The Tour de Darwin

A great loop tour, this trip starts and finishes near North Lake, above Bishop Creek. We ascend Paiute Creek up into the wonderful ski terrain in the Alpine Col region.If time allows we can drop packs to enjoy long runs on nearby Goethe Peak or perhaps Mt. Darwin. Highlights include great views of the entire Evolution area and northern Kings Canyon National Park. With two major pass crossings we find it to be a great introduction to more complex backccountry tours. It is also a great tune up for the longer harder trips such as the High Route and we have skiers who do this tour first as a warm up before the High Route.

Itinerary:

Our first day is an easy day to aid in acclimatization as we take the road from Aspendell to our hut at North Lake. We review avalanche rescue procedures that day and on the second day we head up the North Fork of Bishop Creek leaving behind the trees and cross Paiute Pass, camping the second night above treeline near Alpine Col, in the great glacial cirque below Mt. Goethe. The third day starts with a short and steep haul over Alpine Col but then brings us to our home for the next night, the Darwin Bench. Situated right at treeline this area has incredible views of the Mt. Goddard region to the west, down precipitous Evolution Canyon.

The last  day climb up and over Lamarck Col, passing below the giant peaks of the region: Mounts Mendel and Darwin and a great couple of thousand foot run, generally on perfect corn snow carving wide turns back to our starting point near North Lake.

Though it’s only twenty miles in length this trip packs a lot into it's distance.

Whether you’ve skied other tours or if you are aspiring to do some of the longer, more difficult routes like the Monarch Divide tour or High Route, this is a great trip through some of the most spectacular terrain in the Sierra.

Notes
We highly recommend that you spend at least one night at moderate altitude (higher than 8,000') just prior to the trip. Spending a night or two in Mammoth or camped at the trailhead campground would do the trick. Please refer to our Planning for Success info sheet for more info.

SMC does not rent ski equipment, but we work with Mammoth Mountaineering (760 934 4191)to get you set up on the correct equipment. MMS has a very wide range of rental equipment that is probably the best you will find anywhere in California. All gear is current state of the art, well tuned and rental fees are deductible if you buy a set up from them. (We highly recommend renting before you buy so as to find what suits you best, since a full setup is pretty pricy). We can coordinate the rental and suggest that if you can you arrive Mammoth the night before and get fully set up since boot fitting can take some time.

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