This page introduces my 2002 Humphreys Basin Overnighter Photo Essay, featuring 25 images from the John Muir Wilderness and Inyo National Forest.

You may view these photos as a slide show or an indexed list. There is also a trip map (BIG map, 360K!). On a related note, you might want to check out my 1982 Three Passes Trip and 2001 Four Passes Trip photos, which include some (or all) of this same area.

My companions on this trip were David Link (Sacramento) and Wayne Linse (Bishop). This trip began as their long anticipated, ambitious plan to hike from North Lake to South Lake, via Piute Canyon, Lower Goddard Canyon, Evolution Basin, Muir Pass, Le Conte Canyon, Dusy Basin, and Bishop Pass. It was planned to cover the approximately 55 miles in five days. David and Wayne graciously allowed me to join them.

We did not complete the North Lake to South Lake trip, for the following reasons:

• David had some intense personal issues going on, making it impossible for him to concentrate on enjoying the wilderness experience,
• Wayne had a career-related course coming up immediately after the planned trip completion, requiring some advance studying and preparation, and
• I wanted to extend the schedule to six days, but that was not possible for the others, and I did not feel up to doing the trip on my own.

We met at Wayne's house in Bishop on Sunday afternoon. Following a strict training regimen, we prepared for the trip by chowing down at the Amigos Mexican Restaurant in Bishop, and staying up late listening to Bruce Springsteen, Magic Sam, and the Stone Free Jimi Hendrix cover tribute album.

On Monday morning, shortly after seven, we drove to South Lake and left Wayne's pickup in one of the few remaining legal parking spaces. We piled into David's Corolla and drove to the North Lake Trailhead parking lot, where there were plenty of open spaces. There was a fair amount of smoke in Owens Valley, most likely from the big fire in Sequoia National Forest.

We walked to the North Lake trailhead and chatted with a couple of gentlemen who were also beginning a hike that morning. After the obligatory before-trip picture, we began the hike up to Piute Pass. It was a nice day for a hike, with sunny skies and very mild temperatures. We took a couple of breaks on the way up, including a water refill at Loch Leven. A pack train caught up with us at Piute Pass. The packers were very polite and the animals didn't kick up too much dust.

By this time, David had already mentioned the intent to limit his trip to an overnighter, due to pressing matters at home. Wayne and I talked about doing the trip as planned. I lobbied for an extra trail day, but Wayne said he would need to stick to the five day schedule.

We continued on past Piute Pass, with some discussion about making it as far as Hutchinson Meadow. We noted that this would make it harder for David to hike out from the next day, so we decided to camp near (but not too near) Lower Golden Trout Lake. The temperatures cooled down fairly rapidly, with a cool westerly breeze in the air. There were just a couple of small puffy clouds in the sky, with no threat of rain.

A quiet evening passed, with standard prepackaged dinners, followed by hot chocolate and chocolate bars. We crashed at about nine pm, as the stars emerged in the moonless sky. The night passed without any ursine visitors. They must have known that such a visit would be futile, as we were well equipped with the prescribed canisters.

Over breakfast the next morning, we started talking about the plan for the day, noting how many miles we would need to cover to stay on schedule. David repeated his intent to head out that day, and Wayne said he would be doing the same. The way he said it made me think at first that he was joking, so I said I would go on alone, and asked to borrow the stove. They immediately agreed, and offered some extra food, but I had to say that such a solo trip was not really an option for me.

With that, we all agreed that we were still having a good trip, and headed back down to North Lake. We cleaned up at Wayne's house, then had draft beers and a fine meal at Whiskey Creek in Bishop. To make it a complete day, we rented the movie "Spinal Tap," and had a few more beers.

Our trip distance each way was about eight miles, with about 2,500' climb and 1000' descent going in, and the reverse on the way out.