Ansel Adams trip 8/13-21

“This was an awesome trip in the area just southeast of Yosemite National Park. We did 9 days out of Isberg Trailhead, making our way up to Twin Island Lakes then looping back via Bench Canyon and Long Creek. The whole area is dominated by Mt. Ritter and the Minarets, which are some of the most dramatic peaks in the Sierra. The group was great, and we had a couple who had come all the way from New Zealand.

Day 1 (August 13): Trailhead to Hemlock Crossing. Long day, with not much water along the way (no more than a trickle between The Niche and the stream right before the descent into the North Fork Canyon). Mostly forest cover, but with a few great views south (early on) and east (at Surprise Saddle, and on the descent). The 1300' drop into the canyon is a knee-killer, steep and with lots of loose rock. Hemlock is a nice spot, with a lovely waterfall & pool. Lots of camping area, but much of it appears to be illegal (within the 100' limit); I think we kept our camp legal, but it took some doing.

Day 2: Hemlock to Bench Canyon Confluence. My theory was a long day in and a long day out, with shorter days in between so we could enjoy the good stuff. This was a short day (in camp by lunchtime), but a beautiful one; the canyon is spectacular, and Stevenson Meadow(s) had an extraordinary wildflower display considering how late in the season it was. Camp was in a grove next to a 40-50' upper North Fork valley; the Kiwi woman says she has 'The Sound of Music' running through her head. Classic tree-fringed subalpine meadows below high rock walls, with alpine peaks in the background; lots of wildflowers here. The trail petered out somewhere in the basin below the last ascent to Twin Island Lakes. We climbed an obvious gully to a sort of bench below the big rocks just east of the lakes. I scouted around, and discovered that although there was an easy route west to the lake, travel along the lakeshore is not easy (lots of cliffs to avoid), so instead we contined north into the basin east of the northerly lake. This involved a short climb up a talus gully, then descent northwest on grassy/rocky slopes and a wet boot crossing of the inlet stream to a wide-open area north of the lower Twin Island Lake. Great campsite, but exposed--windy in the evening and no shade. Very stark landscape--all metavolcanic, not the usual 'range of light' granite, and not much vegetation--dominated by awesome views of Ritter.

Day 4: Layover at Twin Island Lakes. My assistant and I spent the morning and early afternoon scouting the next day's route. Roper describes it in a few sentences, which are right as far as they go, but in a landscape this complex the devil is really in the details; a few hours of exploration ended up saving us a lot of wasted effort with the whole group. Details below.

Day 5: Twin Island Lakes to Bench Canyon. We passed the northerly lake on the west side, which turned out to be easier despite some talus (if the snowfields were larger, though, it would probably be better to stay on the east side). There are some cliffs to climb above, but it's not wasted effort because you can then stay high and wind up on ramps up to the southerly lake; and besides, you can avoid crossing both the inlet and outlet streams. Pass the upper Twin Island Lake on the west side and wind up at a grassy saddle above the south end. From there, it's a lot of up and down through complex terrain, including a 1/2 mile traverse across talus high above the valley, then a drop down an obvious gully to Bench Canyon. (E-mail me for route details.)

For me, this is the most idyllic spot of the whole trip: big slab granite, sparse forest, views of the Ritter Range, granite peaks to the west, and a lovely stream meandering over slabs and through little pools.

Day 6: Layover in Bench Canyon. Five of us headed downstream to explore lower Bench Canyon. There's a steep headwall, but you can pick your way down along ledges and ramps until you pick up a use trail (stay on the right side of the creek). This is the shortcut to Bench Canyon, but I wouldn't be keen to take a pack up it. The stream has lots of pretty little falls and pools, and there are great views of the North Fork canyon.

Day 7: Bench Canyon to Rockbound Lake. This is my favorite kind of cross-country: easy routefinding, lots of ramps and slabs. Follow the canyon up to Blue Lake. From there, take the obvious grassy ramp up the southern ridge; angle right on the way down. We got to camp by 11 am, which gave us time for a long hearts game in which one shark shot the moon twice. Rockbound is a classic Sierra lake, with granite all around and views of the Silver Divide and the Ritter Range.

Day 8: Rockbound Lake to lowest Cora Lake. This was a much longer day than planned. We had intended to camp on a bench above Long Canyon, but there was no water, so we wound up at a swampy lake 4-5 miles further on. Long Canyon is an easy descent; after crossing Long Creek (where it turns southeast), the route gains a little elevation and contours across the base of the large cliffs, then climbs a little more to hit the trail. The trail is somewhat sporadic, but with a little attention it's not too hard to pick out the right route. This stretch has great views of Long Canyon and the Ritter Range. Once you get to the saddle with the last view of Ritter, the trail is pretty consistent with one gap--in the meadow at the base of that descent. Just stay in the meadow until you find the trail (we didn't, and wound up expending a lot of extra effort). The trail is unmaintained, so be prepared for lots of down trees. Chetwood Creek was dry, so we wound up going as far as Cora Creek (also dry) and bushwhacking up to the lowest Cora Lake (low water, swampy/muddy, not recommended except for the desperate) and camping on the knoll east of the lake. We saw bear tracks & scat, and a bear wallow, but were never bothered.

Day 9: Out to trailhead. This was an easy 4 1/2 to 5 miles. When we got to the trailhead, 8 cars had been broken into, including two of ours. Several of the cars had no food at all, or food only in the trunk (which was undisturbed). When I reported this to the ranger, she said it was the first such incident at Isberg Trailhead; usually, they have these problems at Mammoth Trailhead. If you're going out of Isberg, be warned that bear break-ins could be a problem, and that not having food is no sure prevention.”

“Sorry...guess it was so long it got truncated arbitrarily. Here's what got cut, beginning in Day 2:


Camp was in a grove next to a 40-50' upper North Fork valley; the Kiwi woman says she has 'The Sound of Music' running through her head. Classic tree-fringed subalpine meadows below high rock walls, with alpine peaks in the background; lots of wildflowers here.”

“Okay...guess it was my html error. Let's try again:


Camp was in a grove next to a 40-50' waterfall, along the North Fork just past the Bench Creek confluence. An idyllic spot, although it was the only place where we had many mosquitoes.

Day 3: BCC to Twin Island Lakes. It just keeps getting more spectacular as we enter the upper North Fork valley; the Kiwi woman says she has 'The Sound of Music' running through her head. Classic tree-fringed subalpine meadows below high rock walls, with alpine peaks in the background; lots of wildflowers here.”

“BEAUTIFULl prose and pics, tehipite!!!

I especially like the hyperlinks to
the pics.

Yeah, ain't it great to go crosscountry!
Take the road not taken...trust placed
in map, compass, common sense
and routefinding skills.

Impressive, very impressive!

(I edit copy/pasted your whole
narrative in a doc file...gonna add
to my dream hikes list!!! :-) )

Highcountry”

“Thanks, Highcountry! That's high praise coming from you--your trip reports & pics are wonderful, and I love the design of your site.

I'll probably post a few more pics soon. Everything's on CD, so it's pretty easy to do.”

“Thanks Tehipite!! Great reading. Wonderful pics.”

“Thanks, Alley! You should check out the area sometime--it's great.”

“One fine trip report there tehipite!!!!!”

“Ditto what highcountry said re the prose and dream hikes... haven't had time to look at the pics yet... work to do. Darn.”

“Oh man, I just found time to read this and look at the pics...wonderful! Those campsites look absolutely perfect. Sounds like you had a good time, hippity-hop. Thanks for sharing.
:o)”

“Great photos and report, tehipite! Thanks for posting. This is an area I definitely have to check out.

Do you realize you still haven't posted a report or photos from your '99 trip?”

“Thanks, y'all!

AmyG: that's hipitehop to you. ;-)

Explorer: yeah, I know...somehow that ended up being a really difficult trip to write up. I'm still planning to post it--I'm closing in on 10,000 hits total, so I think it's about time to update the site.”

“Tehipite Great pics as well as trip report. I will do that area...one day! I am heading into Lyle caynon tomorrow for a six day trip. Will be interesting to say the least! Hope to do Lyle glacier on wed. JMT-PCT-Waugh lake and back North, then the meadows. Yo Bear!”