talus
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Post by talus on Aug 4, 2016 9:32:58 GMT -8
Hey! I'm trying to plan out the details of our trip to Evolution Valley this early September. I've got some questions...
Are there any good campsites before you get to The Ranger Station at Le Conte Canyon-maybe along Dusty Creek?
Are there any good campsites heading into Evolution Valley?
Is there a great walkup peak to bag from Evolution Valley or Muir Pass? (Mt. Warlow was the only one I found that was class 2 or below)
We have 6 days, so we'd like to do 10ish mile days and try to sleep as low as possible. We'll have a full day off to bag a peak or do some exploring. Is Darwin Canyon a good option instead of a peak? I'm just starting to get my Wife comfortable with a little off trail travel, so route finding should be as easy as possible.
Thanks a lot in advance for any input-We're both really excited about this trip.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Aug 4, 2016 13:30:44 GMT -8
Cool! I'm doing a North Lake/North Lake loop the week before Labor Day. I've only been in Evolution Valley when I practically ran through in an afternoon on the JMT last summer. Want to spend a little more time this year. I haven't been in Dusy Basin, but seen lot of pictures on High Sierra Topix, so you might check that out.
There are great places to camp at Evolution Lake, especially near the outlet, but it gets lots of visitors. I'm not interested in camping in the stark landscapes of Sapphire, Wanda. or Helen Lakes.
I'm hiking over Lamarck Col. I talked to one guy who said it freaked him out, but most people say it's no problem. If I was with some other climbers I'd try to summit Darwin, but not solo. The Black Giant looks like an easy climb from Muir Pass. I wanted to climb it last year but didn't have time for anything but hiking. I got a couple pictures of Fiske, but Warlow didn't catch my attention.
I liked the look of the camping opportunities high in Evolution Valley off the trail below The Hermit. Colby Meadow had some great spots, and down the valley at Evolution Meadow had some nice quiet spots. Just get off the trail a little to get away from everybody looking for the campsites on their app.
Have fun! I can hardly wait for my trip.
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talus
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Post by talus on Aug 4, 2016 13:40:11 GMT -8
Zeke's done Lanarck Col. We're staying at Parcher's for 2 days (Sept. 5&6) beforehand to get acclimatized and celebrate our 25th anniversary. Maybe we could meet for a beer after your hike.
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Aug 4, 2016 15:40:08 GMT -8
OK, first things first. How are you getting to the trail? I mean, how are you walking over the ridge? Lamarck Col? Alpine Col near Goethe Lake? I hiked N-S twice. 2012 and 2014. Used Lamarck both times. rebeccad has used Alpine, IIRC. Lamarck in no way bothered any of the people I hiked this with, neither year. BlueBear was the partner the first time through.
When crossing Lamarck, we used the following campsites, including the one at Upper Lamarck Lake for the 1st night: Upper Lamarck lake, the far West end of the Darwin Canyon Lakes, Wanda Lake, Big Pete Meadow, and then Dusy Basin.
Big Pete Meadow is what you are asking about when inquiring about a place before Le Conte. Trail crew was there when I was there last. It was entertaining to watch them play ice breaker type games in the meadow, from our campsite. Imagine wheel barrow races in deep grass. Frisbee relay races. It was fun to watch.
If you are using Piute Pass, I can't help you until you actually climb that trail into Evolution Basin. There's fishing lakes back behind Mt Solomons and Goddard, but it can be easy to get lost by the rest of your group back there. (We had a ranger come looking for a guy who was left behind by his group. No harm to him, just lagging behind.)
Once I can get back on photobucket, I will try to find some pics to help you see what I am referring to.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 4, 2016 20:37:09 GMT -8
Hi, as Zeke says, I've been over both Lamarck Col and Alpine Col. The latter was a real pain in the arse. I don't enjoy scrambling for hours over car-sized boulders. Lamarck Col is a walk, with a little bit of more challenging stuff getting along the lakes in Darwin Canyon. A sort of use trail follows the right side of the lakes. There is camping in a number of places, both along these lakes and below.Route finding into Darwin Canyon from the JMT is easy--there is a well-established use trail that leaves the JMT maybe a mile or less below Evolution Lake. One of my favorite camps was at a lake up at the edge of the Darwin Canyon area (photo is the lake, not the camp, but camps were easy to find): If you are going over Paiute Pass, there is camping at some of the lakes on the east side, and at the lakes just over the pass as well. Storm blowing around our camp at Goethe Lake: I was thinking your questions about camps before the ranger station might be as you come down the trail from Dusy Basin? There are of course lots of camps on the east side of Bishop Pass, and many many places to camp away from the trail in the Dusy Basin. I think there were one or possibly 2 campsites on the trail up from (our perspective) the ranger station to the basin, which is a heck of a grunt, but worth doing in one day to maximize your time in the spectacular alpine basin. I don't know about walk-up peaks from the trail. There are some easy minor peaks accessible from the McGee Lakes.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 4, 2016 20:40:09 GMT -8
There are great places to camp at Evolution Lake, especially near the outlet, but it gets lots of visitors. I'm not interested in camping in the stark landscapes of Sapphire, Wanda. or Helen Lakes. Aw, don't sell those places short! Sunrise at Wanda was beautiful, especially as the wind had stopped blowing
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 4, 2016 20:45:13 GMT -8
And for the record, Evolution Lake is beautiful, but there were people camped everywhere when we came through (with no plan to camp there) in July last year. In Sept. 2014 there were far fewer people around, so going after Labor Day might make camping there a possibility.
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Aug 5, 2016 0:54:08 GMT -8
Maybe we could meet for a beer after your hike. That would be cool. I'll let you know if I decide to hang around.
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talus
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Post by talus on Aug 5, 2016 11:20:55 GMT -8
That would be cool. I'll let you know if I decide to hang around. We'll be at Parcher's on Monday the 5th, but I have no idea what time. We'll be driving from Vegas.
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talus
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Post by talus on Aug 5, 2016 11:26:10 GMT -8
I was thinking your questions about camps before the ranger station might be as you come down the trail from Dusy Basin? There are of course lots of camps on the east side of Bishop Pass, and many many places to camp away from the trail in the Dusy Basin. I think there were one or possibly 2 campsites on the trail up from (our perspective) the ranger station to the basin, which is a heck of a grunt, but worth doing in one day to maximize your time in the spectacular alpine basin. I'm going S to N so I was thinking something between Dusty Basin and LeConte Canyon. Our route is all trail: Bishop Pass> JMT> Piute Pass.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 5, 2016 14:06:23 GMT -8
Got it. By the way, that's Dusy Basin, no "t". So I think I answered that one--there are a couple of spots. There is also a lot of Dusy Basin--multiple levels, as it were. I'd recommend camping somewhere in the basin, then dropping to the JMT and hiking up to Big Pete Meadow, or at least Little Pete, just to get away from what seemed even in Sept. to be a rather over-populated spot (the ranger station). It's not terribly far, and while hammering down the hill will be hard on knees, it shouldn't wear anyone out too much to go on another mile or two.
I've never been more than a little way into the Evolution Valley, below Evolution Lake (just far enough to find a river crossing and head up to McGee Lakes), so can't say anything about that except that it looks pretty. I've been over Paiute Pass from down in French Canyon, and know I camped somewhere partway up, but it was 25 years ago, and I don't recall where--just that there are places to stop on that climb, which is long.
Another layover/side trip might be into the Humphrey's Basin, on the west side of Paiute Pass. By then you should be acclimatized enough to be comfortable camping at that elevation.
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Post by hikerchick395 on Aug 5, 2016 19:19:47 GMT -8
We enjoy Grouse Meadows, ourselves, as opposed to Big Pete/ Little Pete
Evolution...have stayed at McClure Meadows and Colby Meadows...nice.
Scenery is beautiful at Evolution Lake but it is busy...stayed at Wanda twice.
Dusy...beautiful lakes everywhere...have stayed at a lot of them from lower (Rainbow Lakes) to upper 11393. Gorgeous!
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toejam
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Post by toejam on Aug 6, 2016 0:04:55 GMT -8
This is a little out of the way, but one of the prettiest places I've been. Great spot for floating downstream on a Thermarest. It's on the JMT so there are people there.
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talus
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Post by talus on Aug 6, 2016 9:22:53 GMT -8
Got it. By the way, that's Dusy Basin Damn, I must have looked at the map a hundred times and mentally added that "t" every time.
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 6, 2016 9:46:53 GMT -8
Damn, I must have looked at the map a hundred times and mentally added that "t" every time. The human brain is a wonderful thing! I've been there twice, no dust. Of course, the first time, it was completely snowed in, and the second it had just rained
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