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[Trip Advice] Marie Lakes / Seven gables / Vee Lake Area

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 9:53 pm
by mbehlen
Hi HST!

You have helped me plan my first every trip, my first multi-day trip, and now I have backpacked a couple of hundred miles! Thank you for all of your help!

I wanted to ask your advice/opinion on a couple of options for this coming week. I am planning to leave 8/1/19 , sleeping at the trailhead (See below) and doing a 3 day 2 night adventure. I wanted to ask a few questions but prefacing with I want to do about 12-17 mile days each day but not for no reason if there is to good of an area to camp in. But I am having a hard time with conditions in some areas.

Do you know the conditions of Seven Gables right now? My three ideas area:

Note: BW is 8.35lb + TPW /w Water 19 1/4 LB.

Idea 1:
-Day 1: Go from Edison to Vee Lake / Bear Lakes - 15 Miles (Taking Ferry)
-Day 2: Up and over Seven Gables to check out Three Island Lake and camp at Marie Lakes 9.5ish Miles
-Day 3: Hike back to Edison - 16.5ish miles (Taking Ferry)

Idea 2:

-Day 1: Go from Florence to Marie Lakes -12 Miles (Taking Ferry)
-Day 2: Up and over Seven Gables to Vee Lake Bear Lakes - 12ish miles
-Day 3: Hike back to Florence - 16.5ish miles (Taking Ferry)

Idea 3:

-Day 1: Go from Florence to Marie Lakes -12 Miles (Taking Ferry)
-Day 2: Go around Seven Gables (if not passable) to Vee Lake / Bear Lakes - 10-12ish miles
-Day 3: Hike back to Florence - 16.5ish miles (Taking Ferry)

If you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know!

Re: [Trip Advice] Marie Lakes / Seven gables / Vee Lake Area

Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2019 11:35 pm
by notis
Hey! I was up in Bear Lakes Basin area about 3 weeks ago and it was mighty snowy--lots of sun cups and big snowfields. Do you use CalTopo to plan your trips? There's a new layer: Daily Satellites-->Weekly High-Res. If the "Latest" version has cloud-cover, use the drop down to select 1-Week Ago (etc.). You can get an idea of current conditions. While parts of Bear Lake Basin appear to be melting out, the Seven Gables area still looks like its holding on to a lot of snow. Maybe someone else will be able to comment with more recent info from an actual trip. If you can cross Bear Creek safely, you could definitely make it up to Bear Lakes Basin, or as far at Stub Lake in the Seven Gables Lakes Basin, without much trouble.

Re: [Trip Advice] Marie Lakes / Seven gables / Vee Lake Area

Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 9:32 am
by cgundersen
mb,
Given the snow levels this year, I'm guessing that even if everything is clear down low, you'll hit plenty of snow on 7 Gables Pass which will be the crux of your route. If you can spare the time, plan to stay one night by Vee and one night at 3 Island and have a third night option in case things get sticky. Additionally, check out the trip report Harlen filed a while back and you can see the snowpack he encountered )notis' suggestion is great, too). Deep snow cups can slow your progress to a crawl as the day wears on! Cameron