High Sierra Topix

I'll be embarking on a hike that takes me over Lamarck Col and along the Darwin Lakes. A while back, I did a day hike from Darwin Bench up to the col and back, and I don't recall encountering much of a challenge with boulders, but then again, I wasn't carrying a backpack at the time. However, most of the reports I've come across about the Darwin Lakes describe a terrain filled with large, challenging boulders. I'm comfortable with the basics of bouldering, but I'm not so keen on dealing with those substantial boulders anymore as I'm getting older. So, my question is, is there a strategy to avoid these large boulders when hiking along Darwin Lakes? I'm thinking about a route like Puppet Pass, where you can minimize bouldering by staying close to the northern wall of the pass. Armed with that knowledge, navigating Puppet Pass became quite manageable. I'm wondering if there might be a similar insider tip for traversing the area around Darwin Lakes.

Dave,

It's been a few years since I went through the Darwin Canyon, but I don't recall the talus/boulder fields to be very long. Just a few minutes to get through the two most bouldery areas by the lakes. I don't know about alternate routes. Go slowly and it will be a non-issue.

There are several faint use-trails. I have stayed low and do not recall any huge problems. Others have stayed high. I do not think there is a magic bullet. More experience in micro-route finding being useful as well as comfort with class 3 scrambling. It may be useful to bring a short length of something like tent cord to lower your pack if needed.

I've been through Darwin Canyon a couple of times in the past 3 years (twice each way). There's a defined use trail through 90% of Darwin Canyon, and only 2-3 boulder fields near the 3rd and 4th lakes that require hopping (no use trail). There's also a short section of mini cliffs along the first lake (counting from the bottom) that may require a tiny bit of class 2 scrambling to get around if water levels are too high to stay right at the lake's edge. But it's really not bad at all. I think most of those reports of troublesome bouldering come from backpackers who typically stick to trails, so from that perspective anything that is not a trail is an unpleasant surprise.

I concur with windknot in the sense that the difficulty passing these lakes can be a bit overblown, at least in dry conditions. I imagine snowfields would make the process trickier, as would crossing this area while it's raining. But when conditions are dry - pffff.

Concur with all of the above. But if one wanted to take tips, search the HST forum, some have posted specifics of the tedious sections. Mostly just keep to the north side of the lakes. Also take along a pocket monocular. I use mine to scout ahead for routes while going XC. You can see much of the Darwin Canyon route from Lamarck Pass. It helps me out. Lastly, I suggest taking a compass vector from the pass to the inlet of the upper lake. Take your time, and be precise. When returning, shoot that bearing from the inlet in reverse; this will preclude confusion regarding the precise whereabouts of the entry point to pass when you return.
Ed

Last year was the second time I went in and out via Darwin Lakes from Lamarck Col. I found that it's easier to go low around the massive boulder pileup along the first lake, and to go high to get from the second last lake to the last lake.

If you want to avoid rocks, the mountains may not be the place for you

The worst of it is between lakes 3 and 4. I tried going near the lake and gave that up. Huge boulders. I don't like huge boulders. I went up away from the lake and the boulders were a lot smaller and it was a fairly typical level hippity-hop crossing. My advice: Go high. If I go through there again, that's what I will do.
Other than then, nothing out of the ordinary around the rest of the lakes, with a trail most of the way.