Sierra Backpacking: 7 days to Granite Park, Mt. Julius Caesar, Bear Basin, Lake Italy, Royce Lakes

Описание: Eastern Sierra - Seven days on/off trail backpacking trip from the Pine Creek Trailhead: Pine Creek Pass Trail, Pine Lakes, Honeymoon Lake, Chalfant Lakes, Granite Park, Italy Pass, ascent to Mt. Julius Ceasar, Dancing Bear Pass, Bear Basin Lakes, Vee Lake, White Bear Pass, Hilgard Branch, Lake Italy, Gabbot Pass, Royce Pass, Royce Lakes, Granite Park Pass, return to the Pine Creek Trailhead from Granite Park.

John Muir Wilderness - Inyo National Forest. Bishop, California.
Eastern Sierra, Sierra Nevada.

Trailhead: Pine Creek Trailhead, Bishop

August 2024

Itinerary:
About 50% of the 58 miles of this backpacking trip was off-trail. Generally speaking, I thought the navigation and terrain of the off-trail sections was not particularly difficult; some boulder fields and off-trail passes descent needed attention. Certainly this itinerary is not for everyone: solid backpacking experience, good navigation and route finding skills and great conditioning are a must to complete it without difficulty.
The following is the break down of the itinerary for each day:

Day 1: Pine Creek trail to Honeymoon Lake. Camp at Honeymoon Lake, cross country route to the Chalfant Lake basin and back.

Day 2: Honeymoon Lake to upper Granite Park via Italy Pass trail. Camp at upper Granite Park. Day hike to Italy Pass and ascent to Mt. Julius Caesar. Return to camp.

Day 3: Upper Granite Park to Bear Basin via Dancing Bear Pass. Dancing Bear Pass to Black Bear Lake, Big Bear Lake and Ursa Lake. Camp at Ursa Lake. Cross country route to Bearpaw lake, Vee Lake and Claw Lake. Return to Camp.

Day 4: Bear Basin to Lake Italy via White Bear Pass. Ursa Lake to Big Bear Lake, Black Bear Lake, White Bear Lake and White Bear Pass. Descent of White Bear Pass to Brown Bear Lake and Teddy Bear Lake. Teddy Bear Lake to Hilgard Branch. Lake Italy Trail to Lake Italy. Camp at Lake Italy.

Day 5: Lake Italy shoreline trail to Toe Lake to Gabbot Pass. Return to camp at Lake Italy. Lake Italy Trail to Italy Pass, descent to Granite Park. Camp in Granite Park.

Day 6: Cross country route to Royce Lake from Granite Park via Royce Pass. Cross country route of the Royce Lakes. Upper Royce Lake to Granite Park Pass. Descent to unnamed lake in Granite Park from Granite Park Pass. Return to camp in Granite Park

Day 7: Exit route, Granite Park camp to Pine Creek trailhead: Italy Pass trail to Honeymoon Lake and Pine Creek Pass trail to Pine Lakes and Pine Creek Trailhead


58.17 mi 13,809 ft elevation gain.

AllTrails Map:
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/rec...

Notes about the map: the map is indicative of the trip itinerary although mileage and moving time cannot be considered as reference as I often deviated from the route for filming and photography; also the moving time on the map includes all stops and breaks during the day as I stopped recording only once camp was setup for each day.


Hike Notes:
A fantastic on/off trail route in the heart of the Eastern Sierra with beautiful summer weather. Scenery was absolutely amazing through out. Overall the itinerary was very enjoyable and never too challenging despite heavy mileage off trail. After Honeymoon lake foot traffic became sparse with all amazing solitary camps. The Sierra Nevada is truly a backpacking paradise with very high "beauty per mile" ratio. Love it very much and can't wait to go back up there again.

Music:
Ancestors by Gavin Luke
Licensed by Epidemic Sound.

#sierranevada #hiking #backpacking #johnmuirwilderness #inyonationalforest #pinecreek #chalfantlakes #italypass #lakeitaly #granitepark #roycelakes #bearbasin #mountjuliuscaesar


CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
01:16 - Trip Highlights
04:20 - Day 1:Pine Creek Trailhead to Honeymoon Lake, off-trail to Chalfant Lales
06:19 - Day 2: Honeymoon Lake to upper Granite Park, ascent to Mt. Julius Caesar
09:56 - Day 3: Upper Granite Park to Bear Basin. Vee Lake and Claw Lake.
14:12 - Day 4: Bear Basin to Lake Italy
17:48 - Day 5: Lake Italy to Gabbot Pass, Italy Pass Trail to Granite Park
22:35 - Day 6: Granite Park to Royce Lakes out & back via Royce Pass & Granite Park Pass
27:10 - Day 7: Granite Park to Pine Creek Trailhead