Joshua, I think you're reading your map contours as 400' between main contours. In the HST area, they are actually 200' contours. Also, the trail between Bear Paw and Lone Pine Creek appears to be mis-aligned compared to the satellite view, so what appears to be major drops are not so much--it stays fairly level along the bench above that sheer granite cliff. I think the trail drops from ~7700' at BP down to 7400 at LP Cr.
Here's the map I used.
I learned my lesson regarding map contours hiking part of the PCT south of Tahoe. Right in the middle of our route, the maps I had changed from 200' to 400' contours. I was assuming they were all 200', so the section with 400' made the day a real workout.
