I felt lucky when I scored a walkup permit on short notice for Piute Pass, so I headed north after work on Friday. Too many hours later I slept just a few hours in the Alabama Hills, waking up in time to see the sun rise and some morning alpenglow on Mt Whitney. After breakfast I made a leisurely drive to Bishop and then on to North Lake where I got one of the last parking spots available. Thinking about it now, it was probably one of the early bird hikers already leaving....
Piute Canyon is a familiar trail, I've walked down and up it in the last two years. This time my goal was Muriel Lake for camping with a full day to walk around exploring Humphreys Basin. I took a Snickers break at Loch Leven and then chatted with some folks near Piute Pass. All during this time I was watching the dark clouds to the southwest, wondering if they were going to make their way to my location. I reached Muriel Lake around 3pm, enough time to refill with water and scout for a sleep spot. I felt lucky to find a flat area just large enough for the Tarptent and took my time setting things up in the limited space. I had to get creative with the rocks to ensure things stayed reasonably tight, but it all worked out with hardly any breeze filtering inside during the cool 45-degree nights. After a terrific sunset I retreated to the little confines to do some reading before bed.
Day Two began with the mountains reflected against the still waters of Muriel Lake, and after breakfast of granola and hot chocolate I set out on my journey to visit the wonders of the basin. Rather than going all the way back to the pass, I went down a rather steep slope and crossed somewhere below Summit Lake. I was feeling pretty good about myself, imagining that not another human had walked where I was and then I ran into some footprints that led me to my destination. I skipped out on hopping down the big slabs, thinking that something like a sprained ankle or broken leg might not turn out well. After a mile or so I ran into the trail for Desolation Lake, which I followed to a Snickers and fresh water break near Lower Desolation, which gave me the energy to go up the rest of the way, and I spent close to an hour just sitting near the shoreline of Desolation Lake. While there I amused myself by counting the few fish, swatting at flies and listening to ....nothing. It was really quiet there as I didn't see any other people for most of this day. Finally I headed back, where I walked across the lake's outlet and then crossed through some creek-filled brush. I picked out an alternate route back up to Muriel, as the steep rock slabs would be very difficult to navigate on the way up. Another good break was had at the marshy area that marked the lower point of the canyon, and I crossed just above the Golden Trout Lakes. I topped out on the hillside at a stream feeding from Muriel Lake, so I got to do some rock-hopping all the way back to my campsite. The sunset was fabulous once again, I even invited some other hikers up to my vantage point for the best views.
Day Three dawned cool, with dark clouds to the East holding back the sun's rays. While having breakfast I received a few raindrops, and I packed up quickly so I would miss any storm brewing. The walk down Piute Creek was uneventful, and I reached lots of traffic in Bishop before noon. The drive home wasn't as fun, for some reason lots of people were leaving Death Valley so the junction near Olancha was backed up a few miles.
Another great time in the Sierras!
Total about 22 miles, 3800 feet of elevation gain/loss.
Loch Leven, Piute Pass in the distance.
First view of Muriel Lake. This turned out to be a very large body of water.
Sunset scene from rocks just above my tent. The view was so good I invited some other hikers up to share.
Cloudy day made for a great sunset.
Morning at Muriel. That notched mountain was my guide from the other side of the basin.
Looking at my route, the target was the round bump in the distant center. That led me exactly to the Desolation Lakes path.
Lower Desolation Lake. I looked at this one last year on a backpack trip and decided things were far too rocky to set up camp.
Desolation Lake. I have developed a gift for just sitting around looking at scenes like this for hours.
Trying to pick a route back, that's Lower Desolation on the left. I went right for a half mile or so and then turned toward Muriel Lake, up the far slope.
Mount Humphreys standing watch over everything.
