Looking for any information on the Isberg Pass Alternate Trail you can take when you don't have the permit to go over Donahue Pass. Trail Conditions, water sources, campsites, etc. FarOut has the mileage but not a ton of information on the ~53 mile section. TIA!
I have a permit to hike the JMT starting at Mono Meadows and exiting Whitney Portal about 16 days later. The permit doesn't allow me to go through Donahue Pass, but I'd like to hike as much of the JMT as possible while avoiding any violations or permit checks. My current plan given to recreation gov was that I'd be taking Isberg pass over.
Looking into it using a combination of FarOut, physical maps, Google Maps, and AllTrails, I basically see three/four options:
1B) Alternative: Leave Valley Wilderness Center and walk over to Four-Mile Trail TH, hike the Panorama Trail to JMT to cut off a few miles
Get permit but walk over and start at Happy Isles, joining the masses of crowds up on the JMT and then take the Isberg Pass Alternate Trail.
Start at Mono Meadows and continue east at Illilouette Basin on the Merced Pass Trail past Red Peak to Isberg Pass. Seems to be shorter but not 100% sure.
Would love to get any feedback from those who have hiked the trail and remember these points or who have done somethign similar. TIA!