Bishop, CA - Piute Pass to Humphreys Basin Hike, Eastern Sierra

Introduction:

What? :

Hike to Piute Pass is 9.3 miles out and back with 2,100 ft of elevation gain and it will take you about 5-6 hours to complete. I will rate it as a challenging hike.

I hiked to the other side of Piute Pass into the beautiful Humphreys Basin area, all the way to a large lake by the name Desolation Lake. With this extension of the day hike it was an overall 17.5 mile long with an accumulated evaluation gain of 3,500 ft; it took me 9 hours to complete. Although rewording doing this as a day hike is a strenuous hike.

This trail begins at the North Lake Campground (elevation of 9,500 ft), climbs through a large valley, passing along two large lakes before reaching Puite Pass at elevation of 11,400 ft.

From Puite Pass you will have one of the most dramatic and panoramic views of the inner Sierra mountains. Humphreys Basin is a large high and exposed rocky alpine basin, dotted with countless lakes and surrounded by impressive granite mountain peaks.

This area is located in the John Muir Wilderness.

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Where? :

The Trailhead is located near the end of the 20 mile long road leading from Bishop, CA to North Lake campground and the trailhead.

Google Map Link

Driving directions:

From Bishop drive west on Line Street (Hwy 168).

Follow Hwy 168 in the direction of South Lake, after 15 miles you will see the turn left into south fork, keep driving straight, pass the small community of Aspendell, keep driving up.

After 18 miles from Bishop before getting to Lake Sabrina Campground you will see a small turn to the right, take it.

You will cross over the creek by a small bridge and you will start climbing up, at first it is a paved road and soon after it turns into a wide well maintained dirt road.

The dirt road climbs the mountain slope and after a mile you will see on your left the first small North Lake parking lot. Keep driving on the road.

After a short section where the road passes through a nice large aspen tree first (about quarter of a mile) there is turn to the right, take it and drive up to the large parking lots.

This is the parking lot for day or overnight hikers.

Campground parking is allowed only for people that have a campsite.

The hike from the parking to the trailhead is about 0.5 mile one way.

North Lake sits at an elevation of 9,500 ft above sea level.

When? :

The recommended time to visit in the high Sierra is late May to October up to the first season snow storm.

Check snow conditions at the upper lake elevation and the pass, it can be completely covered with snow early spring. When I visited here in mid June there was only one patch of snow near the pass and the rest of the trails were completely clean.

If you are coming to see the amazing view of fall color then exact timing is critical. The red/orange/yellow are peaking for a short 2-3 weeks max, before that they are still green/yellow and after that they fall to the ground. From my experience the weeks of end of Sep. and early Oct. are the time colors are at their best.

The dirt road leading up to North Lake will be closed with the first heavy snow storm, usually by late October or early November.

In the winter months highway 168 that is leading up the canyon from Bishop can be closed just beyond Aspendell.

During the summer month thunder storms are common in afternoons.

Due note 1:

Water: as you hike up water sources become abundant, you need to filter the water before drinking them.

Due note 2:

Most sections of the trail are exposed to the sun. Bring a hat, sunglasses and use sun protection.

Even during the warm summer months, come prepared for changing weather and have warm clothes with you.

Depending on the season mainly during early summer mosquitoes might be a problem, bring a face net and repellent.

No cell phone reception along the hike, download in advance offline maps.

Due note 3:

The campground trailhead has vault toilets, trash cans and bear food storage boxes.

Due note 4:

This is a popular trail but not too crowded. If you are looking for a more secluded environment, then keep hiking after the pass and there you will be alone in the endless vast wilderness.

Due note 5:

No permit required for Day use hike.

Wilderness permits are needed year-round for overnight stay. There are two lakes that are popular for overnight stay at the scattered pines in their north sides.

Due note 6:

For overnight stay you are required to store food items in bear-proof containers

Due note 7:

Camping:

North Lake Campground that is located 1 mile up at the end of the road has 11 first-come-first-served, primitive campsites; RVs and trailers are prohibited.

You can find several other large campgrounds along the road from Bishop to the area.

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My thoughts:

For me this was one of the longest and challenging day hikes I did in the south section of the sierra. The high alpine lakes nested below tall impressive mountain ridges.

Although challenging to get there as a day hike I really enjoy my time at the Humphreys Basin area, after crossing Piute Pass. The area has unique, remote, isolated wilderness vibes.

The Hike:

The official trailhead of the hike starts at the end of the road North Lake Campground but you will need to park your car 0.5 mile down the road at the day and multi-day car parking lot.

For me I started my Piute Pass hike after spending the sunrise early morning hours to take pictures around North Lake.

The hike starts in a nice large pine forest and it follows the trail up the main creek and river stream.

After a short walk you will see a trail heading to Lamarck Lakes.

Keep following the creek up, at the start it climbs slowly inside the forest, you will cross the creek over tree logs a few times.

The trail steepens and you will keep climbing in the forest for about 1 mile and here it starts to get into the exposed rocky slopes of the mountain to the north.

You will cross the next section in a series of switchbacks (nice large old trees) and then head left in the direction of the canyon.

You will reach an exposed rock section with a nice small waterfall, from here this is the last climb push to the first lake, Lake Leven.

This will be 2.3 miles from the trail starting point.

The trail follows the lake from its north side and provides an impressive view of the tall ragged mountain slopes of Mount Thoreau ridgeline on the other side of the lake.

Keep hiking up the canyon, the climbs here are not as challenging as it was before.

At this section you will climb small landscape steps and flow through a few small lakes / flooded meadows in an open landscape.

Another climb and you will reach Piute Lake (11,000 ft), this will be 3.4 miles from the TH.

Along the two lakes I saw several backpackers that spent time here overnight, after this area I saw only few other hikers.

From Piute Lake the last climb is about one mile long to the Piute Pass (11,400 ft).

To my “surprise” the last stretch to the pass is very simple and not challenging as many other high Sierra passes I did.

No tall mountain cliff walls and steep switchbacks, here it is straight, not so steep hike up and you reach the pass. This is the same experience from the other side of the pass.

For me it took me 3.5 hours to hike from the TH to the pass (4.6 miles).

The view from Piute Pass to the west was one of the most unique amazing views I saw in the Sierra, a huge high alpine plato basin called Humphreys Basin.

Humphreys Basin is a large (5 by 5 miles) high and exposed rocky alpine basin, dotted with countless small lakes and surrounded by impressive granite mountain peaks.

When I visited here in mid June the mountain ridges were still covered with some snow and the view was impressive.

There are not any trees in this rocky basin so everything is open to the eye, there are many small lakes and ponds and meadows between the granite rocks.

Here this was the perfect time to eat, drink, rest and just enjoy the view and the solitude.

Initially I planned hiking only up to Piute Pass but the view of the basin was mesmerizing, like calling me to explore and discover it.

I started early so it was around noon and I felt OK, ready for more hiking so I decided to keep hiking into Humphreys Basin and in the direction of Desolation Lake on the north side of the basin, thinking to myself “let see how this will go” when I get tired I will turn around.

I started hiking down the trail circling Summit Lake from above.

I took the right trail that is following the slopes higher but still keeps descending slightly as it progresses to the west. Here you will cross many small snow melting streams flowing to the meadows.

After walking down for about 1.2 miles from the pass you will reach a trail junction.

From this area you need to head north in the overall direction of Desolation Lake.

According to the Alltrails map there is a trail but because all the area was covered with large snow patches I quickly lost the trail.

I hiked over the exposed area looking for an easy path to progress, bypassing large boulders and snow patches.

The experience was surreal, deep in the Sierra, unique rocky landscape and no one else for many miles.

I felt really in the wilderness, only me and nature.

Although overall the landscape here was relatively flat with a slight climb up, I had to find my way in the right direction, following the trail in some places, losing it in others.

I passed small flooded meadows and kept walking higher in the direction of Desolation Lake.

The landscape here changed into rocky with very large boulders and small ridges to overcome. It also has more snow patches so I always have to look ahead and see where I can find a clear path between the snow covered area.

I finally managed to get to see up close to the large Desolation Lake.

A large body of water fully surrounded with huge, gray, ragged, granite boulders and large rocks.

I reached the lake view point (11,460 ft) after hiking for 3.2 miles from the pass (8.9 miles from the parking lot) and the elevation was even slightly higher than the pass itself (11,400 ft).

I started to be tired and this was the sign to start hiking back.

Now I knew where to look for the trail path so I tried to follow it on the way back but again the large snow patches caused me to lose it. I was heading in the right direction so I was not worried about getting lost. After almost 2 miles I reconnect to the main trail leading up to the pass.

Although not so steep the climb back east to the past was changing, probably I was tired and the high elevation was not helping.

I stop and fill my water filters with snow melting cold stream water.

After an additional short push I reached back to Piute Pass, from here it is all downhill :-)

From here it was simple: short rest, cross the large snow patch after the pass and hike down in the direction of the lakes below.

On my way down in the afternoon I saw several groups of backpackers preparing for their night camping, some of them climbing up to the pass.

The pass with its vast view to the west is probably a great place to be at sunset.

I walked down passing both lakes and the view to the east through the opening canyon was very nice.

You can see all the way to the east Coyote Flat mountains, an area I slept at two days before this trip.

I reached the exposed switchback section and after that got back into the deep forest.

After an additional hike along the creek I reach the campground trailhead, from here it is another 0.5 mile hike to the car parking down the road near the lake.

What a fun hike this was !

I was tired but really happy, this was an overall 17.5 mile long with an accumulated evaluation gain of 3,500 ft; it took me 9 hours to complete.

It was about 5pm, I was tired after this long day that started before sunrise, hiking and taking pictures at the North lake and then a 9 hours challenging hike.

I had 2 options, go and find a location to spend the night at and drive back to Vegas the following morning. The other option was to head down to Bishop, CA, fill my car gas tank and start driving for about 5 hours back to Vegas.

I decided that I will drive back home and if I become tired I can always sleep along this drive.

I was enjoying my drive and reached my home at 11pm.

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