Hello:
We have a permit for Happy Isles to Illilouette. This was not our first choice since we wanted to hike Clouds Rest. We have decided to camp the first night near a creek just after dispersed camping is allowed, i.e., after the fork.
1. Night 1 Camping: We are using AllTrails and it is hard to tell what is the shortest distance we could backpack from Happy Isles to be able to get to dispersed camping, be near flowing water in July, and have a decent site. We are hoping to backpack in about 5 miles that first day.
2. Night 2 Camping: There will be some backtracking involved since we will now head towards Sunrise creek -- it seems we should be able to get to decent campsites by backpacking about 7 miles.
3. Night 3 : Upper Sunrise Lake -- is this a reasonable distance, with the elevation gain? Sites close enough to water, i.e., at lake level? We have considered a night 3 and a night 4 camping around Sunrise Lakes too.
4. Night 4: The hope is to hike up Clouds Rest and come down and camp -- it is not clear where the nearest water would be.
Basically, we would like to do this loop: Happy Isles to Clouds Rest
However, since our permit is for Illilouette, we have to figure out where to camp the first night and also the night after we finish hiking Clouds Rest.
Given that this is another drought year, we are looking for reliable water sources in July.
Thanks in advance for advice,
Jayahc
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2022 10:09PM by jayahc.