper watershed of the Merced River, and finally down the river trail past Washburn and Merced Lakes all the way to the Valley. The upper watershed of the Merced is one of my favorite areas, and not too crowded - it's not part of any "big name" trail and it takes at least two days to get there regardless of which approach you use. Use the YARTS bus at the start or end of the trip - I prefer to leave my car in Yosemite Valley, take the afternoon YARTS bus up to Tuolumne, and camp there in the backpackers' campground to acclimate to altitude. Then my car is waiting for me when I finish. You could also return to Tuolumne Meadows on trail by leaving the Merced Canyon at Echo Creek and heading up the trail to intersect the Muir Trail, which you take back over Cathedral Pass. My wife and I did the trip ending in the Valley in 2005 in a week, taking our time. You can do this trip entirely on good trail, or you can make some cross-country excursions here and there. PM me if you want more details.
-Phil

If you do decide to do the JMT, I would recommend North to South for the Golden Staircase. With bad knees I think it would be much better to go up than down that climb to Palisade Lakes.
j

I agree on the north to south. As Harlan pointed out, Upper Basin is a great place to do easy cross country away from the JMT. Any of the lakes to both the east or west of the JMT offer great views and solitude. If you get even a quarter mile off the JMT, you can camp in solitude. I’m not as big a fan of Bench Lake since it seems to get a lot of people (for the JMT crowd it's one of the popular side trips), but the view of Arrow Peak is amazing. If you go to the west on the two lakes below Lake Marjorie, it’s possible to find solitude since the JMT crowds seems to stick to the many campsites right off the trail. The same is true for the string of lakes below Pinchot Pass. The JMT crowd sticks to the lakes by the trail. And, if you have the time, there’s Sixty Lakes Basin where the use trails can allow you to get away from the crowds. Finally, the first two Kearsarge Lakes tend to get the people and so the other lakes often offer seclusion.

Eight days for all these miles with the side trips might be a stretch. The good thing for research is there are lots of trip reports here to check out to see what is most appealing to you. Best wishes and good luck on the knees.

Hey @kpeter, it sounds like a great trip. I would vote +1 to Harlen's suggestions for Bench Lake and Upper Basin.

A couple more easy ideas:

* I love the off-trail camping options in the Woods Creek headwaters, east of Pinchot Pass. My suggestion is to take an easy ~3 mile off-trail detour that roughly parallels the JMT. Going northbound towards Pinchot Pass, leave the JMT at 10,600-ish; walk cross-country northeast, following Woods Creek uphill past Twin Lakes, and then up to the 11,000'-ish level where you'll find numerous lakes and meadows with fine camping and southern views. It's gentle walking here through open meadows. Rejoin the JMT at 11,600-ish to hit the switchbacks ascending Pinchot. Although you'll parallel the JMT the entire time, this 3-mile cross-country alternate route delivers solitude, and allows you to enjoy the Woods Creek area without the usual JMT crowds.

* Grouse Meadows in LeConte Canyon: this is one of my favorite spots in the entire Sierra, and it's right on-trail. It seems like most JMT/PCT-ers rush past this place on their campaign to connect Mather and Muir passes. Anyway, whenever I'm on a trip passing through LeConte Canyon, I always budget at least a half day (or more) to hangout at Grouse Meadows, soak in the creek, and just enjoy the scenery. There's a superb swimming hole in the meadow, adjacent to an obvious large boulder.

The stream just to the east of Ruskin, the southern branch, once you clear the trees at 11300' is very beautiful and unlikely to be peopled. I hazily recall it being easy to follow. I haven't been to the other branches and lakes east of Ruskin but I mean to.

Also, if you want to leave the JMT, White Fork is very gentle cross country. The pass just north of peak 3880 (caltopo) is sand on the north side, and that'll take you to Bench lake.

Many thanks for all the inspiring advice!

A practical question about reservations....every day, six months out, Recreation.gov shows "W" for entry over Bishop Pass and for Kearsarge Pass. Is this because all the reservable slots get snatched up instantly? Do I need to log on at a certain time of day to have a chance at a reservation for these passes? Or are they just special and not reservable any more at all?

The reservations go "on line" at 7 a.m. And the reservations for popular trailheads are often taken within seconds of that. Not ideal. Any permits that are NOT taken in this initial rush are then posted as available a few days later. Or you can take your chances with either a late date cancellation (keep checking every day...) or a walk-up permit--which is what that W stands for.