Going to EV this summer for the 1st time and i am wondering where the heart of Evolution Valley is.Is it between Muir Pass & Bishiop Pass? Or is it at McClure Meadow? D7
From Bishop Pass (heading south), you drop down through the Dusy Basin, into LeConte Canyon. From there it is a long haul up to Muir Pass, passing Little Pete and Big Pete meadows along the way (very scenic).
Once you clear Muir Pass (with its round rock hut at the top) you then descend slowly into Evolution Basin, with a series of lakes (Evolution Lake is the fifth one.) Evolution Lake is near the timber line.
From Evolution Lake, you leave the Evolution Basin, and quickly drop a thousand feet, finally coming into Evolution Valley. It is green and lush, similar to the LeConte canyon.
In my opinion, McClure Meadow would be the ideal place to cool your heels -- a really beautiful place:
The loveliest place to camp in Evolution Valley is at the south end, just before you ascend the switchbacks to Evolution Basin. A different approach to Evolution is from Florence Lake on the west side of the Sierras; it's about 17 miles in, and eliminates climbing both Bishop and Muir Pass on the approach. Or, for the perfect shuttle trip, enter at North Lake, go over Paiute Pass, eventually hook up w/ the JMT, go south through Evolution, and over Muir Pass, and exit Bishop Pass.
Evolution Valley is a nice place, but be ready to deal with other people there. When we went through last year, we camped at the south end on Darwin Creek just below the trail. If you go down to the canyon bottom along Darwin Creek, there is a really nice spot in some trees.
I did it as part of the North Lake - South Lake loop last year (along with a summit of Agassiz) and it is a really scenic route, albeit somewhat crowded. There were a lot of people on the Piute Pass trail all the way to Golden Trout Lake; very few between Golden Trout Lake and the JMT at the northern boundary of Kings Canyon; and then plenty of people all the rest of the way on the JMT, in Dusy Basin, and over Bishop Pass. If you want pictures all along the route, I have five pages on photobucket, in no particular order:
