High Sierra Topix

Agreed. We've had Inyo hold our permits when we were getting there past the cutoff time. Moreover, they can put your permits in a night drop box so you can grab them on the way up, then crash for a night at elevation. Call them for more details.

I also agree with what everyone else has said here re: the XC in Humphrey's Basin. Our first true XC trip involved this area and was excellent. (Trying to post a TR!) Easy introduction for terrain, navigation, etc.

We've camped at Desolation Lake twice, and there are no trees and little breaks from any wind in that area. August shouldn't have too many storms, anyway. But Mesa Lake does have a shelf to camp next to to shield one side of your shelter.

The alpenglow on Mt. Humphreys from Desolation is awesome in the evening. IMO, you can't go wrong with camping at either Mesa or Desolation Lake. Other people have experience with the other lakes in the area that I don't, so that's just my two cents.

Have fun and remember to take care of the land

rlown wrote:How was the Puppet pass experience?

I thought Puppet pass was a lot of fun for our first backcountry pass. It's pretty easy to navigate coming from Humphrey's Basin. We had uploaded a few other's GPS tracks on Gaia and ended up slightly off-track of all of these but still had an easy climb to the top of the pass - so there's lots of room for error on the south side. From the top off the pass you get incredible views of the lakes. We took one route down and watched a long-distance thru-hiker pass us and so gracefully hop down among all the boulders. We were not nearly so graceful but didn't find it too tough to find a way down. I think we ended up taking a slightly more strategic route up the boulders on our way back but in both directions I surprised myself by how much fun I had.

I think a great pass for anyone looking to gain experience!

When do you plan on heading into Humphreys Basin? I am heading up there Thursday August 17th for 3 nights to setup a base camp and climb some peaks with some buddies...Maybe you will be there during the same time?