I have several questions which hopefully won't make for a disjointed post. Firstly, does anyone have any experience with hiking in to evolution basin/lakes via piute pass and can comment on trip time, diffuculty, etc. Also, I will be hiking the Sierra High Route in mid August (21 Start Date) starting out of Leconte Canyon heading south to Kearsarge pass. Any insight/recommendations for this traverse segment? I will be using Roper's book as a reference and prior experience of the area (experienced via the JMT).
On a different note, is anyone familiar with local Bishop trailhead transport (best rates for two individuals).

North Lake to Piute Pass to the JMT to the bottom of Evolution... about two days or less. Then another day to get to the top of Evolution. You don't want to go any faster than that if the wildflowers are in season.

Now, there are shortcuts which may or may not be to your liking. You can cut off from the Piute Pass Trail and go through the Keyhole. Or, you can go from North Lake to Lamarck Lakes to Lamarck Col to Darwin Lakes to the JMT. There are others as well if you are just getting to LeConte Canyon.

Evolution is wonderful, though. I like going from the top to the bottom, but maybe that was because I was on skis.

--B.G.--

Mt. Whitney Shuttle and High Sierra Shuttle are two of several Eastern Sierra shuttle services, which serve all Eastern Sierra trailheads. I believe these two companies have have PUC (Public Utility Commission) licenses, which mandate in-force insurance, etc. A less expensive alternative is Miguel Dietrich, who lives in Independence, California and provides a non PUC shuttle service. Miguel, whom I have used, is a retired Inyo County Road Department worker; Miguel seems to know most everyone along the Eastern Sierras.

Forgot to include Miguel's phone number, which is (760)977-0601.

I use The Eastern Sierra Transit Authority to get from Lancaster, California Metro link station to the town of Bishop to go to my brothers house. From down town Bishop your about 6 to 10 miles away from the trail head. It heavily traveled road with backpacker,fisherman, rock climbers so you could hitch hike or talk to some of the sporting goods stores they may know people that give you a ride to the trail head.
I take the Metro link train from Oceanside,Ca, at 7:00 a.m. To Los Angeles Union station transfer to the Lancaster train to Lancaster metro link station catch the bus at 1:00 p.m. and arrive in Bishop around 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. all in one day.

A little history on Eastern Sierra Transit Authority it took over the greyhound stops in the eastern sierras they run Monday,Wednesday,Friday between Lancaster and Reno ,Nevada and they have stops in every town on route 395 They even stop in Mammoth Mountain. The bus is a small commuter bus and has area in the back that holds cargo like backpacks ,snowboards,skis, bicycle rack on the front of the bus. Fare are very reasonable here's a link to the site.
http://easternsierratransitauthority.com/wb/
Terry

Edited by socal-nomad on 06/06/2011 23:48:27 MDT.