On 8/22 Chick-on, Basilbop, JustKeepWalking, Catalonian Burro, and myself entered The Robinson Creek trailhead at Twin Lakes to do a general loop route down Slide Canyon, a few days in the Smedberg/Rodgers/Benson area, and then exit via Peavy Pass, Kerrick Canyon, and Peeler Lake. Our 1st night was spent just above Crown Lake where we caught a slight hint of smoke in the evening. When we began the descent the next day from Mule Pass all was clear but we detected smoke by the time we reached the slide in Slide Canyon and much of the canyon was obscured by the time we camped at Camp Creek. At this point we decided heading west would be a poor choice and to head east two canyons in an attempt to get away from most of the smoke. Two days later we were camped above the stream crossing in Spiller Canyon with smoke still dogging us every afternoon and evening. Mornings were virtually clear. Our last night was spent between Whorl Mountain and Twin Peaks about 500' below Horse Pass. Once again, smoke came in by late afternoon and became irritable to the nose at night. On our last day we topped the pass and descended all the way back to Twin Lakes, in smoke all afternoon. This was about a 3,650' descent. We drove out to Bridgeport where visibility in that valley was down to 1/4 mile!
Overall, our change of plans did not really avoid smoke but obviously would have been much worse had we gone up Kerrick Canyon to Peeler Lake. This was still a beautiful trip, 1/2 of which was off trail. Spiller Canyon is a hidden gem that perhaps gets ignored due to lack of a trail plus the extremely steep access on the north side of the pass. It has lots of great campsites, smooth granite areas near the stream, and long rocky meadows plus fantastic views of Whorl, Twin Peaks, Virginia Peak, Stanton Peak, and others.
While I flew home the other four headed south well below Mammoth to do another 4-5 days and may be exiting today. Mike, you were missed. Sorry you could not make it.
I will post photos and perhaps more detailed trip report once I get my act together processing photos. I'm certain Chick-on and JustKeepWalking will beat me to it and they have 2 trips to report.