Trip Report: Backpacking Minaret Lake, Ansel Adams Wilderness — CA
Trip Date: July 2–3, 2022
Minaret Lake is one of the many glacier-fed lakes in the Ritter Range, a small bundle of jagged peaks within the Eastern Sierra Nevada. We had our eyes set on it for several years but were thwarted by weather, fires, and COVID each time. Finally, on a cold albeit windy weekend, we were able to make our way up to the lake for a quick overnighter.
Trip Details
Permit: Required for overnight backpacking and can be reserved through Recreation.gov Ansel Adams Wilderness AA11 “Minaret Lake”. The permit cost $26 ($20 permit and $6 reservation fee).
Getting There: We drove from the Bay Area and used Tioga pass to cut down an hour from the drive. Reservations are now required for both visitors and drive-thru’s in Yosemite, an additional box to check when planning for this trip if applicable. The Yosemite Pass was $35 per car (free with National Parks Pass) and lasts for 3 days.
I discovered a small airport in Mammoth and debated flying there instead of pushing through the nearly 10 hours of driving roundtrip.. The rates weren’t terribly bad, especially now that the price of gas is so outrageous. Once you get to Mammoth, there are shuttle buses that take visitors all around the area in the summer. I will definitely consider this next time!
Parking: Shuttles are mandatory after 7:00 AM in the summertime. See routes and more information here: https://www.mammothmountain.com/transportation/free-mountain-shuttle
Trail Length:
Trail length: 13.4 miles
Elevation Change: 2,347 ft
Forest Service General Trail Map:
Weather: 50s/30s with gusts up to 25 mph, forecasted to die down by 8PM
Other Things To Note:
- No fires allowed
- Mosquitos were out and about but we did not see too many (probably due to the cold and high winds)
Day 0: Friday, July 1, 2022
We stayed in Mammoth the night prior to acclimate to the elevation. For sunset, we opted to visit the Hot Creek Geological Site, about a 15 minute drive outside of town through a gravelly road.
Once golden hour started it looked so pretty! In the winter, you can see the steam rising up from the river. Since it was a relatively windy and sunny day, there wasn’t much steam when we went.
Day 1: Saturday, July 2, 2022
We woke up at 5AM, grabbed a quick breakfast at Stellar Brewing (bless their souls for opening at 5:30AM), and made our way to the Devil’s Post-pile parking area where the trail starts.
There is an overnight parking lot for backpackers about 0.2 miles away from the main parking lot. We found the lot to be mostly full by 7AM but there was one spot open for us to park when we arrived. From there, a short trail away from the road took us to the main parking lot where we found the ranger station, trash cans, and plenty of bathrooms.
When we started, we both felt really good, fueled by huge portions of pasta consumed the night prior and plump from drinking loads of water.
There were a lot of day hikers and families exploring the first few miles. Signs at several junctions clearly indicated locations for points of interest.
The sign splitting off from the JMT towards Minaret Lake appeared not too long into the hike. The rest of the trail basically follows Minaret Creek all the way to it’s source, Minaret Lake.
There were several log crossings all sturdy enough to feel safe while crossing.
The incline was gradual and there was partial shade.
Water was abundant as we meandered by the creek filled with busty flowing water and even saw two waterfalls!
As we climbed further, at about 9,000 ft, we started to feel the elevation. Our breathing quickened, our pace slowed, and our legs felt like lead. We had frequent breaks to catch our breath and baby thoughts of quitting were tickling at the edges of our brains. If we were closer to the trailhead, I would have called it quits! But, we were at the last two miles, so we toughed it out.
Finally, we cleared a small snow field and lakes feeding into smaller lakes came into view. A walk across a log jam brought us into full view of the Minarets, and the glacier-fed lake below it. It was beautiful!
We staked claim to a tent-site right in view of the Minarets and quickly set to eating lunch. We packed a small platypus bottle of coconut water each and the taste brought me back to life. This will be a staple for future trips for sure.
During dinnertime, the piezo igniter on my Jetboil did not work, rendering my stove useless. The thought of eating cold soaked ramen and no hot tea for dinner was too much to bear. We remembered a backpacking pair passing us earlier and thought they couldn’t have set up too far. Fortunately, they were indeed camped nearby and we approached hoping we could borrow a lighter. They graciously let us borrow it for the rest of the night into the morning so we could have breakfast. We brought them peach jellies in exchange for their generosity and were able to have a decent meal! Thank you so much Peter and Leila, life-savers!!
After dinner, we were so exhausted that we barely made it to sunset before slumping into our tents for the night. Sleep never came though, because the wind that was forecasted to die down was very much alive, and shaking our tents to oblivion. I laid in my tent, in and out of a terrible sleep until sunrise at 5:00AM.
Day 2: Sunday, July 3, 2022
We started packing up at 5AM while the sun rose behind us. Many people headed on towards Cecile and Iceberg Lakes in a big loop back to the trailhead, but we were sooo over it. We packed up and ate breakfast in record time with plans to head back home.
It got hot around 9AM so it was a great choice to have an early start!
When we arrived at the trailhead, we changed into our packed car clothes so we were fresh for the drive home and made our way back into Mammoth Village for lunch before heading out.
When we reached the Tioga Pass Yosemite entrance, we braced ourselves for a long wait, only to find a scant number of cars in line ahead of us. How fortuitous!
Our ritual when passing through is to always hit up Mountain Sage for their delicious green tea ginger ale made with their own house made ginger syrup. So, of course we made a pitstop to for a quick rest and to quench our thirst.
We finally made it home and potato’d for the rest of the long weekend. Susie drove 10 hours round trip like a fucking boss lady.
Signing out, see you on the trail! ❤ Em
Post Trip Notes
- Pee Funnel: I purchased a pee funnel for a mountaineering trip not too long ago (see: Mt. Baker trip report) and didn’t think to bring it on a regular backpacking trip for easy peeing. This is going on the backpacking holy grail list — I love peeing without needing to expose my whole business.
- Ex Officio Give-N-Go Underwear: These have been my go to chonies but I find that they sag as I hike and nothing feels sexier than walking around with a saggy caboose. I’ll need to explore other options.
- Bullfrog Gel Sunblock: I wanted to test this sunblock as an alternative to the creamy lotions that tend to feel greasy after application. We found that it pills on the skin if really sweaty and I think I’ll pass on purchasing it in the future after finishing this bottle.
- Backup lighter: I’ll be adding a lighter to my pack list after that stove fail. We got lucky but who knows if there will be someone to save us the next time our igniter fails!
- Platypus Quickdraw: LOVE this thing. We used to use the Platypus gravity and I think we’ll be replacing it with this now. It’s so much easier to use and less cumbersome than the gravity set up.
