Lynn, your marmot-havoc potential has a lot to do with where you camp. Trail Camp is where the dinner bell rings for these little SOBs, and that's where they'll congregate in the summer. At the same time, Consultation Lake becomes less of an issue. We camped at CL in mid-July and had zero problems with marmots. We even left our tents up and zipped on summit day and returned to find nothing disturbed.
On the other hand, the later in the season, the fewer campers overnight at TC - thereby diminishing the buffet - and the marmots tend to wander a wider range looking for an easy meal, which can easily include CL.
That's just from a marmot nuisance perspective. From a peace-and-beauty standpoint, TC is a weak single and CL is a home run.
And as long as the Portal Store and campgrounds are open and thriving with people, the bears will tend to stay lower on the mountain (just ask Doug). Once the PS and campgrounds close for the season, they have to wander a wider range for food. I've read posts by folks who swear they've seen a bear at 12,000 feet. Certainly not impossible, but it's gotta be rare.
