piute pass to evolution valley
John Muir Wilderness sign in the Sierra National Forest good-bye Kings Canyon National Park! Another 1.5 miles up the canyon is the turnoff to Evolution Valley. It was only 1:30pm, and I had a decision to make: Was I going to camp near here (where the large, aggressive bear might be prowling) or was I going to continue hiking on the Piute Pass Trail, uphill for miles in this roasting heat? Day two Continue on Piute Pass to reach the JMT (and enter the national park) at mile 17.4. Leave the JMT, and follow the drainage up to Darwin Canyon. Camp at Wanda Lake along the trail to Muir Pass; no campsites after first quarter mile (night 3). I've done this trail 4 times and it is amasing. Ranger Station: McClure Meadow. The first 36 miles from Prather to Huntington Lake via Highway 168 are over good mountain road. Cottonwood to Onion Valley: Onion Valley to Bishop Pass: Evolution Loop: July 28-August 4. At the top was Evolution Valleyas a wannabe biologist, I fell in love with the name. My [growing] Collection of Top Utah Hiking Trails, Five ways to make enemies at a public campground, Seeking Powder Hounds: Heli-Skiing the Northwest. I have done this trail three times in all. dirt and rock trail. The hike up to Evolution Lake is steep, but reasonably graded. 2 trip report day 0-4: getting in & Yosemite National Park warm up. It often has waterfalls cascading from its outlet because of the abrupt drop off. This famous combo-trail will be our path for the next 26.5 miles. The map showed that it eventually merged into the South Fork San Joaquin River somewhere out of sight of the trail. This trail really had a lot of history behind it, and I wondered just how many horses and people had travelled through here in the past. 1 decision & planning. I wasnt thrilled, but I figured that there would be a side creek somewhere along the way, as the map showed some possibilities. Then got up and hiked to the ferry to see if it was running and what do you know it was! The hiking was challenging for us (22 year old girls), but we probably brought too heavy of packs. I had descended 2500 feet and climbed another 1000 feet to get up here. Beautiful scenery, abundant water, breathtaking vistas. It was a smooth and quick process. But it helped me make up my mind. Piute Pass: Begins at North Lake. Before last pass go to side trail golden trout lake to spend a night. This was the most difficult day as we ascended over 3200 with 30+ & 40+ lb packs. A switchback climb below the Piute Crags, followed by traverse leads to Loch Leven. My first suggestion is if you have seven days to make this trip, your body and spirit will thank you. My girlfriends told me I started singing gospel at that point, but I really think they may be exaggerating. At Piute Pass, we headed off trail toward Muriel Lake, then Alpine Col, which takes the hiker to the gorgeous Darwin Lakes and Darwin Bench area. My wife and I did the trek in June with our 9 month old in tow. But, conditions are still challenging. Lake Thomas A. Edison Ferry: Lake Thomas A. Edison from the ferry: . Day 4: Rest and explore. Fill up on gas at Prather or Shaver Lake. I was OK with this, as its hard to tell distance when youre hiking fast downhill, as it feels so much different heading the other way. The ferry usually runs from early June to late September, every day at 2-hour intervals beginning at 8:30 AM at the store end of the lake and making its last run from the far end at 5 PM. That was about 8 miles, we had wanted to camp at the meadow but was beat so made camp a couple miles sooner. Privacy Policy, Learn about the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. Just what I didnt need. Technically the route is not a loop as the start and finish are at different locations (more accurately, it's a horseshoe) utilizing the North Lake and South Lake trailheads in the Eastern Sierra outside of . The trail skirts the northern shore of Loch Leven. Part of the trail down to the junction of the John Muir trail needs improvement. The map shown above is for illustrative purposes only. By trying to further lighten our loads over and over again, we hit the trail far later than expected, so by necessity had to pitch our tents after only four miles at Saddlerock Lake (11,128 feet). Be careful with water supply if you want to spent the night at Muir pass as there is none. We passed more than a dozen lakes some of which I will mention when I upload photos. Camp, or finish the last 2.7 miles to the trailhead. We passed more than a dozen lakes some of which I will mention when I upload photos. Building anything out here must be quite the challenge. Entire trip is so memorizable, it has everything: lakes, forest, canyons, rivers, waterfalls and alpine meadows. From there we day packed to evolution lake the third day. This high col skips the portion in Humphrey's Basin, Piute Meadows and Evolution Valley resulting in total distance of about 35 miles. . Beautiful and challenging in a good way. After 2.5 mile it crosses a bridge to the south side of the river where a good campsite is located. Day four Rest and explore. Reach a footbridge over Jeffrey pine-lined Piute Creek, and camp on designated pads nearby. Definitely a moderate hike, but doable in 4 days. $3,395: Description Itinerary Resources The John Muir Trail is one of the finest hikes to be found anywhere in the world. This is a beautiful post. On our way back we crossed even more upstream, and thank goodness we did, because it was a lot shallower there (water came up right below my hips) which made it much easier to cross. We remained on the JMT at the Goddard Canyon junction and continued up a series of switchbacks that led us to a stream crossing where we had to take off our hiking boots & put on our water shoes and continue towards Evolution Valley. The rest were lazy snoozers. Darwin/Bench. This trek met every expectation I had plus some! Those first four and last four miles are always the hottest. For trail conditions and more details about this hike, check out my YouTube Video I made from this backpacking trip on my channel: Kikis Adventures. This was an absolute must do trail! An incredible hike through the Sierras. Didnt know you needed a reservation to drive through Yosemite, so consider going through Sonora Pass (unless you go through after 4pm). Along the way I came across the Muir Rock which I had seen on the topo map. Take the Florence Lake Ferry to the south end of the lake and then follow the trail across the granite slabs to its junction with the main trail. 27, 28, 33 and 34, T. 15 N., R. 14 E., S. B. M., on the east slope of the Ivanpah range of mountains, in Mescal Mining District, 8 miles north of Cima. We made a few mistakes that cost us a lot of time, however.we didn't take the ferry out, and lost the trail around the lake - a mistake that cost us several hours to climb over boulders and ledges. Warm days in the upper 70s and the nights werent too cool either, even up at sapphire lake. We puzzled about the cause. Layover at Sapphire Lake while weather passed. We were usually finished hiking each day between 2-5 PM giving us plenty of time to enjoy the area. At mile 5.5 we crossed the river again and took a short break at the base of a long series of switchbacks that would bring us up to Evolution Valley. That was the new plan, I decided. Explore Evolution Valley - view hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you. Here you will find the most recent trail conditions available to us. At Muir Pass base, if the snow looks significant above, take the first stream crossing at the very bottom of Muir Pass because the stream only gets deeper going up. Golden trout present. Solomons christened these mountains the Evolution Group because I could think of none more fitting than the great evolutionists, so at-one in their devotion to the sublime in Nature.. Turn left and descend to Upper Lamarck Lake. Day 2: In the morning, we broke camp early and switch-backed up to Bishop Pass. . When Hikers Die, Why Are We So Quick to Judge. Several of our trails give entry to the John Muir Trail or Pacific Crest Trail with the opportunity to trek in the longest roadless section of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Soon the trail crossed Evolution Creek, which was quite large at this point. The Morning Star Mine comprises a group of 18 claims, situated in Secs. One bite of the Evolution area is On most mornings, breakfast included instant oatmeal or granola, with protein powder and raisins. The ferry was not running yet. It follows the south fork of the San Joaquin and Evolution Creek nearly all the way. The ferry is $25 roundtrip, or $13 one way. I used my water like always. Pick up permit, eat at Burger Barn, head to, Day One Piute Pass trailhead over Piute Pass down through Humphreys Basin to, Day Two Hutchinson Meadow down Piute Creek to the JMT junction down along the San Joaquin River to the, Day Three Goddard Canyon Bridge Junction Up to Evolution Valley then into Evolution Basin and camp at, Day Four Sapphire Lake up to Wanda Lake then summit Muir Pass then down into Le Conte Canyon and camp at, Day Six Up over Bishop Pass and down to South Lake . Piute Creek Crosing: Bridge at Piute Creek Crossing: Layers: Western juniper, and its cones: A mother deer plus two babies. I sucked the last of my water from the hose and hiked on, filled with new energy. We had heard that you could maybe get an employee of Parcher's Resort to give you a lift to the North Lake Trailhead -- they are located a mile down the road from the South Lake Trailhead. Only done it North to South. It was nice and cold, but not painfully so, and I took the opportunity to wash my feet. Bear canisters are required and can be rented at the ranger station for $5 per week. Piute creek was unrealistically beautiful, but not many places to camp we noticed. Following that, we returned to North Lake via Lamarck Col, a high pass just short of 13,000'. Day 1: North Lake to Piute Canyon via Piute Pass: 18 miles Day 2: Piute Canyon junction of JMT/PCT to Evolution Lake via Evolution Valley 14 miles Day 3: Evolution Lake to bottom of Le Conte Canyon via Evolution Basin 14 miles Day 4: La Conte Canyon to South Lake via Bishop Pass 12.5 miles Mosquitoes: none, gnats on Wanda Lake Pictures posted. They were having a seriously fun time on a hot Summers Day. Awesome views and an incredible variety of terrain. Elevation 4400 feet Map Mono Divide High Country ($10, tomharrisonmaps.com). The next morning, we continued on the Piute Trail and crossed the bridge onto the John Muir Trail (JMT) where we were paralleling a fast-moving San Joaquin River located within the Kings Canyon National Park. & 40+ lb packs 10, tomharrisonmaps.com ), a high Pass just of... And switch-backed up to Darwin Canyon map showed that it eventually merged the! Lamarck Col, a high Pass just short of 13,000 & # x27 ; over with... 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