Sabrina Lake to North Lake via Ionian Basin - Aug. 29 - Sept. 2

I hadn’t done a true cross country hike in a while, and I can’t think of a more worthy one than a jaunt into the Ionian Basin. This started off as a planned Labor Day Weekend trip to Darwin Bench which had been on my backpacking list for a while and slowly evolved as researched the area and learned about the fabled basin.

The main thing to consider when planning a trip to the west side of the Sierra Crest (for me, at least) is what trailhead to enter from. Entering from the west usually involves a lot of elevation gain and more miles if the destination is close to the crest. Entering from the east usually has less elevation gain but crossing the Sierra Crest can be trickier since one has to choose between convenient trailed passes (e.g. Bishop Pass) which force one to detour through valleys along the JMT/PCT before reaching the destination or cross-country passes/cols which are more direct but require some scrambling with a heavy pack.

On this trip, I decided to see the eastern end of Ionian Basin and exit in the central area near Wanda Pass. My entry point would be Sabrina Lake going over Echo Col. This gave me a lot of apprehension in the days leading up to the trip — I knew I was perfectly capable of getting over Echo Col with a day pack but doing it with six days of food and a very heavy pack was another matter entirely. I had even considered the prospect of entering via Bishop Pass to avoid Echo Col, but the idea of doing 8 more miles and 1200 more ft of elevation gain was not appealing. Echo Col it was.

A few days before the trip, my friend Ngan had to drop out due to catching COVID from a family gathering. My anxiety shot up further but I decided to just go for it. I knew this was within my skill level and likely just a mental block, and in the worst case scenario I could always turn around and just do a different hike if I had to.

Day 1: Sabrina Lake to Echo Lake

On the first day of the hike, I got to the Sabrina Lake hikers’ parking area around 7 AM. Since I was now doing this trip solo, I left my car as close to the North Lake junction as possible to minimize road walking on the last day if I couldn’t hitch a ride with someone. I was on the trail by 7:30 AM and made good progress up to Sailor Lake. I took a very long (~2 hours) break here to eat lunch and then slowly made my way up to Moonlight Lake. There is a light bootpath closer to the lakeshore here which comes and goes as you cross the talus fields. There were no obstacles of note up on the final push up to Echo Lake. I remember it as mostly being granite slabs or easily negotiable talus.

After setting up camp here, I scoped out a spot where I could setup my camera for Milky Way shots. There was no one else camping up here although I did run into three day hikers who I briefly chatted with before they went back to their camp at Hungry Packer Lake.

Milky Way over Echo Col.

Day 2: Echo Lake to Lake 11828

The next day, I woke up fairly late and took my time packing up. Even though I was only planning to go about 5 miles this day, I did have to get over Echo Col, back down to the JMT, and then up and over Black Giant Pass. Getting to the base of Echo Col was straightforward. From the outlet of Echo Lake, it’s easy to see the steep cliffs right along the eastern shore of the lake. There are plentiful chutes leading up to the ledges above the lake and getting around wasn’t hard. Once past the lake, the talus became larger and slowed me down a little until it transitioned to snow. From satellite imagery, it looked like the snow in the lower bowl was leftover from the huge winter of 2022-2023 and in drier years there’s usually only talus here. At 9 AM, the snow was extremely slick and impossible to kick steps into. Since I had spikes with me, I put them on and quickly made it to the base of Echo Col.

If you’re planning a trip to this area, I highly recommend doing thorough research on the correct route to get over Echo Col. In my experience cross country Sierra passes are not usually at the “obvious” low point between the peaks. Echo Col was no different. From the north side, it cools like there are any number of ways one could get over the ridge keeping the terrain no higher than class 3. The problem is that most of those routes terminate in nearly vertical cliffs on the south side. The true Echo Col is located somewhat higher on the ridge to the west/northwest of the low point. Only the final 100ish ft consist of scrambling and it’s mostly just one or two moves followed by a flat area where you can catch your breath. The final move required me scramble up the side of the gully and then awkwardly pivot myself and my pack to orient towards the col.

The south side of Echo Col was much easier and less steep. There was one spot just below the col where it was helpful to face inwards when descending but otherwise, getting down to Lake 11428 was a matter of navigating some mellow cliff bands and descending a long talus field on the north side of the lake. I took a long snack break at this lake before going down yet another talus-filled gully to finally meet with the JMT below.

Once here, it was easy work to get up to Helen Lake which would be my cue to peel off of the JMT and make for Black Giant Pass. I ended up having to ask a bunch of southbound JMT hikers if they had any spare toilet paper (due to a……mishap the night before which involved dinner that didn’t sit right with my stomach…)and a pair of older gentlemen who provided some for me regaled me with tales of some of their trips to Ionian Basin. They also told me that Echo Col was the scariest thing they had done when they were younger which made me feel a lot more confident about navigating through the Ionian Basin part of this trip. They also recommended I read Kim Stanley Robinson’s The High Sierra: A Love Story so I thank them for that!

The ascent over Black Giant Pass was very easy. Only the last 200 ft or so were on talus and it was moderately-sized and very stable. The east side of the pass consisted of scree of some shale rocks (I think) which were easy to plunge step down. Tremendous views were had of Charybdis, Scylla, and the Three Sirens before I set up camp in one of the numerous plush campsites around Lake 11592.

Charybdis, Scylla, and Three Sirens from Black Giant Pass — Charybdis, Scylla, and Three Sirens as seen from Black Giant Pass.

Day 3: Lake 11828 to Scylla Lake

The next day was probably my most leisurely on this trip. All beautiful off-trail terrain. I picked my way down stable talus from Lake 11592 to Chasm Lake. There was a plush campsite overlooking Chasm Lake and down into the Enchanted Gorge which I took my lunch at while griping to myself that I now had to gain 1200 ft back up to get to Scylla Lake. If you ascend from Chasm Lake to 11828, I recommend staying well to climbers’ left of the outflow of Lake 11828 which avoids all of the talus and just crosses easy (but steep) vegetated slopes.

Once up at Lake 11828, I took a look at Wanda Pass which I was planning to exit over the next day. It looked like one could shortcut from Lake 11837 to Wanda Pass without dropping down to 11592 first. I kept this in mind for the next day and continued onwards. The only difficulty I had in this last section up to Scylla Lake was navigating the shores of Lake 11837 which were both very cliffy and still had snow all the way down to the water. I donned my spikes again to get around one snowfield (still slick because it was cloudy and cool on this day) and then picked my way up and down the east and south shore until I found myself in front of a wide gully leading up to Scylla.

Words cannot fully describe how beautiful this little lake was. I had the entire area to myself and set up an awkward camp above the lake on rocks just before rain moved in. It periodically rained while I took a nap and then scouted locations for night photography. Unfortunately, it was too late in the season for the Milky Way to line up exactly the way I wanted it to, but I made do as best I could.

Milky Way over Three Sirens and Scylla.

Day 4: Scylla Lake to Darwin Bench

The next morning, I got a somewhat late start and headed towards Wanda Pass around 9 AM. One can traverse from Lake 11837 to Wanda Pass without dropping down to Lake 11592 first. However, I would caution anyone doing this to stay below the 12,400 ft contour lines, ideally closer to 12,200-12,300 ft. I gained too much elevation early on and traversing over to the pass from higher up became difficult with truck-sized talus and a couple of loose chutes to cross. Lower down, the terrain is much flatter.

Views from Wanda Pass were phenomenal looking towards Chasm Lake and the Enchanted Gorge. The north side of Wanda Pass was easy-going and I found myself at Wanda Lake in short order. Unfortunately, this was the only smokey day on the trail and it obscured much of the view down into Evolution Basin. The 4.5 trailed miles from Wanda Lake to the Darwin Bench turnoff are some of the best trailed miles I’ve hiked in a while, all of it a gentle downhill with brilliant views all around.

I made it to the Darwin turnoff around 4 PM and was setting up camp at Darwin Bench by 5 PM. This was the first night I camped around other people – a welcome break from some of the solitude. I was blown away by the beauty of Darwin Bench and wish I had spent more time in the area. I set up my tripod for some astrophotography before going to bed early and trying not to think too hard about the ascent up Lamarck Col the next day.

Milky Way over Darwin Bench.

Day 5: Darwin Bench to North Lake

The wind picked up massively overnight which made the final morning on the trail somewhat unpleasant. I didn’t rush too much since I knew rain wasn’t in the forecast today, and it’s a good thing too because I spent entirely too much time taking in the sights up Darwin Canyon. Typically, I do out-and-back trips on the weekends where the hike out is a boring slog of repeat terrain. I much prefer loop hikes when I actually have the time to do them since every step on the trail takes you somewhere new.

Darwin Canyon and Lamarck Col had always been on my “list” but I had always view it as an entryway to other locations in the Sierra. This trip made me realize that it’s a very worthwhile destination in its own right and I’m already planning to go back next summer and do some peakbagging in the area. As far as navigation goes, there was a well-defined trail on the north side of the Darwin Canyon lakes which transitioned to more of a bootpath below Lamarck Col. I wasn’t sure what to expect here as I had never been over col before, but the bootpath stayed on scree and avoided all of the talus completely. Amazing. The views got better and better the higher up I went and even the fierce wind couldn’t put a damper on the mood.

I ran into a group of three older hikers near the top of the col who asked me how easy the trail was to follow lower down and then prompted went on their way to get out of the wind. The col itself had some of the windiest conditions I’ve experienced in the Sierra – enough to knock me off balance multiple times. The north side of Lamarck Col was sunny, hot, and much less windy. The slog down to the North Lake was uneventful although I was very grateful to be descending this trail and not using it as an entry to the Sierra as even the descent felt endless.

Since I was alone, I had intended to walk the 1.5 miles down the road from North Lake to my car at Sabrina Lake if I couldn’t hitchhike with anyone at the North Lake trailhead. Luckily, I was able to flag down a nice couple who told me they lived in Paradise (along highway 395) right away. Probably for the best since I hadn’t realized how narrow, windy, and dusty the North Lake road was. There was heavy traffic on Labor Day Weekend afternoon and anyone walking on the road would have been showered in dust and dirt.

This was probably my favorite trip from this summer for the sheer isolation factor of Ionian Basin and I’m already planning a couple of trips back next summer!

—Justin