High Sierra Topix

Hello - I'm planning a trip and want to hear if people think it is too crazy. I am planning on doing a 5 day 4 night trip up McGee Creek. This is my planned itinerary

Day 1. McGee Creek --> Steelhead Lake

Day 2. Steelhead Lake ---> Pioneer Basin

Day 3. Pioneer Basin ---> Hopkins Lakes

Day 4. Hopkins Lakes --> Big McGee Lake

Day 5. Big McGee Lake --> Trailhead.

The question that I have is how crazy is it to be going up over the shoulder above McGee Creek and into the Pioneer Basin on Day 2. I know it is going to be pretty hard hiking on talus for about 1.5 miles. I know it is going to be steep. The question I have is it doable? I have seen trip reports of people looking down from the top saying it is steep. I also found one trip report from way back about people climbing up that way to summit some of the peaks in the area.This is the only report I've found of people going up that route. https://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_report ... ron_1.html

Why do I want to do this? I'm not sure. It just seems like a cool way to enter the Pioneer Basin, and then connect back around to Mcgee Lake and see some really cool stuff along the way. It seems like something that is more challenging than the usual route.

Am I Crazy?

Hey Kevin,

I recently looked down some of the routes across that ridge, and I can find a photo of 2 of them. I didn't mind the look of the slopes near the crest, but check out the interminable boulderfield on the way up:



I found another interesting gully 1/4 mile west along the crest from Stanford Col that was overhung by big loose blocks, but the path up looked stable. Here it is:



Both the latter gully, and Stanford Col are dead easy on the south side. Are you planning to cross high into Hopkins Basin via Crocker Col? Good luck with your route, Ian.

Thanks for the pics! Yeah Im aware of the boulder field. I've been stalking it in Google Earth too. I was planning on descending through the pioneer basin, checking out fourth recess lake, then heading back up hopkins Creek and over hopkins pass. But going over crocker col is an interesting idea