Sierra South: Backcountry Trips in California's Sierra Nevada

By Elizabeth Wenk and Mike White

• Popular, proven format: the previous edition (9780899974149) sold more than 5,000 copies, strong numbers for a regional title



• Market: Nearly 45 million people went hiking in the U.S. in 2017, with reasons ranging from enjoyment of the outdoors to health and exercise



• The definitive guidebook to the Sierra for more than 40 years



• Covers the mountain range’s southern border of Yosemite National Park south to the Tehachapi Pass



• 84 trips that range from quick overnighters to 12-day excursions



• Complete trip details, including day-by-day trail descriptions, GPS waypoints, and elevation data



• 41 trailhead maps that show the routes for every trip



• Beginner tips and trusted advice on camping, fishing, and bear safety



• Information on side trips, geology, natural history, and more

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilderness Press
• Release date: Feb 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9780899978857

Book preview

Take in the beautiful views to the South Fork Kings and the Sphinx near the base of the Copper Creek Trail (Trip 19, page 114). Photo by Elizabeth Wenk

West Side

Getting to the starting trailheads on the west side of the Sierra south of Yosemite means long, gradual, winding, scenic drives on mountain roads and highways from some major road in the western foothills or the Central Valley, like CA 49 or CA 99. Be sure to allow plenty of time to enjoy these beautiful drives. A few shuttle trips will end at roads not listed below. Along the way, small towns, tiny villages, and rustic resorts provide lodging and some supplies. For supplies, there are more choices in the larger towns nearer the roads’ west ends than closer to the trailheads.

On the west side, you’ll enter the Sierra on these roads and highways:

•CA 168 West Side to Kaiser Pass Road (yes, there is an east side, too, but 168 doesn’t cross the range)

•CA 168 West Side to Dinkey Creek Road

•CA 180 (into Kings Canyon proper)

•CA 198 (Generals Highway, runs along the far western edge of Kings Canyon and then Sequoia National Parks, passing through part of Sequoia National Forest)

•CA 198 to Mineral King Road

•CA 190 (into the southern Sierra’s Golden Trout Wilderness)

CA 168 WEST SIDE TO KAISER PASS ROAD TRIPS

Kaiser Pass Road leads deep into the Sierra, accessing trails near Lake Edison and Florence Lake that head up the major forks of the South Fork San Joaquin River, Mono Creek, Bear Creek, and the South Fork San Joaquin itself, each with enticing glacial lake basins at their heads. Less convenient is the long, slow, winding drive, but it’s well worth it once you experience the diverse trips on offer.

The first pair of trailheads, Deer Creek and Potter Pass, lead into Kaiser Wilderness from near the start of Kaiser Pass Road, a small wilderness area centered on view-rich Kaiser Peak. The other trailheads lie farther east in the South Fork San Joaquin drainage. From north to south, they are Mono Creek Trailhead (at Lake Edison), Bear Diversion Trailhead (along Lake Edison Road), and Florence Lake Trailhead (at Florence Lake). A cluster of trails departs from the Mono Creek Trailhead. Mono Creek Trail leads up the drainage, intersecting the John Muir Trail (JMT) and numerous spurs, while other trails access the lake basins surrounding the Silver Divide, including the Margaret Lakes Trail and Goodale Pass Trail (with a spur to Graveyard Lakes). The Bear Creek Trail, departing from the Bear Diversion Trailhead, intersects the JMT (from which spurs provide the easiest access to the Hilgard Branch and East Fork Bear Creek) and leads to the renowned Bear Lakes Basin. Finally, the Florence Lake Trailhead ascends the main South Fork San Joaquin Valley, leading to the JMT corridor, and up to remote lake basins tucked beneath monumental ridges, the Goddard Divide, White Divide, and Le Conte Divide. Trips along two other forks of the South Fork San Joaquin, Piute Creek and Evolution Creek, are included in the east side portion of this book.

Trailheads: Deer Creek

Potter Pass

Mono Creek

Bear Diversion

Florence Lake

trip 1 Kaiser Loop Trail

Trip Data: 37.29428°N, 119.18556°W (Kaiser Peak); 18.7 miles; 2/0 days

Topos: Kaiser Peak

INFORMATION AND PERMITS: This trailhead is in Sierra National Forest. Permits are required for overnight stays and quotas apply. Details on how to reserve permits are available at fs.usda.gov/detail/sierra/passes-permits. For advance reservations (60% of quota; reservable starting in January each year), there is a $5-per-person reservation fee, while walk-up permits (40% of quota) are free. Permits can be picked up at 29688 Auberry Road, Prather, CA 93651; if you call 559-855-5355 in advance they will leave your permit in a dropbox. Permits can also be picked up in person at the Eastwood Forest Service Office at the corner of Kaiser Pass Road and CA 168, at Huntington Lake. If you plan to use a stove or have a campfire, you must also have a California campfire permit, available from a forest service office or online at preventwildfireca.org/campfire-permit. Campfires are prohibited above 10,000 feet. Bear canisters are not required but are strongly encouraged.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS: From the intersection of CA 168 and CA 180, just east of Fresno, take CA 168 northeast through Clovis and up into the foothills, to the community of Shaver Lake. Here, continue straight along CA 168 to Huntington Lake (versus right to Courtright Reservoir along Dinkey Lakes Road), and reach a T-junction near the community of Lakeshore, 67.5 miles from CA 180, where the Kaiser Pass Road branches right. Continue left on the Huntington Lake Road for 0.9 mile, past the College Campground and Lakeshore Resort, turning right (north) onto Upper Deer Creek Lane. Over the coming 0.6 mile, you pass several spurs left to vacation houses and each time stay right; there is no mention of a trailhead. Just before the road bends right (east) to the D&F Pack Station, there is a pullout on the left side of the road. Park here and continue on foot to the trailhead, located at the back of the pack station and marked by an information sign.

HIGHLIGHTS: This demanding trip’s highlight is the ascent of Kaiser Peak, with its spectacular views that encompass the central Sierra Nevada’s San Joaquin River’s watershed. The lack of permanent water sources makes this a difficult trip. Delightful Nellie Lake is the only site with big campsites and guaranteed water, which necessitates a 10-mile day with more than 2,000 feet of elevation gain and 3,000 feet of loss on Day 2. A small party can break the second day with a stop at Line Creek Lake (if there is good weather) or, in early summer, a camp alongside a seasonal creek. Note the shuttle alternative given on page 25, which unfortunately only shortens Day 1.

HEADS UP! Take plenty of water, for long stretches of this strenuous trip are usually dry by mid-July; the watercourses are seasonal.

HEADS UP! If you just want to day hike Kaiser Peak, follow the first 5.25 miles in the opposite direction, completing a 10.5-mile out-and-back hike.

HEADS UP! The landscape along the Kaiser Loop Trail was severely burned in the 2020 Creek Fire and will bear little resemblance to the text in this book. Fire passed through all forested sections between the trailhead and the Nellie Lake basin. The upper ridge is untouched by fire, but campsites along this stretch are sparse. Contemplate an out-and-back day hike to Kaiser Peak for the coming few years.

DAY 1 (Deer Creek Trailhead to Nellie Lake, 8.5 miles): From the trailhead parking area, you follow the dirt road across a gully toward the D&F Pack Station and then walk left (north) to the back of the pack station. Here a standard national forest placard marks the Deer Creek Trailhead. Just 180 feet later, a somewhat indistinct junction is signposted left (west) to Billy Creek and you follow it, looping back above the road and parking area, past a large water tank. For the first 4.6 miles the trail makes a long, undulating traverse above the vacation homes lining Huntington Lake. It is not a showy hike, offering few views, but is certainly pleasant forest walking. Maybe you’ll be as lucky as your author was last time and spend 30 minutes watching a spotted owl, perched in his favorite, white-splattered tree beside the trail.

There are a few waypoints that require your attention along these miles: first, a little over a mile from the trailhead, the trail drops to ford Bear Creek and then switchbacks up to a closed road (at 1.2 miles). You must turn right onto the road and jog 100 feet north to find the continuing trail; then turn left (west) back onto the trail. At the 2.5-mile mark you reach a junction where the Kaiser Loop Trail continues left, while right leads to Marys Meadow. Heading to Marys Meadow shaves 1.9 miles off your distance to Nellie Lake—it is a pleasant walk, first alongside mostly bedrock-lined Line Creek and later through verdant Marys Meadow, but since this trip description is for the official Kaiser Loop Trail, the description stays left; in addition, the Marys Meadow connector is less maintained at times.

Beyond the Marys Meadow junction, you cross alder-lined Line Creek and admire its beautiful slab bed. You then round a dry slope and drop into an unmapped creek drainage, thick with early-season flowers. Just before crossing the creeklet, a quite prominent use-trail-to-nowhere departs south, straight down the slope. Do not take it—it drops to forest service buildings. The proper route—at times less distinct—crosses the creeklet and then climbs gently, soon crossing a mapped but unnamed creek, next turning more southwest to skirt a rounded spur, then dropping toward a junction with the Billy Creek Trailhead. See the sidebar Shuttle Alternative below if your group has two cars and you’d like to start your hike at the Billy Creek Trailhead, lying just 350 feet south of this junction.

SHUTTLE ALTERNATIVE

If you have two cars, a possible alternative is to leave one car at the Deer Creek Trailhead and the other at the Upper Billy Creek Trailhead, lying just 350 feet off the Kaiser Loop Trail (7,230'; 37.24213°N, 119.22730°W). If you choose this alternative, you will bypass the first 4.6 miles, turning this loop into a 14.2-mile shuttle trip. The spur road to Upper Billy Creek Trailhead lies within Lower Billy Creek Campground. Note: If you start here, you need a wilderness permit for the Billy Creek Trailhead.

Continuing on the Kaiser Loop Trail, at the Billy Creek Trailhead junction, you turn right (north) and begin ascending the Billy Creek drainage, through a mix of red fir and white fir. The meadowed creek corridor is just visible to the west as you climb onward, passing a few open, sandy patches and then diving back into lush red fir forest as you approach the northwestern junction with the Marys Meadow connector. Onward, a few granite outcrops break the forest cover and splendid swathes of lupine color sandy openings. You sidle into a tributary of the Home Camp Creek drainage and follow it north to the Nellie Lake junction, the first lodgepole pine now mixed with the still-dominant red fir. At the Nellie Lake junction, straight ahead (north), is the continuing Kaiser Loop Trail to Kaiser Peak, tomorrow’s route, while now you turn left (west) toward Nellie Lake.

Following a narrower trail, you angle across a slope, drop into a seasonally lush drainage with a usually robust flow, and climb up a shallow draw to a broad forested saddle, set beneath the Kaiser Ridge’s escarpment. A brief descent leads to lovely, deep Nellie Lake, ringed by a mature mixed-conifer forest (lodgepole, red fir, and the occasional airy western white pine and droopy-topped mountain hemlock) and steep ridges. There are a few campsites along the northern shores (for example, 8,934'; 37.28204°N, 119.24592°W), although respect NO CAMPING signs at this popular destination, where current regulations require you to be 200 feet from the shoreline. Heading clockwise around the lake leads to additional campsites on the southern shores.

DAY 2 (Nellie Lake to Deer Creek Trailhead, 10.2 miles): In the morning, fill all your water bottles, especially by August, when this is likely to be the last available water on the hike. Then reverse the 1.0 mile walk east to the Kaiser Loop Trail and turn left (north). A steady ascent leads past some giant red firs, through wet glades of early-summer flowers, and across some drier, sandier slopes. After about 0.75 mile you step across a seasonal Line Creek tributary and reach a junction, where left (north) is signposted for the abandoned trail to Hidden Lake. You continue straight ahead (right; east).

The forest cover is notably thinner as you ascend toward the crest of Kaiser Ridge. By late summer the next miles will be dry and dusty, but in June and early July the powdery soils are a riot of color—vibrant pink from pussypaws, a sustained yellow from frosted wild buckwheat, and the purple carpeting of Brewer’s lupine, each forming dense near-monocultures in their preferred patches. Meanwhile, your views are broadening and you stare north to the Ritter Range, southern Yosemite border country, and Balloon Dome, a prominent, granite knob jutting nearly 3,000 feet above the banks of the San Joaquin River. To the south you look toward the neighboring Dinkey Lakes Wilderness. These expansive views are yours to enjoy all the way to the summit of Kaiser Peak.

The trail now winds approximately along the crest, gaining elevation in spurts and occasionally dropping just a little. The southern slopes are reasonably gentle, while to the north is a vertical escarpment, at the base of which lie a trio of fairly inaccessible lakes: Bill, Bonnie, and Bobby Lakes. At 9,750 feet you curve into a flat, a lovely hemlock glade that lies just north of the crest; here you’ll find, in early summer, a shallow tarn with translucent water and later a dry talus flat, for the water has percolated down through the porous soils. A steeper ascent leads you back to the crest through many-stemmed whitebark pine krummholz. Then as you turn east (left) again, you’ll spy Line Creek Lake in the broad tundra to the south. There are some flat, open sites near the southeast corner of the lake where you could camp—but it will be windy and is inadvisable if there are thunderstorms about. The underlying rock is now metamorphic, decomposing to fine, powdery, nutrient-rich soils, which allows the unusually thick ground cover of plants. But the diminutive flowers are only noticed if you stare at your feet—and it is probably the views to the San Joaquin drainage that are more enticing. Crossing the minor saddle above Line Creek Lake, you begin your final ascent toward Kaiser Peak, continuing across pleasant alpine tundra to a signed spur trail. Turn left (north) and you quickly gain the summit (10,293'; 37.29428°N, 119.18556°W).

VIEWS FROM KAISER PEAK

The ridge culminating in 10,310-foot-high Kaiser Peak sits alone in the vast western San Joaquin River catchment, offering outstanding views of the drainage’s highest peaks. Gaze around you at this great river’s watershed. If you have cell coverage—many carriers do on this summit—load peakfinder.org to identify your surroundings. In the north, you look deep into the San Joaquin River canyon, above which rise the peaks on the southern Yosemite boundary. Balloon Dome is the steep knob standing like a lone thumb rising straight above the river. Swiveling a little to the right, you look up the North Fork San Joaquin River with the dark, serrated Ritter Range rising to the east, Mount Ritter and Banner Peak the two tallest summits. The Middle Fork San Joaquin flows down the east side of the Ritter Range and is hidden from view, with the quite staid San Joaquin Ridge visible to its east. To the northeast is the Silver Divide, crowned by large, gray Silver Peak. Red Slate Peak, a little farther east, is the first prominent peak on the Sierra Crest, a massive red pyramid rising north of McGee Pass. The reservoir you see is Lake Edison. Nearly due east is Seven Gables, a large, steepsided, buttressed summit looming over the Bear Lakes. On the southeastern boundary of the San Joaquin watershed, most of the Evolution Peaks are visible, including steep-sided, flattopped Mount Darwin. Mount Goddard is the massive black pyramid to the southeast. On a brilliantly clear day you can ostensibly see all the way to Mount Whitney and the Kaweah Peaks in southern Sequoia National Park. What a brilliant treat!

Line Creek near the Marys Meadow Trail junction Photo by Elizabeth Wenk

View of Huntington Lake from College Rock Photo by Elizabeth Wenk

You now have 5.25 miles to the trailhead, much of it a steep downhill. The trail continues nearly on the ridge, soon turning to the south and dropping down some rockier terrain via a few switchbacks. Looking east over the escarpment you’ll spy Campfire and Jewel Lakes nearly 400 feet below. A long traversing descent across a slope peppered with spreading phlox and Brewer’s lupine leads to a saddle with a faint use trail that drops to College and George Lakes (Trip 2). Nearby are some plausible campsites among stunted whitebark pine—although no water source. Beyond, you sidle around the western side of Peak 10,079, climbing just slightly to surmount a saddle that drops you to the headwaters of Bear Creek.

Now begins the serious downhill, as you wind steeply down coarse, sandy slopes between slabs. The path meanders toward and away from seasonal Bear Creek, through lodgepole and western white pine. At 9,340 feet the trail cuts across the head of a seasonally marshy meadow—if there is still water, there are campsites here—and continues east to a spur. Switchbacks lead down it, first through more western white pine and then through more bouldery terrain (a moraine) covered with pinemat manzanita, the trail efficiently dropping to a sandy flat just north of College Rock. If you’re keen for a detour, a use trail leads south to the summit, the final rocks requiring some third-class scrambling. The views are nothing compared to those from Kaiser Peak, but College Rock provides a nice panorama south to the Huntington Lake environs and beyond to the Three Sisters and Dogtooth Peak in Dinkey Lakes Wilderness.

After a short westward traverse, switchbacks lead south down an open rib, alternating between red fir shade and open shrubby slopes where slabs are just below the surface. At 8,700 feet you have a final view over Huntington Lake from atop steep slabs decorated with mountain pride penstemon. Continuing down through open red fir forest and past blocky, rounded outcrops where Jeffrey pines grow, switchbacks lead south and east into the Deer Creek drainage. Finally, you follow the creek corridor south, passing a faint trail that leads east to Potter Creek, and soon reach the Deer Creek Trailhead.

trip 2 George Lake

Trip Data: 37.29239°N, 119.17042°W; 9.6 miles; 2/1 days

Topos: Kaiser Peak

INFORMATION AND PERMITS: This trailhead is in Sierra National Forest. Permits are required for overnight stays and quotas apply. Details on how to reserve permits are available at fs.usda.gov/detail/sierra/passes-permits. For advance reservations (60% of quota; reservable starting in January each year), there is a $5-per-person reservation fee, while walk-up permits (40% of quota) are free. Permits can be picked up at 29688 Auberry Road, Prather, CA 93651; if you call 559-855-5355 in advance, they will leave your permit in a dropbox. Permits can also be picked up in person at the Eastwood Forest Service Office at the corner of Kaiser Pass Road and CA 168, at Huntington Lake. If you plan to use a stove or have a campfire, you must also have a California campfire permit, available from a forest service office or online at preventwildfireca.org/campfire-permit. Campfires are prohibited above 10,000 feet. Bear canisters are not required but are strongly encouraged.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS: From the intersection of CA 168 and CA 180, just east of Fresno, take CA 168 northeast through Clovis and up into the foothills, to the community of Shaver Lake. Here, continue straight along CA 168 to Huntington Lake (versus right along Dinkey Lakes Road to Courtright Reservoir), and reach a T-junction near the community of Lakeshore, 67.5 miles from CA 180. Here CA 168 ends, and Huntington Lake Road leads left around the lake’s north shore, while Kaiser Pass Road/FS 80 branches right. Turn right onto Kaiser Pass Road and go 4.8 more miles to a large parking area on the right, with vault toilets and bear boxes; the trailhead is across the street.

Note: If you are starting from the alternate Potter Cutoff Trailhead, turn left onto a dirt road 2.7 miles up the Kaiser Pass Road and follow the road 0.2 mile to its end.

HIGHLIGHTS: In the heart of the Sierra National Forest, little Kaiser Wilderness boasts 35 square miles of pristine forests, emerald lakes, and rugged alpine terrain. This trip visits three delightful lakes, with others nearby for off-trail explorers. An added bonus is an impressive marble sinkhole through which Upper Twin Lake’s water vanishes. This region has become popular with day hikers and backpackers alike, but George Lake still offers decent solitude.

HEADS UP! There are two Potter trailheads, the lower Potter Cutoff Trailhead, 2.7 miles from the start of Kaiser Pass Road, and the higher Potter Pass Trailhead that is a much larger pullout with toilets 4.8 miles up Kaiser Pass Road, a locale also termed Badger Flat. Separate permits are required for these two trailheads, although they both access the same area. The Potter Cutoff Trailhead is actually 0.15 mile shorter, but requires nearly 500 feet extra elevation gain, so the route starting at the Potter Pass Trailhead is written up here.

HEADS UP! The hike to George Lake is one of the few trips in the area not burned in the 2020 Creek Fire.

DAY 1 (Potter Pass Trailhead to George Lake, 4.8 miles): Across the street from the parking area, the Potter Pass Trail heads up through open lodgepole pine and red fir forest to scrubbier slopes, and soon back to dense red fir forest. It sees heavy use, and is notably dusty by midseason, but simultaneously soft underfoot as it works its way diligently but gently upward. The trailside flowers can be delightful—violets and spotted coralroot in deep shade and corn lilies, shooting stars, and crimson columbines in wet meadow strips along seasonal drainages. Cresting a ridge after 1.4 miles, the trail traverses a more open slope, again a delightful wildflower garden in season, with scarlet gilia, mountain mule ears, and Leichtlin’s mariposa lilies staring up at you. This pleasant route leads to Potter Pass (8,974'), from which you are treated to far-ranging views north to the Ritter Range and into southern Yosemite. To the southeast you stare at the highest peaks of neighboring Dinkey Lakes Wilderness—10,000-plus-foot Three Sisters (seen as a series of rounded granite studs) and barren, serrated, 10,302-foot Dogtooth Peak (Trips 10 and 11). At the pass, the Potter Pass Cutoff Trail merges from the left (west), signposted for Huntington Lake.

VIEWS FROM POTTER PASS

Epic views await at the pass! In the north, Balloon Dome stands alone as a prominent granite knob jutting from the enormous San Joaquin River valley. Farther north, the dark, jagged Minarets of the Ritter Range are easily identified. These peaks are comprised of metavolcanic rock derived from volcanoes that erupted some 100 million years ago. To the northeast, the Middle Fork San Joaquin River curves north below the distant Mammoth Crest. Eastsoutheast, the South Fork San Joaquin River drains the mountains of northern Kings Canyon National Park.

The merged trails continue ahead (north), winding down a delightfully red fir-shaded draw and crossing to the east side of the drainage near the bottom. Passing a flat, strikingly dense with flowers, you reach a junction where straight ahead (right, northwest) leads to Sample Meadow, while you turn left (west) toward Twin Lakes. Stepping across a minor drainage, the trail trends west across an open rocky slope, verdant Round Meadow visible below. The aspens ringing the meadow provide a burst of yellow and orange color for the autumn hiker. The rough rock outcrops above and below the trail are limestone, a rarity in the Sierra, and the soils here host some unusual plant species, including periwinkle-colored western blue flax. Cresting a minor lump, the trail soon drops to the Lower Twin Lake basin, the lake backdropped by steep, 800-foot-tall granite cliffs. There is a large campsite along the western lakeshore beneath mixed-conifer canopy. Lower Twin Lake (8,627') has a gentle, mature feel, with large trees and smooth, lichen-covered cliffs. Small brook trout are plentiful.

Continuing, the trail skirts a diminutive seasonal pond and traverses an easy half mile to exquisite Upper Twin Lake’s east shore (8,606' by current USGS calculations, meaning Upper Twin Lake has the nominally lower elevation of the twin lakes.) The lake’s sparkling blue waters are interrupted by smooth granite-slab islands that host surprisingly large Jeffrey pine, red fir, and lodgepole pine. But the lake’s most peculiar feature is that it has no outflow. A few steps north of where the trail intersects the shore, a conspicuous outcrop marks a rocky limestone pit—a sinkhole—through which the water exits the lake underground. Some of the flow reemerges at a spring in the valley to the northwest and more probably irrigates Round Meadow. During snowmelt, the pit can be blocked (and hidden), causing the lake’s water level to rise dramatically above its shores. There are campsites on the ridge to the east of the lake and near its southeastern corner; respect the NO CAMPING signs placed near the shores of this popular destination.

Not far from Upper Twin Lake’s southeastern corner, you reach a signed junction, where left (north) leads to George Lake and right (northeast) to Sample Meadow (8,622'; 37.29626°N, 119.15742°W). Turning left, you continue along the northeastern shore of Upper Twin Lake under a canopy that is a delightful mix of western white pine, lodgepole pine, Jeffrey pine, and junipers, passing a selection of view-rich campsites. As the slope steepens you reach another junction, where right (east) leads back in the direction of Sample Meadow, while your route turns left (west) toward George Lake; at this junction, your route transitions back onto granite. You ascend a dry, mat manzanita–covered slope above Upper Twin Lake, slowly transitioning to a red fir forest. At a conspicuous turn in the trail, 0.3 mile above the last junction, a use trail trends north (right) toward Walling Lake, while the main trail continues west (left), skirting beneath bluffs through some magnificent western white pine. For the final stretch, the trail winds to and fro beside the creek draining George Lake, eventually crossing the creek, and 70 feet later arriving at a large flat near the lake’s outlet. Here it reaches the first of several campsites along George Lake (9,100'; 37.29239°N, 119.17042°W). The most scenic sites are located along the western shore between the inlet from College Lake and the large granite wall that rims the northwest shore, although the biggest are closer to the northeastern corner where the trail terminates.

George Lake on an early-season hike Photo by Elizabeth Wenk

A giant boulder at Upper Twin Lake Photo by Elizabeth Wenk

SIDE TRIP: CROSS-COUNTRY DAY HIKE TO COLLEGE LAKE AND THE KAISER LOOP TRAIL

From George Lake, an adventurous cross-country route leads to College Lake and, with a bit of scrambling suitable for a day pack but not a full backpack, to a saddle where you meet the Kaiser Loop Trail (Trip 1) to Kaiser Peak. From George Lake’s outlet, follow a use trail counterclockwise around George Lake and ascend approximately west-northwest up slabs and across shelves to the east of the creek connecting College Lake to George Lake. From College Lake, follow the western edge of a broad meadowed shelf nearly due south for about 0.25 mile to its end. Near here (9,610'; 37.28850°N, 119.17692°W), you should pick up a use trail— if you haven’t already stumbled upon it—that climbs another approximately 0.2 mile to the saddle; this is a loose, rocky scramble that zigzags west, then north, and finally southwest to avoid a late-lasting, very steep snowfield. Right at the saddle, this route joins the Kaiser Loop Trail (9,765'; 37.28773°N, 119.17811°W). If you are venturing for a grander tour of the wilderness, turn right (north and then west) at this unmarked and unofficial junction and continue an additional 0.8 mile to 10,310-foot Kaiser Peak.

DAY 2 (George Lake to Potter Pass Trailhead, 4.8 miles): Retrace your steps. At each junction, your route is labeled BADGER FLAT.

trip 3 Arch Rock and Margaret Lakes

Trip Data: 37.46151°N, 119.03849°W (Big Margaret Lake); 29.1 miles; 4/1 days

Topos: Sharktooth Peak

INFORMATION AND PERMITS: This trailhead is in Sierra National Forest. Permits are required for overnight stays and quotas apply. Details on how to reserve permits are available at fs.usda.gov/detail/sierra/passes-permits. For advance reservations (60% of quota; reservable starting in January each year), there is a $5-per-person reservation fee, while walk-up permits (40% of quota) are free. Permits can be picked up at 29688 Auberry Road, Prather, CA 93651; if you call 559-855-5355 in advance, they will leave your permit in a dropbox. Permits can also be picked up in person at the Eastwood Forest Service Office at the corner of Kaiser Pass Road and CA 168, at Huntington Lake or at the High Sierra Visitor Information Station, 15.7 miles along Kaiser Pass Road (shortly before the Lake Edison–Florence Lake split). If you plan to use a stove or have a campfire, you must also have a California campfire permit, available from a forest service office or online at preventwildfireca.org/campfire-permit. Campfires are prohibited above 9,600 feet in the Margaret Lakes Basin and within 0.25 mile of Lower Graveyard Lake. Bear canisters are not required but are strongly encouraged.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS: From the intersection of CA 168 and CA 180, just east of Fresno, take CA 168 northeast through Clovis and up into the foothills, to the community of Shaver Lake. Here, continue straight along CA 168 to Huntington Lake (versus right along Dinkey Lakes Road to Courtright Reservoir), and reach a T-junction near the community of Lakeshore, 67.5 miles from CA 180. Here CA 168 ends, and Huntington Lake Road leads left around the lake’s north shore, while Kaiser Pass Road branches right. Turn right onto Kaiser Pass Road and drive 16.7 miles over Kaiser Pass to a fork, where left leads to Lake Edison and Mono Hot Springs and right to Florence Lake. Turn left onto the Lake Edison Road (Forest Service Road 5S80) and continue 8.5 miles, driving past Mono Hot Springs, across the base of the Lake Edison Dam, past Vermilion Valley Resort to a junction with FS 6S78. Here, left leads to the pack station (Trip 3) and right to the Mono Creek Trailhead (Trip 4). For Trip 3, turn left and continue 0.5 mile, until just past the pack station; then park in any of the roadside pullouts. For Trip 4, turn right and drive 0.3 mile to the road-end parking lot and hiker campground. Note that once you are 5.5 miles past Huntington Lake, both Kaiser Pass Road and Lake Edison Road are very slow, often single lane, and very exposed in places; expect to drive much of it at just 10 miles per hour.

VERMILION VALLEY RESORT (VVR)

This resort, powered by its own generators, is on the west shore of Lake Edison. It is well known for its hospitality, especially among John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers who flock to its rooms, tent cabins, store, and restaurant. Traditionally, the resort buys the thru-hiker’s first beverage and offers a free stay in the (shared) hikers’ camping area. It’s a good opportunity to share information about trail conditions and exchange trail tips.

Thru-hiking or not, VVR is a nice stop on an extended trip, and daily ferry service from June to October makes for easy access to the resort from main trails across the lake (for instance, Trip 51). The ferry (fee) leaves the resort at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and departs the Mono Creek landing at 9:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. Call the resort for updated information or to make reservations in a room or tent cabin: 559-259-4000. The resort website has good hiking links, food drop details, and driving directions: edisonlake.com.

HIGHLIGHTS: A private lakes basin nestled beneath precipitous walls and one of the Sierra’s largest granite arches are the reward for hikers drawn to this out-of-the-way trailhead. A 4.6-mile walk along a jeep road to reach the true trailhead is probably what keeps most visitors away, but as you set up your tent, you’ll be pleased you chose Rainbow and Margaret Lakes, tucked against the Silver Divide, as your destination.

HEADS UP! The first 4.6 miles are along the Onion Springs OHV Route. A high-clearance four-wheel drive can navigate this road, saving you nearly half your distance on the first (and last) days.

HEADS UP! Campfires are prohibited above 9,600’ in the Margaret Lakes Basin, meaning fires are prohibited at the suggested campsites at Frog Lake, Coyote Lake, and Big Margaret Lake.

HEADS UP! The 2020 Creek Fire burned stretches along and above the Onion Valley OHV Route, but the fire stopped a short distance up the climb to Arch Rock Pass.

DAY 1 (Onion Springs OHV Route to Frog Lake, 10.75 miles): Just to the north of the High Sierra Pack Station is the start of the Onion Springs OHV Route. If you lack a vehicle that can navigate this road, there are pullouts near the start where you can park. Don’t try and continue with a standard SUV—the road almost immediately crosses bedrock slabs that require high clearance and not long afterward is one of the steeper, more eroded road sections.

Assuming you’re walking, you climb alongside an unnamed creek, pass popular car-camping sites, and soon cross an unnamed creek. After climbing quite steeply through white fir forest along a rough stretch of road, you turn west (about 1.0 mile from the start of the Onion Springs OHV Route) and the ascent moderates. For the coming 1.8 miles you are following the crest of a moraine, dropping a gentle 240 feet along the way. Here you have excellent views south to Kaiser Ridge and to Lake Edison, already far below you. Ahead, the road turns north, crossing a broad saddle and dropping to Onion Spring Meadow, where you’ll find an ancient campsite, now 4.1 miles from the start. Climbing steadily again, you are alternately in white fir forest and along slabbier stretches with more Jeffrey pine. Rolling onto the broad top of a ridge, you come across four bear boxes and a small sign declaring TRAIL, the actual start of the Margaret Lakes Trail (8,081'; 37.40986°N, 119.07459°W); it is wise to anticipate this junction, for it would be easy to march past the cryptic sign.

Now on a trail, a steeper climb ensues, leading up through a pleasant white fir forest. There are some gigantic trees and century-old mulching logs, indicating a fire hasn’t passed through here in a long time. Crossing one small seasonal tributary, the headwaters of Four Forks Creek, the trail switchbacks upward through a splendid mixed-conifer forest; lodgepole pines dominate, yet your eyes will probably be drawn to the towering western white pines and marvelous red firs, for the lodgepole pines tend to form a uniform forest while the trees of other species more often stand out as individuals. At 8,950 feet, the trail passes pleasant campsites beside a stream that will usually hold water; through late July you could dependably plan to camp here, breaking the long first day in half (8,894'; 37.42782°N, 119.07454°W).

Continuing briefly west, the trail crosses a sandy moraine crest and follows it upward, with just scattered Jeffrey pines and junipers rising above the endless chinquapin and pinemat manzanita. Where the moraine crest ends, the trail traverses a little east and resolves into switchbacks beside a seasonal tributary. This stretch of trail is steep, gaining 1,000 feet over a mile. Spring wildflowers color the ground—spreading phlox, coyote mint, and ivesia—while by midsummer it is a parched slope of whitebark pine and scattered volcanic rocks. Emerging from forest cover along the final switchbacks to the crest, you are treated to far-reaching views south: Seven Gables rises prominently above the Bear Creek drainage, and Florence Lake, along the main South Fork San Joaquin River, lies farther south.

When you reach the pass, colloquially referred to as Arch Rock Pass (10,535'), the northern San Joaquin drainage is laid before you, with views both into the lower river gorge and to the dark Ritter Range, flanked by the North Fork and Middle Fork San Joaquin Rivers. To your immediate east is a ridge of 3.5-million-year-old basalt, while the pass itself is on granite. (Printed USGS 7.5' topo maps place the label Arch Rock on a ridge to the southwest of the pass, but the arch is to the northwest of the pass; this has been corrected on their online maps.) Descending north down sandy switchbacks (with late snow some years), the trail soon swings west onto a broad, flat, sandy saddle (10,369'; 37.45204°N, 119.06628°W). Here you will note use trails heading south into picturesque boulder stacks. Weave your way through these and you’re soon treated to a view of Arch Rock—a granite arch that rivals Indian Rock Arch in Yosemite.

Continuing, the trail completes tight switchbacks, routed just east of another slope of volcanic rock. The view north continues to impress: the lower San Joaquin drainage toward Balloon Dome, the Ritter Range and all of southern Yosemite laid out before you. Slowly the hemlocks and whitebark pine increase in stature and the trail reaches a junction, where right (east) leads to the Margaret Lakes, your route, and left (west) leads to Rock Creek Lake. Turning right, the trail continues down a rocky rib, then cuts north into a draw with a seasonal stream (and campsites while water persists) and then loops north again, climbing atop the next bedrock ridge. Descending again, you cross Frog Lake’s outlet creek and find pleasant campsites about halfway along its north shore (9,785'; 37.45762°N, 119.06060°W; no campfires).

DAY 2 (Frog Lake to Big Margaret Lake, 3.2 miles): From Frog Lake, the trail continues snaking eastward, but actually traveling mostly north or south as it winds between a succession of granite ribs. Throughout this basin, the granite is broken by broad-scale, near-parallel joints. As the glaciers flowed downhill approximately parallel to the fracture planes, they created a landscape of smoothed granite ribs alternating with linear valleys, gulches, and draws. You are mostly cutting across these ribs and so the trail must either climb up and over each crest or sidle around them—it does a lot of both.

Leaving Frog Lake, the trail follows a meadowed corridor over a taller ridge and then drops south into the basin holding Coyote Lake, zigzagging on its descent to the broad lakeside meadow. Cockscomb dominates the view to the east—an imposing fin of fractured granite that you will loop around. Coyote Lake offers campsites on its southern peninsula or along its eastern border. At the southeast corner of the meadow, you ford the lake’s inlet creek and just beyond reach a junction, where the loop part of this hike begins. For now, stay right (southeast), signposted for Fern Lake.

The trail continues up, climbing between and then across polished slabs between stands of lodgepole pine. Soon you are alongside Fern Lake’s outlet stream, splayed delightfully across the bedrock. From Fern Lake you have, perhaps, the best views of the Cockscomb. Looping through the meadow turf surrounding Fern Lake (and past small campsites on knobs), tight, steep switchbacks lead up a broad sandy gully just north of the Cockscomb, the summit itself soon blocked from view. The east side of the ridge leads down similarly sandy passageways between rocky ribs, depositing you near the outlet of Big Margaret Lake. Big Margaret Lake offers all the features you seek in a Sierran lake: large, island dotted, slab ringed, backdropped by a rugged crest, endless options for exploring, and of course plenty of campsites. You will quickly find a tent site in sandy flats between slabs along the lake’s northern shores (10,015'; 37.46275°N, 119.03501°W; no campfires). From Margaret Lake, peak baggers can scramble up Silver Peak, heading first east and then north to the summit.

DAY 3 (Big Margaret Lake to Frog Lake via Rainbow Lake, 4.4 miles): From Big Margaret Lake your loop continues north to Rainbow Lake. Many hikers will choose to explore the Rainbow Lake environs without a pack and then return the way they came—it makes for less hiking with a pack, but once you’re at Rainbow it is actually faster to complete the loop. The lumpy topography continues, as you climb briefly and then descend a gully toward Rainbow Lake and continue around its eastern shores on a deteriorating trail. Cockscomb becomes less prominent, but the Silver Divide remains a spectacularly steep backdrop, its angular unglaciated profile contrasting with the rounded, polished granite ribs ringing the lake. There are beautiful campsites halfway along Rainbow Lake, where a bulbous peninsula juts out.

Continuing across rivulets descending from Useless, Sedge, and Shorty Lakes, the trail turns west to skirt Baby Lake (grassier, lodgepole pine–ringed, with less-enticing camping), and then descends steeply down broken slabs to a deep-set lodgepole pine flat with a just-visible junction that declares stock aren’t recommended down Silver Creek (9,400'; 37.47268°N, 119.04563°W). Indeed, the right-hand branch, the abandoned Silver Creek Trail, that leads down Silver Creek to Fish Creek is not recommended for pack animals, but it does traverse some phenomenal slab country along the eponymous creek; if you have time for a detour, you can gaze upon the upper slab basin just 1.0 mile from this junction. To continue the loop, however, turn left (south) to return to Coyote