Lake Italy


Pine Lake

Pine Lake

Striped Mountain

Upper Pine Lake

Upper Pine Lake

Upper Pine Lake

Upper Pine Lake

Honeymoon Lake

Honeymoon Lake

Granite Park

Granite Park

Granite Park

Mt Humphreys

Mt Humphreys

Mt Humphreys

Granite Park

Granite Park

Granite Park

Granite Park

Granite Park

Granite Park

Granite Park

Granite Park

Italy Pass

Italy Pass

Jumble Lake

Lake Italy

Mt Abbot & Mt Dade

Bear Creek Spire

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Jumble Lake

Mt Hilgard

Jumble Lake & Lake Italy

White Bear Lake

Black Bear Lake

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Lake Italy

Hilgard Branch

Hilgard Branch

Hilgard Branch

Hilgard Branch

Hilgard Branch

Hilgard Branch

Bear Creek

Bear Creek

Bear Creek

Bear Creek

Bear Creek

Giant Sequoia

Giant Sequoia

Bear Creek

Mt Hooper

Mt Hooper

Honeymoon Lake Panorama

Granite Park Panorama

Granite Park Panorama

Bear Lakes Panorama

I took these pictures on a 6-day backpacking trip with Ed in the John Muir Wilderness in September 2004.
We started at the Pine Creek Trailhead (7400ft) on the Eastern side of the Sierras,
crossed Italy Pass (12400ft/3800m), met Paul and Mark at Lake Italy (11200ft/3400m), exchanged car keys,
and exited on the Western side where they had started (Bear Creek Trailhead at Kaiser Pass Road, 7000ft).
The total distance was about 35 miles, with an elevation gain of about 6000ft and an elevation loss of about 6500ft.
Here's the elevation profile.
According to this nearby High Sierra Remote Weather Sensor at Big Pine Lakes (9800ft),
the night temperature was 4°F (-16°C) on Sunday 9/19/04, and 6°F on Monday 9/20/04, and it snowed on both of these days.
This was a very unusual weather pattern due to a strong Gulf-of-Alaska cold frontal system.

Here is a map with our route indicated. It's so wide that you'll have to scroll to see the Eastern part.
Note that part of the hike (Granite Basin to Lake Italy) is cross-country.

You can see where this area is on a larger map.

I also made a map with clickable arrows for the High Sierra portion of the hike, with the arrows pointing in the direction of each photo.
The tip of the arrow indicates where I was standing when I took the photo.

You may also want to check out the zoomable Topozone map of the same region.

Back to Susanne's Photo Page

© 2004 Susanne Z. Riehemann