This trip report covers a four day trip in a northern section of the John Muir Wilderness, specifically the Pine Creek, Royce Lakes, Bear Basin, Italy Pass, and Granite Park areas. As usual I’ve invested more energy in the photographs, but I’ll do my best to add some colour with descriptions and personal commentary where necessary.

The Bear Basin is one of the most discussed off-trail areas of the Sierra. This scenic basin is relatively easy to reach and offers more solitude than many areas of the High Sierra, combined with a variety of recreation opportunities, most notably trout fishing.

I planned this trip with my good friend Braden. The two of us are fairly fit, so we laid out a somewhat ambitious itinerary. We would start at the Pine Creek Trailhead, then climb to Granite Park before crossing Croft Col and BeaRoyce Pass into the Bear Basin. From there, we’d go north over Dancing Bear Pass then Gabbott Pass, and down the Second Recess to Mono Creek. Then we would take the trail back to the Pine Creek Trailhead via Mono Pass, the Little Lakes Valley, and Morgan Pass. This amounted to something like 40 or 50 miles, a third of which were cross country. We had 5 days for hiking, so this seemed reasonable.

The food.

The gear.