Big Pine Creek North Fork Gear Checklist
The Big Pine Creek North Fork permit gets you into the John Muir Wilderness at the start of a chain of glacier-fed lakes below the Palisades. Packing here splits into three trips: a short, sun-baked climb to First and Second Lakes, longer stays at the upper lakes, and the rough scramble toward the Palisade Glacier. The gear that comes up most is a water filter, shade and sun cover for the exposed lower canyon, a bear canister, a real map for the glacier day, and snow tools in early summer. Writers also disagree with the Forest Service on one point, whether a canister is mandatory.
What shapes your gear on Big Pine Creek North Fork
- Distance to the lakes
- One blogger who camped near Second Lake counted 13 miles round trip to Second or Third Lake, with about 2,000 feet of gain to Second Lake. Another wrote a four-day plan that reaches Second Lake (10,162 feet) on day one, about 5 miles from the trailhead.
From California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes and She Dreams of Alpine
- Palisade Glacier day
- From the trailhead the glacier overlook is a 19 mile round trip with about 5,000 feet of gain by one writer's count. The trail ends near 11,700 feet and the last half mile is class 3 scrambling over talus, with cairns that may not be there in every season.
- Altitude
- The trail starts near 8,000 feet and camps sit above 10,000 feet. One guide suggests sleeping at 7,000 feet or higher the night before, and her group slept at the group campground near the trailhead.
From She Dreams of Alpine
- Quota and season
- The Forest Service limits overnight visitors on this trail to 25 people per day from May 1 through November 1. Wilderness permits are needed all year for overnight trips, and day use needs none.
From Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail
- Water
- Creeks, lakes and springs along the route are the supply, and the Forest Service says to treat all of it. Both bloggers who wrote about the lower canyon say there are plenty of places to refill.
From Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail, California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes and She Dreams of Alpine
- Shade on the lower trail
- The first miles from the overnight lot cross a sunny slope of sage and manzanita, and the climb past Second Falls has little shade. A group of mostly new backpackers in summer were hot and tired by First Lake and stopped there for the whole trip.
From Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail and She Dreams of Alpine
What the agency requires on Big Pine Creek North Fork
A wilderness permit for every overnight trip
Overnight trips into the John Muir Wilderness need a permit at all times of year, and the leader or the named alternate must carry it. Reservations are made online, and the printed permit must be on the leader.
From Recreation.gov (Inyo National Forest) and Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail
Food in a bear-proof container or counterbalanced
The trail page says food, trash and scented items must be in a bear-proof container or counterbalanced. The forest's bear page lists eight areas where a container is mandatory and this trail is not among them, though a container is strongly recommended in every Inyo wilderness. Where trees cannot hold a hang, only a container is allowed.
From Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail and Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Bears and food storage in Inyo National Forest
No campfires, and a campfire permit to run a stove
The trail page bans campfires. The permit page asks every group to print a California Campfire Permit, which it says is needed to have a campfire or operate a stove.
From Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail and Recreation.gov (Inyo National Forest)
Burying waste away from water
There are no restrooms in the wilderness. Outside the Whitney area, the permit page says to dig a hole six to eight inches down, placed 100 feet or more away from water, trails and campsites.
Locking scented items in the trailhead bear lockers
Where lockers exist, the permit page says all food and scented items must come out of the vehicle and go in them. Do not leave food or refuse in a car or tent.
What hikers carry on Big Pine Creek North Fork
A bear canister
Two bloggers say a canister is required here and one tells hikers to leave all food in canisters and use the pit toilets at the trailhead before leaving. A guide who led a beginner group names a canister as an essential.
The Forest Service wording is wider than the blogs. The North Fork is not on its mandatory-container list, and counterbalancing is allowed where trees work. The agency also calls the hang hard to do well.
From California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes, She Dreams of Alpine, Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail and Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Bears and food storage in Inyo National Forest
A water filter
One of the earliest tips in the backpacking guide is to filter, and the author of the 2016 trip report says to plan to filter. A filter is enough because the creek runs beside the trail for long stretches, and the Sam Mack Meadow stream is an easy refill before the climb to the glacier.
From California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes, California Through My Lens: Hiking to the Palisade Glacier from Second Lake on the Big Pine North Fork Trail, She Dreams of Alpine and Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail
Sun cover for the dry lower canyon
The guide writer packed a sun shirt, hat and sunglasses and brought hiking umbrellas for her group to make shade on the exposed sections. The 2016 blogger also warns that the part of the canyon before the switchbacks is open and can be hot.
From She Dreams of Alpine and California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes
Trekking poles
The guide recommends poles for the steep switchbacks, and the climb past Second Falls and the pitch before First Lake are both steep.
From She Dreams of Alpine
A detailed map or GPS track for the glacier day
The glacier trail stops near 11,700 feet. The 2016 writer found cairns and warns that they may be gone in other seasons, so carry GPS or a map. A 1995 party took a wrong turn up a cliff after misreading a map drawn at too large a scale.
From California Through My Lens: Hiking to the Palisade Glacier from Second Lake on the Big Pine North Fork Trail, Climber.org and She Dreams of Alpine
Ice axe, crampons and snowshoes for an early-summer trip
On a July 4 weekend in 1995 two climbers hit snow near 9,500 feet, found 4 to 6 feet of it at Sam Mack Meadow, and had tied all three tools to their packs. The creek crossing below the meadow was a real obstacle in that snow.
That is a heavy snow year. Later-season trips in the other reports carried none of this and walked bare trail all the way to the lakes.
From Climber.org, California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes and She Dreams of Alpine
A trowel
The only toilets are the pit toilets at the trailhead, so everything past that is buried. The guide lists a trowel among her essentials.
From She Dreams of Alpine, California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes and Recreation.gov (Inyo National Forest)
Mosquito protection for midsummer trips
The guide writer calls September her favorite month because mosquitoes thin out, and warns that July and August can bring relentless ones. A June 1981 party at Sam Mack Meadow found few, and not bad.
From She Dreams of Alpine and Mountain Mouse
15 people can go on one permit. Split this list between them so nobody carries two stoves.
Plan a trip hereWhat hikers regret or leave behind on Big Pine Creek North Fork
Moving camp every day with a new group
The guide's group set out for Second Lake on day one and stopped at First Lake because the early switchbacks near Second Falls wore them out. They then kept one camp for four days and did day hikes. She says many itineraries work here.
From She Dreams of Alpine
A map at too coarse a scale
A 1995 climber ended up at a cliff face while trying to reach the glacier, because the 15 minute map carried was too coarse to read the contours. Carry a detailed track for the area past the end of the trail.
From Climber.org and California Through My Lens: Hiking to the Palisade Glacier from Second Lake on the Big Pine North Fork Trail
Planning to do the glacier from the trailhead in a day
The 2016 blogger says a one-day trip to the glacier is possible on paper, yet would not trust a day attempt, and recommends splitting it with a night at a lake. On that visit the pair were too tired to scramble down to the water and viewed the glacier from the ridge.
Gear questions for Big Pine Creek North Fork
Do you have to carry a bear canister on the Big Pine Creek North Fork trail?
Two bloggers say a canister is required, but the Forest Service trail page says food must be in a bear-proof container or counterbalanced. The forest's bear page lists eight areas where a container is mandatory, and this trail is not one of them. Where there are no good trees, only a canister is allowed, and the forest strongly recommends one in every wilderness area.
From California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes, She Dreams of Alpine, Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail and Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Bears and food storage in Inyo National Forest
How many people can start an overnight trip on Big Pine Creek North Fork each day?
The Forest Service limits overnight visitors to 25 people a day from May 1 through November 1. A guide writer describes 15 of those spots as reservable and 10 as walk-in. The permit page says 60 percent of the quota is released 6 months ahead and 40 percent 2 weeks ahead.
From Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail, She Dreams of Alpine and Recreation.gov (Inyo National Forest)
Where do you get water on Big Pine Creek North Fork?
From the creek, the lakes and the springs along the route, all of which the Forest Service says to treat. Bloggers describe many places to filter, including at Sam Mack Meadow on the way to the glacier.
From Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail, California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes, California Through My Lens: Hiking to the Palisade Glacier from Second Lake on the Big Pine North Fork Trail and She Dreams of Alpine
Do you need an ice axe on Big Pine Creek North Fork?
Not in the bloggers' fall and summer trips. A pair of climbers in early July 1995 carried ice axes, crampons and snowshoes and found 4 to 6 feet of snow at Sam Mack Meadow. The scrambling above the end of the trail is class 3 talus, so the glacier overlook itself needs rock footing more than snow tools in a normal late-season year.
From Climber.org, California Through My Lens: Hiking to the Palisade Glacier from Second Lake on the Big Pine North Fork Trail and California Through My Lens: North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes
Sources
- Inyo National Forest - Wilderness Permits · Recreation.gov (Inyo National Forest) · Agency
- Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail · Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service) · Agency
- Bears and food storage in Inyo National Forest · Inyo National Forest (USDA Forest Service) · Agency
- North Fork of Big Pine: Backpacking to the Glacial Lakes · California Through My Lens, Josh · Blog
- Hiking to the Palisade Glacier from Second Lake on the Big Pine North Fork Trail · California Through My Lens, Josh · Blog
- Ultimate Guide to Backpacking the Big Pine Creek North Fork Trail · She Dreams of Alpine · Blog
- Palisade Glacier Grand Tour · Climber.org, Peter Maxwell · Trip report
- Sierra Nevada - John Muir Wilderness - Big Pine Creek · Mountain Mouse · Trip report