North Lake South Lake Loop (JMT) July

What is the brand and model name of the bag you are looking at?

Sometimes, manufacturer bag ratings are optimistic. Maybe there are some user ratings around the Web that would help you ascertain whether the bag deserves its temp rating.

Not sure I'm a good gauge since I'm female, and sleep cold. FWIW I would take my 15-degree bag on this trip; maybe I'd consider a 20-degree bag since it'll be July and that is the time of year in the Sierra with the warmest nights.

If you do get the 40-degree bag, consider a strategy wherein you never sleep above 10,500 feet. That is possible to do on this trip, although you'd have to miss out on one of the best backcountry campsites in the entire Sierra, which is Dusy Basin with the magnificent Palisades towering over in full alpenglow.

Maybe a used, 20-30 degree bag is the way to go.

Remember it's not just about THIS trip, right? – If you like the High Sierra, you will quickly find yourself on future trips sleeping at 11,000 feet in September.

– Elizabeth

Rent a bag through REI

I think the answer that questions will vary a lot depending on the person. For me, a 40 degree bag, in that area, at that time of year would be more than warm enough. BUT, I am a very warm sleeper. Are you a warm sleeper? I also think having a good pad under you will help keep you warm.

If I were going to do that same trip, I would take my 30*F sleeping bag, simply because it is what I own. The 40*F bag might be adequate, or not, probably not. So, if you have a good sleeping pad and tarp shelter for rain, you can get by with the use of adequate warm clothing (inside the sleeping bag).

I was rained upon one week ago in the Sierra. For several hours I was cold and wet enough to keep walking steadily, just to get by.

–B.G.–

I did the loop (in reverse) last year in early August.

Your comfort with a cheap and thin sleeping bag will depend on 4 factors:

1. R factor of sleeping pad
2. Whether you are a warm/cold sleeper
3. Where (i.e., at what altitude) you camp
4. Stormy weather

If you end up camping at 11,000ft or 12,000ft, you will likely be cold. If you camp below 10,000ft, your bag and warm clothes should be adequate.

I had a 15F bag, and was never cold, even at Wanda Lake and Bishop Lake (in a violent thunderstorm), despite my un-insulated sleeping pad.

I take a 20F down bag in the Sierra in the summer… and still sometimes wear a light down jacket inside at night. For me, a 40F bag would only be good on the rare really really warm nights.

Billy

Welcome!

Your route is here…Looking at the profile, there are definitely some suitably-spaced low elevation camping opportunities, depending on how long you’re planning on taking.

But I wouldn’t approach it that way, and agree with the general consensus above–I think it would be shame to have to camp low to accommodate a $35 sleeping bag.

I second the suggestion to look at renting.

As one more opinion to throw in the mix–even in the summers, I like a 20-25 degree bag if I’m going above 10k ft in the Sierra, and that’s sleeping on on a 2.5″ Neoair. But, I’m a cold sleeper.

One more piece of advice for a first-timer–make a gear list, and weigh everything on it, if you haven’t already. It sounds fiddly, but it will force you to look at each and every thing you’re bringing, and will really help cut down on unnecessary and redundant items.

"One more piece of advice for a first-timer–make a gear list, and weigh everything on it, if you haven't already. It sounds fiddly, but it will force you to look at each and every thing you're bringing, and will really help cut down on unnecessary and redundant items."

Agreed. Also, get everything on the gear list together and do a test-fitting to see if it all goes into the backpack. Then walk around the block with the backpack stuffed that way. Now go back home and refine the list again. You have to load and unload the pack a couple of times to figure out the wise order to do it.

The last time that I traveled that route, I camped at Hutchison Meadow, below Evolution Lake, and near the LeConte Canyon Ranger Station. I was using a +30*F bag, and I wasn't cold, but that may have been just the luck of the weather.

–B.G.–