R03/R01 TR: Darwin Canyon July 2013
Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:12 am
Last Tuesday “Sport” and I took off toward the eastern Sierra. We planned on spending some time in Kings Canyon National Park so, unfortunately, we had to leave the two little girls at home. They really had on sad faces as we drove away.
Our plan was to cross over Lamarck Col and drop down into Darwin Canyon. I would like to thank Ozark Flip, Tahoe Jeff and Mradford for their help sharing information about crossing over Lamarck. A special thanks goes out to Jimmeans for posting a detailed map and description of his travels up to the top of Lamarck.
BakoGal recently posted, “Many thanks to HST folks who have posted their trips here and made it easy for me to research, plan and have a great time!” This statement is so true!
We made it down to Bishop in only about 5 hours and stopped in at White Mountain Ranger Station. I mentioned to John, behind the desk, that we had reservations. I also added that I really liked the way permits in Desolation Wilderness can be issued “on line” and I can print out the permit at work and avoid having to come in to the Ranger Station to get my permit.
Major Faux Pas! John made it clear to me that the permitting process was all about the face- to- face communication while the rules were being communicated. Realizing my mistake I immediately back pedalled and agreed while ticking off the rules from memory. Camp in established campsites, don’t camp in meadows, camp at least 100 feet from the water or trail, bury human waste 6 to 8 inches, pack out TP…and on and on.
John then realized I was no rookie and continued to list the rest of the rules. He then casually asked, “Will you be taking in your dogs?” “No!” I answered. “We plan on entering Kings Canyon National Park. Dogs are not allowed. And how did you know I have dogs?”
John smiled, “Just a lucky guess.”
We secured our permit and proceeded to climb 168 southwest to begin our adventure. RiseToADry recently spent time in this area and commented on the prolific wildflowers. This is so true. The flowers near the trailhead are really unbelievable! There were other beauties as well!
We hiked a little over a mile up the hill and spent the night at the outlet of Lower Lamarck.
There is a small pond in the outlet stream of Lower Lamarck. This pond is right on the trail. Sport and I had fun pulling out the brookies stacked up just below the ripples. Sport had bought me a Tenkara rod for my B-day. These brookies were the first fish I have caught with my Tenkara! What fun! It takes some experience to set the hook and I am just a beginner.
Jimmeans did a great job detailing the route up to the Col. The only thing I can add is a picture of this sign.
Jim writes, “I had read several reports saying that the start of the route was sometimes difficult to find, but to me that didn't seem to be the case. The trail to Upper Lamarck Lake starts on the east side of Lamarck Creek and then crosses over to the west side for a short distance.
When the trail crosses back to the east side there is a fork in the trail. If you turn south along the creek you're continuing to Upper Lamarck Lake, but if you continue straight instead you've found the start of the Lamarck Col route. If we had been heading to Upper Lamarck Lake we probably would have missed the turn south and started on the Lamarck Col route instead. Instead of being hard to locate, the issue seemed to be when to know that we'd left the main trail and were on the Lamarck Col route.”
This is the fork in the road that you need to take to get to the Col. Follow the trail straight and you will find yourself at Upper Lamarck Lake. To get to the Col, turn left, cross the creek and continue following this trail up, up and away.
Jim also took a picture here. This is after climbing the over 40 switchbacks.
We eventually made it to the Lamarck Col.
The climb up can be over loose, shifting dirt or large permanent boulders. Pick your poison. The weather had been awfully windy that morning. The clouds began to accumulate as we approached the top of Lamarck.
We hiked down to a campsite between lakes 3 and 4 and set up our tent just in time for the rains. We retreated to our shelter and waited for the rain to stop. We got a break in the weather for a couple of hours that afternoon. This allowed us to make and eat dinner and even wet a couple lines. We made the mistake of fishing the forth lake. We saw many fish rising but we couldn’t get any to stick.
After a while it started to rain again so we climbed back into the tent. It continued to rain…and rain…and rain…ALL NIGHT LONG! We would have to wait for the rain to turn to a drizzle before we could go out to visit Mrs Murphy.
We slept well in spite of the rain and awoke the next morning to cold, yucky, drizzly weather.
To be continued…
BakoGal recently posted, “Many thanks to HST folks who have posted their trips here and made it easy for me to research, plan and have a great time!” This statement is so true!
We made it down to Bishop in only about 5 hours and stopped in at White Mountain Ranger Station. I mentioned to John, behind the desk, that we had reservations. I also added that I really liked the way permits in Desolation Wilderness can be issued “on line” and I can print out the permit at work and avoid having to come in to the Ranger Station to get my permit.
Major Faux Pas! John made it clear to me that the permitting process was all about the face- to- face communication while the rules were being communicated. Realizing my mistake I immediately back pedalled and agreed while ticking off the rules from memory. Camp in established campsites, don’t camp in meadows, camp at least 100 feet from the water or trail, bury human waste 6 to 8 inches, pack out TP…and on and on.
John then realized I was no rookie and continued to list the rest of the rules. He then casually asked, “Will you be taking in your dogs?” “No!” I answered. “We plan on entering Kings Canyon National Park. Dogs are not allowed. And how did you know I have dogs?”
John smiled, “Just a lucky guess.”
We secured our permit and proceeded to climb 168 southwest to begin our adventure. RiseToADry recently spent time in this area and commented on the prolific wildflowers. This is so true. The flowers near the trailhead are really unbelievable! There were other beauties as well!
Jim writes, “I had read several reports saying that the start of the route was sometimes difficult to find, but to me that didn't seem to be the case. The trail to Upper Lamarck Lake starts on the east side of Lamarck Creek and then crosses over to the west side for a short distance.
When the trail crosses back to the east side there is a fork in the trail. If you turn south along the creek you're continuing to Upper Lamarck Lake, but if you continue straight instead you've found the start of the Lamarck Col route. If we had been heading to Upper Lamarck Lake we probably would have missed the turn south and started on the Lamarck Col route instead. Instead of being hard to locate, the issue seemed to be when to know that we'd left the main trail and were on the Lamarck Col route.”
Jim also took a picture here. This is after climbing the over 40 switchbacks.
- Picture taken on day 4
After a while it started to rain again so we climbed back into the tent. It continued to rain…and rain…and rain…ALL NIGHT LONG! We would have to wait for the rain to turn to a drizzle before we could go out to visit Mrs Murphy.
We slept well in spite of the rain and awoke the next morning to cold, yucky, drizzly weather.
