No smoke from the California wildfires. I jumped up and pumped them for information. The trail on the left leads to Lower Honeymoon Lake. 5.1 trip report. We slept near the shores of Evolution Lake. This is high country and we had a brief hail & wind storm as well as our coldest overnight stay (mid 20 degrees Fahrenheit). 7/19/2014 - 17.03 miles, 2,992 AEG - Piute Bridge to Evolution Creek The day started with a six mile roundtrip hike to Muir Trail Ranch to obtain our resupply. finished this in 5days avaraging 12miles a day. Follow signs pointing to Kings Canyon National Park. You could do a quick trip, via Echo Col in both directions, in about 4 days. Sawyer Water Filters are popular because of their light weight and ease of use, but the bags they provide are susceptible to developing leaks. Good campsites can be found along the river beyond the Piute Creek bridge. Reports of hail and lightning from others along the trail. Ooops! The trail to Piute Pass (11,423-ft.) ascends the lovely North Fork of Bishop Creek, passing photogenic Loch Leven and Piute Lakes along the way. We put in about 11.5 miles but it was almost all downhill or level deep-forest hiking. Your email address will not be published. Evolution Valley - Key Facts Location: Northern Kings Canyon National Park Trailhead: Florence Lake, 84 miles east of Fresno, elevation 7,300 feet Evolution Valley elevation: 9,500 feet Elevation gain: 2200 feet Hiking Distance: 19 miles Best seasons: Mid-summer to fall It follows the south fork of the San Joaquin and Evolution Creek nearly all the way. Note: Bishop Pass hikers will encounter dozens deer skeletons on the steep slope below Bishop Pass. The route my two amigas and I traveled lies in the trio of Kings Canyon National Park, Inyo National Forest and Sierra National Forest. Hundreds of feet of granite on one side, and beautiful open meadow on the other. Tracked 40 miles total and we caught the ferry on the way in and out. Our total hiking miles over 5 days was 41.8 miles then we caught the ferry for the extra couple. to North Lake Road, 20 mi to Pine Creek 856 110 to 114 SEKI - Goddard (28) Aspen Meadow & Goddard Creek Junction 851 to 855 114 to 121 SEKI - McClure Meadow (33) Evolution Valley, McClure, and Colby Meadows 845 to 851 121 to 127 SEKI - Evolution Basin (34) Evolution Lake, Wanda Lake, to Muir Pass 838.5 to . Though ruled by an evil mosquito king that keeps his troops busy, Big Pete Meadow (the meadow part should have been our clue) was a delight. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. A couple of mosquitos came out in the cooler air as the shadow of the mountain came into camp. I went down to the water and splashed some on my head. From there, you head back west and up up up to Evolution Valley and then Evolution Basin - finally topping out at the summit of Muir Pass. Day 3: From camp, descend 7.3 miles on the JMT into Evolution Valley, then add an easy 1.2 miles to camp by Evolution Lake. Then got up and hiked to the ferry to see if it was running and what do you know it was! We got there between 4:30-5 on a week day and there wasn't anyone available -- so we hitched and got a ride pretty easily. straightforward trail. the mouth of Evolution Valley. Also included are North Lake, South Lake, Piute Pass, Evolution Valley and Lake Sabrina. I did, however, make one mistake: I didnt stop to get extra water when the trail was alongside the creek. I am now a retired academic, so I was able, in all three trips, to exploit my college timing to hike in early September before the start of classes. They were running a bit late to make it to Canada before the Autumn snows, and they knew it. dirt and rock trail. They finished up their meal and continued onward, while I read my book and watched the river go by. That was the new plan, I decided. I hiked onward, rather than head back down. Personally, I simply call it a crazy, beautiful valley with great views. Saw plenty of deer, and other hikers saw a few bears in the meadows. beautiful. Muir Pass Day Zero Travel day. Piute Creek to Evolution Creek, 3.5 miles Beyond Piute Creek the trail stays close to the river, working its way up the canyon. After descending into the valley, I noticed how hot it was. The hiking was challenging for us (22 year old girls), but we probably brought too heavy of packs. The first 36 miles from Prather to Huntington Lake via Highway 168 are over good mountain road. Camp, or finish the last 2.7 miles to the trailhead. John Muir Rock rises directly to the east. On the fourth day of my trek, I backpacked north from Evolution Lake, down into the Evolution Valley with its lush meadows and waterfalls, then down even further to the South Fork San Joaquin River, which I followed downstream yet more, until I left the JMT/PCT for the Piute Pass Trail, climbing this time . This trail goes by Loch Leven, Piute Pass, Summit Lake, Upper Golden Trout Lake, Lamarck Col, and North Lake Campground. Plentiful water (I never carried more than 16 oz.). More like a river. Even the off trail part up to Darwin bench and over the col had really good use trails. One of the greatest hikes I've ever done. Lunch at Evolution Lake. Thats what happens when you go to sleep at sunset! Best seasons: Mid-summer to fall What a reward after the long hike up the mountainThanks. mostly exposed to the sun so take a good cover. North to South Lake is the easiest way to go with passes not too difficult. The next morning we discovered more good sites at the west end of the lake. I did a backpacking trip over the 4th of July weekend over 4 days, starting at Florence Lake, going up to Evolution Lake. They were having a seriously fun time on a hot Summers Day. The Vanderbilt Mine is located partly on private land in the San Bernardino County, two miles west of California-Nevada state lines in the New York mountains four miles southeast of the Ivanpah valley within the Mojave National Preserve. The river is nice to camp by here. Then I ate some dinner and took photos and videos of the waterfall that was just downstream from my tent. Slept like a drunken sailor. After that, I was down on the floor of Evolution Valley. On day 1, take the Piute Pass Trail from North Lake Campground, and hike six miles gaining 2,000 feet to make camp near Upper Golden Trout Lake (no camping within 400 feet). The hike to Evolution Valley was exposed and hot at times. Heres how I did it: Day one Take the Piute Pass Trail from North Lake Campground, 20 miles west of Bishop, and hike six miles gaining 2,000 feet to make camp near Upper Golden Trout Lake (no camping within 400 feet). Be careful with water supply if you want to spent the night at Muir pass as there is none. Dawn on Piute Pass Back toward Pilot Knob West side, baby! 1993 . . Did this a decade ago and want to do it again! Having two cars so as to shuttle between trailheads made the logistics a lot easier. I wasnt enjoying this as much as I would have liked. But 6-year-old Gregory "was an absolute trooper," said Steward, as . Soon the trail crossed Evolution Creek, which was quite large at this point. We fell about 2 miles short of the destination endpoint with loss of daylightlesson learned, if this is a short weekend excursion, you need to get there early and push through hard. Maybe I was oxygen-starved, but my companions said they were similarly affected. . Turn left and cross the South Fork San Joaquin River. In the Spring of a snowy year it must be incredible. Breathtaking landscapes. About two miles after leaving camp, we exited off the PCT/John Muir trail and started up to Piute Pass. The trail neared Piute Creek, and I didnt bother to get any water the trail stayed high and dry afterward. I climbed down off my hilltop aerie and walked along the southern shore of Evolution Lake. The ferry was not running this early in the season. Allow extra driving time to Florence Lake. this is the one backpack trip I remember with my dad, friend and his dad.. in 1959.. 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. Goode, Bishop Lake, Jigsaw Pass. Us silly girls didnt expect something for nothing did we? Membership. . 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? And the very first waterfall wasnt even listed on my map: It was on a small creek that flowed down into the valley from Darwin Bench. Evolution Lake was beautiful! Historical side note: Evolution Valley was named by Theodore Solomons . Next time will have to aim to go under 30 pounds. Found some spots to camp about 2 miles from the pass. Mendel, which is part of the Evolution range. I recommend an early start because of the exposure in the first 3 miles of Piute Trail. Actually now that we've gone to North to South, I'd hope to go the opposite direction someday, as the ascent to Muir Pass via LeConte Canyon would be thrilling. We are slow hikers. Mosquitos are out a bit especially in Evolution Valley and Piute Creek. Day two Continue on Piute Pass to reach the JMT (and enter the national park) at mile 17.4. One way for an adult is $15, round-trip $28; children 12 and under are $7 and $13. We returned to camp and reorganized and then started the hike into Evolution Valley. Our payback day ended up being 13 miles, almost all uphill. We hiked the whole way out the third day, back around the lake to the car. So my best advice is to follow the trail further than you think, it might disappear in places because its all marshy, but keep going! Then we stayed there 1 night then hiked up to evolution valley. After my work was done, Id jump in the nearest river, cook, then bear-proof my camp. Day two Continue on Piute Pass to reach the JMT (and enter the national park) at mile 17.4. it has all the beauty you can think of, in fact you will get a beauty intake overdoz lol. Muir Pass snow is melting fast and maybe only 1.5 miles worth heading northbound and maybe 2 over towards Sapphire Lake. The first day of hiking is over moderate terrain with meadows and the occasional company of the South Fork of the San Joaquin River. So we caught the 9:00am ferry across and bought a few things in the little store there. I ate my usual cup of hot oatmeal and packed up my gear. lots of water sources so no worries there but u must have enough water to go by as you will drink alot. The ferry was not running yet. Jackass Meadow and Ward Lake campgrounds are located near Florence Lake. Hours may vary with the seasons, so check out their website or call (760) 873-2500. Then it was hot, and I sweated out what little water I had. My mood was improving by the minute! I also set an early alarm. The mosquitoes were intense in certain areas. Recommend to everybody. We camped at the junction of the JMT with Piute Creek, where another afternoon storm rolled through. 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. 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 Elevation 4400 feet Sign up for Outside+ today. Tiny bit of snow on bishop pass was completely avoidable. Scale: 1:47,520 or inch representing 3/4 mile. A switchback climb below the Piute Crags, followed by traverse leads to Loch Leven. The next morning we left the JMT and made our way up, up, and up to Bishop Pass via Dusy Basin which was over 6 miles away from the JMT junction. That was about 8 miles, we had wanted to camp at the meadow but was beat so made camp a couple miles sooner. Monday, they crossed 11,500-foot Piute Pass. The creek crossing there can be challenging early in the season. I set up my tent and got my gear situated inside. Day four Rest and explore. We camped alone; in fact, we camped alone every night of the trip. We puzzled about the cause. I felt a whining session coming on, Pleeeeese dont make me leave. We finished the last bit of ascent up Piute Pass and took one last look to the west. Deer are seen occasionally. Parking: A large parking lot for overnight trips is situated close to the lake. We passed more than a dozen lakes some of which I will mention when I upload photos. Leisurely pace over 6 days / 7 nights, This was an amazing hike! My two recommendations. It is my favorite all-time Sierra hike. This great hike to scenic Piute Pass ascends beneath the multi-hued Piute Crags to a beautiful lakes basin tucked beneath Mt. A ranger later informed us that 80-90 deer were migrating seasonally over the pass during a snowstorm in November 2018, when presumably blinded by the snowfall, they one by one hit a patch of ice and fell to their deaths. The Bishop Group is accessible from the South Lake Trailhead, either to Treasure Lakes, or Bishop Pass. Did it South Lake to North Lake so the slog at Muir Pass was real and all trails GPS offline helped me navigate through snow/now visible trail, Did it in equiv of 4 days. Your email address will not be published. I left the trail to follow right along the creek, and took way too many photos and videos. Great hike to explore the backcountry and multiple parks. A boat-taxi across the lake is available from the trailhead in the summer. There are possible campsites on Darwin Bench. The ferry is $25 roundtrip, or $13 one way. From here, it's west and south down and into the epic Le Conte Canyon. Or bag flattopped Mt. Evolution Creek had already joined forces and the river was much larger. It was challenging but not impossible if you hike often. View full map Reviews (235) Photos (774) 5 4 3 2 1 4.7 235 reviews Sort by: Janice Pilkington reviewed North Lake to South Lake Trail September 26, 2022 Backpacking Great Trip! Awesome views and an incredible variety of terrain. A great spot! Well, yeah, maybe then. The trail leads through Double and Blayney meadows. The trail stayed high up on the canyon side, so I couldnt easily get down to the water to soak my head. Completed this loop South - North May 26-29. 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. Finally it is accepted as self-evident." Schoepenhouer "Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on." Winston Churchill "When they think they know the answers, people are . ALLTRAILS and the AllTrails Mountain Design are registered trademarks of AllTrails, LLC in the United States as well as certain other jurisdictions. I told them to skip Oregon, because it sounded mostly like boring forest with no views, and a hiker named Strawberry told me that there was a thing called Oregon in Two Weeks which skips the lame parts. I didnt realize it, but that was the last Id be seeing of Evolution Creek. But that suited me fine. We parked at Lake Sabrina, hiked up past the Tyee Lakes to South Lake and then completed the loop clockwise. Always confirm information with the service provider and check for any recent changes that I put on my night clothing and used a bit of DEET on my face to repel them. Privacy Policy, Learn about the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. It happens from glacial erosion that widens and deepens the main valley leaving the geographic feature that seems to float above it. There were a few sections that were mosquito-dense, but otherwise the bugs and critters were tolerable! No water issues at all--everything is flowing well. But the point is we were beat! Evolution Valley was about four miles long, and descended from 10,000 to 9,000 feet elevation, which was quite a mellow grade, and definitely below the treeline. I woke up before dawn, as usual. In other words, I was probably dehydrated. Beautiful trip! Slightly brutal at times-especially for a beginner- but the views are unmatched. At first the canyon was narrow, and the river had created deep channels to flow through. 11/10/2022 - Expect winter conditions. Theodore S. Solomons and E.C. The first day we stopped at the Florence lake bridge. I was breathing so hard I started to suspect my companions might have embraced some trail humor and stashed their heavy items in my pack when I wasnt looking. I found a shady spot above the creek and took off my pack. I heard it thundering off to the side of the trail and went over to check it out, and Im glad I did. The year 2021 was certainly one of the driest in a long time, as it was early July and the hills were bone dry. After the narrows, the valley widened and there were many hot and sunny meadows that I trudged through, at least according to the map. The information provided on this website is done so without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Just what I didnt need. The hike isn't strenuous, and even the switchbacks didn't feel that bad. Save 4 miles of hiking by riding the Florence Lake Ferry. Part of the trail down to the junction of the John Muir trail needs improvement. My AllTrails recording showed 59.4 miles at the termination point (South Lake overnight parking lot) with over 10,000' elevation gain. However, on the way back from Forsyth, I had some time to think about it while dealing with trail miles.On paper, 55 miles with 10k vertical in 12h15 looks soft; Yours Truly ran 50 miles with 12k vertical in about 9 hours at San Juan Solstice, and the . The next day we made it up to evolution valley. We did 7 nights, 8 days with our first and last days being half days. This trek met every expectation I had plus some! Next came McClure Meadow and the Ranger Station. Only a portion of our journey would actually be in Evolution, but the areas we passed through to reach and retreat from our intended destination were just as amazing. This is one of my favorite trips of many in the eastern Sierra. Didnt know you needed a reservation to drive through Yosemite, so consider going through Sonora Pass (unless you go through after 4pm). Hi, Jeff; Thank you for your compliment of my photo. My girlfriends told me I started singing gospel at that point, but I really think they may be exaggerating. Also a ton of mosquitos. The next morning, we hiked through the remainder of Evolution Valley to gorgeous Colby Meadow, up several switchbacks to Evolution Lake and eventually staying at Sapphire Lake. Before last pass go to side trail golden trout lake to spend a night. It tasted cold and fresh. You can learn more about her travels with her husband, Mitch, on CruisingSailors.com. September after Labor Day was a great time to make this trip, as the crowds had thinned but the mild climate lingered. Map Mono Divide High Country ($10, tomharrisonmaps.com). 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 . I have done it over 4 days - 3 nights and my backpack was around 42 pounds. We took four full, plus two half days, to hike the 57-mile route starting at South Lake and ending at North Lake, so 10-12 miles each day was the score. Entire trip is so memorizable, it has everything: lakes, forest, canyons, rivers, waterfalls and alpine meadows. Florence Lake Store and Ferry. To win Best in Show our site sported a ledge, floating above a yakkety brook, Mt. Warm days in the upper 70s and the nights werent too cool either, even up at sapphire lake. Elevation gain: 2200 feet Over Piute pass has one patch of snow to cross and it was also a non-issue. This is about the halfway spot. I had my food in a bear cannister, But getting partway up toward the pass seemed like a fine idea. The most challenging part of the hike was crossing the river. Mosquitoes were everywhere but easily controlled with DEET and an (optional) headnet. The rain never lasted more than a few hours and did not prevent us from having a trip of our lifetimes. Finally, two ladies told me that there was a spot just ahead, right next to the creek! I sucked the last of my water from the hose and hiked on, filled with new energy. The climb up to Piute Pass was uneventful, passing a series of lakes on the way to the day's high point. Those who use the SteriPen, or any other filter system, are wise to carry a backup such as Potable Aqua Water Treatment Tablets. Evolution Basin. Then I hiked north, paralleling the water. Fork), from which you access Evolution Valley via Piute Creek down to the River, then back up the river and Evolution Creek to McClure Meadow and beyond; stated simply, from the pass this is a down-up. The long circuitous way, but entirely on trails, from this trailhead goes over Piute Pass (11,423 ft.) descends through Humphrey Basin along Piute Creek to the John Muir Trail (at 8,000 ft.). On day 4 we headed east along Piute Canyon toward lovely Humphreys Basin, a timeless spot overlooking the Glacier Divide to which we have returned again and again. After we got a bit past Summit Lake, we left the trail and headed to Lower Desolation Lake, Desolation Lake and Mesa Lake, where we camped for the night. When we finished our descent and arrived at the ranger station in the deep forest of Le Conte Canyon we also reached the junction on which the trail merges with the Pacific Crest Trail(PCT)/ John Muir Trail. 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