Bear Creek

[SSSdave]

Hi all you Bear Creek enthusiasts. I did my first backpack up Bear Creek in 1975 and my 2007 trip was my 10th. I've often related it is my favorite major stream basin of the High Sierra. Something trivial though worth commenting about I've noticed in recent years is people on this board referring to "Bear Lakes Basin". Likely more so due to the rise of young people on Facebook and the JMT, HST, and PCT users that route through or near its areas. On the USGS topo, none of the smaller secondary streams of Bear Creek have that name or "basin" topo names of their streams within. So such is informal use as hikers, backpackers, and climbers often start calling landscape no-name features names with more use.

On the USGS topo, there are 5 sub-streams with actual names:
Cirque Creek
Hilgard Branch
East Fork
South Fork
West Fork

There are a few other no name smaller sub streams in the Bear Creek basin as the upper high elevation areas have long lasting snow fields with considerable talus that tends to drain slowly and are always good sources for water supplies during late season.

The most popular guidebook for backpacking in the Sierra Nevada has always been the Wilderness Press, Sierra North and Sierra South books that go back to the late 60s. They also had a set of earlier smaller regional pocket books. In the Sierra South book, the group of lakes up the East Fork has always been called within its trip sections the "East Fork Bear Creek Basin". The other 2 sub stream basins with several lakes are not referred to in the book as basins but have always been referred to such by its users and in the earlier handbooks as:
West Fork Bear Creek Basin
South Fork Bear Creek Basin

Each of these 3 upper basins have several lakes and are separated by major divides thus for the sake of clarity ought to be referred to by their stream names and not ambiguously as "Bear Lakes Basin" that more properly are areas of the whole creek that of course is a tributary of the South Fork of the San Joaquin River.

[SSSdave]

With a bit more hunting in my bookcase, found the source of the different references below. In both cases, their interests in these later books were the big peaks in the East Fork Bear Creek Basin and not those in other 2 areas of Bear Creek.

Timberline Country
High Sierra Route
Steve Roper 1982
Refers to "Bear Lakes Basin" on page 166 and 168 under "Feather Pass to Lake Italy".

The High Sierra
Peaks Passes and Trails
R.J. Secor 1992
Refers to "Bear Lakes Basin on page 246 under "Feather Pass".

Of note, I've never seen a black bear nor signs of bears in that watershed nor in nearby Mono Creek or Piute Creek. However once camped at Bear Diversion Dam with an old timer that was around before Lake T.A. Edison reservoir was built. He described the current location of the reservoir as an exceptional area of trout fishing with large trees, huge logjams, deep pools in quiet sections. And also mentioned black bear. Like in many non national park sections of the southern High Sierra, black bears were once shot for bear rugs and so they would not frighten packer customers.

[Wandering Daisy]

The question of what to call things was something I had to tackle when I wrote my guidebook to the Wind Rivers. I did not get too hung up on this; simply used this priority method, which I fully explained in the introduction to the book;

1. Official USGS map name. If regularly called something else, I would put that in parentheses. Lakes with an elevation on USGS maps.
2. Names used by public agencies, even if not "approved" by USGS. Forest service maps, G&F names for lakes, BLM road/tail names, etc.
3. Local names used by larger groups, such as names assigned by NOLS (who have named stuff in the Wind Rivers for over 50 years)
4. Local names used by outfitters, fishermen, etc.

When a lake or feature had no name above, I got sick of call it "the small lake southeast of Lake xxxxx", I simply made up name and put that in quotes.

I think other guidebook writers do the same, so be wary of thinking that if it is in a guidebook it is the official name.

Names of features are also now "crowd sourced", such as what you find on Google Earth.