long lake from bishop pass TH (sierras)

[MattCav]

Myself, wife, and two of our friends did an overnighter at Long Lake west of Bishop. The landscape was absolutely incredible and it was a nice reprieve from one of the hottest days of 2013.



This hike is an easy 2.5 miles one way, 1000' of gain. The high elevation (10,800') definitely makes it more challenging but it was just an overall nice, fun hike.

Couple notes:
-Bugs are out in major force. Mosquitoes and gnats around dusk mainly
-Trout were hitting hard for any fishing fanatics out there
-We evaded a typical June squall in the Sierras
-I took a combination of Diamox, Gingko Biloba, and Stinging Nettles and noticed that I was able to breathe much better than when I got HAPE at Cottonwood Lakes a month ago

More pics here: http://summitascents.com/2013/07/01/sou ... ernighter/

Anyone ever hike out to Dusy Basin or get up to Hurd Peak or Mount Goode? These ideas intrigue me...

[JeffH]

I like Long Lake, genuine Sierra Goodness without too much effort.
I went up there a couple years ago with the intent of Chocolate Peak but had an early-season (October) snow come through so I just walked to the end of the lake and back. Dusy Basin is on the list....

[lilbitmo]

Exactly 5 weeks ago I was throwing rocks from the trail above the lake and they would not penetrate the surface of Long Lake it was still frozen solid, great area, my first time going up Agassiz and had a blast.

[MattCav]

how was agazsizzisizizz?

[lilbitmo]

Amazing, we were treated to a snow chute of 1,800 feet on the north west side just before reaching Bishop Pass. We were there early morning on a fairly cold morning so the snow was consolidated and it had rained the week before so there was some not quite icy conditions higher up, crampons and Ice axe made the going fairly easy but a slip in the wrong place would have been tough to stop if you got some speed up.

Surface was not conducive for glissading, tried once or twice on the way down but it was like coarse emery cloth so I stop trying. Saw only three people all day and two in the parking lot.

We did Dade the nest day by way of the Hour Glass Couloir and were able to glissade 1,200 feet on the way out.

Then Sunday two went up Abbot and two of us went up Ruby Peak next to Mills, fun Memorial Day weekend.

[jfr]

Long Lake and the Bishop Pass Trail are truly beautiful places. My wife and I spent a couple of days exploring upper Dusy Basin back in August 2011 (a very big year for snow - as you'll see in the pictures).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/_jfr_/sets ... 894877083/

(The "new" Flickr page-style has hidden the trip report I also posted, unless you know to "mouse-over" the single line of words just below the main title. Of course, the new flickr also dumps out a lot of photos at a great rate for viewing, so I think it's better now than it was before. You can always click on a shot to get the larger size.)

Anyway, nice trip report, and I hope you get up over Bishop Pass some time. The JMT is close by, but it's a long way downhill from Bishop Pass. Simply hiking across Dusy Basin, then over Potluck Pass to Palisade Basin would make a great multi-day trip. Alternatively, hitting Thunderbolt Pass (as in some of my photos) is the harder route to Palisade Basin, and you get rewarded with truly outstanding views. But everything is beautiful up there, so you really can't go wrong whichever way you hike.

[MattCav]

thats good stuff. its amazing how fast the snow is melting, there was hardly any up that way yesterday.