On the third day of my backpacking trek into the King Creek basin, I hiked down from Holcomb Lake to the John Muir Trail and Devils Postpile National Monument, then headed north to check out Minaret Falls which was flowing strong.
I woke up early that morning, as usual, and ate a hot breakfast. I packed up my gear and got ready to hike. Today was going to be a “downhill” day, about two thousand feet, so I tightened the laces on my shoes to stop my toes from slamming forward. I still had a couple of residual black toenails from my PCT hike earlier this season, and I didn’t want any more. I took a few photos of Holcomb Lake and noticed that there didn’t seem to be any trout rising. As I suspected. Oh well. Not every lake is perfect. Then I put on my backpack and headed out. It was just before dawn.
The first color appeared in the clouds soon after, as I neared Noname Lake. What a great name! There were hundreds of nameless lakes in the High Sierra, but only this one was official. Silly but true. It was also quite pretty in the morning light, with colorful clouds and the resultant alpenglow on the surrounding peaks. The sun came up and beamed its light on the Ritter Range to the west. Lovely reflections, too. A photographer’s dream.
I passed by the cascading waters of the outflow creek from Holcomb Lake, and took a few more photos and videos. I never get tired of watching (and hearing) running water.
I put on my water shoes when it came time to cross King Creek. The water was cold that morning. It was cold every morning, no doubt. I forded the creek and sat down on a log across the way, to dry my feet and put my shoes back on. This was when the mosquitos arrived, so I got out my DEET and smeared it on my hands and face. They buzzed around me, but couldn’t land. It must have been frustrating for them. Too bad. DEET, frustrating bugs since 1946!
I continued hiking on the King Creek loop, in a clockwise direction. The trail was now called the Superior Lake Trail even though it actually went all the way to the Beck Lakes. According to recent high-resolution satellite data, those lakes were still frozen, in mid-August! And that’s yet another reason why I ended up staying at Holcomb Lake, to tell the truth. Anyway, the Superior Lake trail climbed very gradually for a mile or two, up and over a broad ridge, before beginning its long descent into the Minaret Creek Valley. Up there at 9500 feet elevation, there were plenty of fine views to the south and east, and along the way were small meadows and swampy regions, wet with melting snow. I really enjoyed hiking that trail.
Eventually, of course, I ended up down on the valley floor, where the trail intersected the John Muir Trail. Vicki and I hiked here back in 2021, and we camped near this spot, which I revisited for old time’s sake. It was a good place for a break, and it was also the decision point for this trek of mine: Was I going to make a left and spend the next few days hiking the Minaret Loop? Or was I going to turn right, and head for the car, having only completed the King Creek Loop? I had enough food in my pack, but did my aching feet want to do it? The plantar fasciitis I got on the PCT hadn’t entirely “heeled” yet, it seemed. Punny but true.
After sitting by the creek with my shoes off, I rubbed my feet and felt the soreness. Plantar issues really do take months to heal, and being in my mid-sixties wasn’t helping any. The need for an ice ax (which I had with me) on the icy slope near still-frozen Iceberg Lake meant that I would surely be chopping and kicking steps. I only had Youtube-quality knowledge of how to use an ice ax, to tell the truth, and I wasn’t feeling very confident. Being a solo hiker didn’t help. In the final analysis, I reluctantly gave up on the Minaret Loop portion of my proposed hike. I decided on a pathetic compromise instead, after seeing how strong Minaret Creek was flowing, which was to hike a couple of extra miles to check out Minaret Falls on my way to the car. Last time we were there, it was barely flowing at all. Today looked to be stellar. So off I went.
After passing by the dead trees from an old wildfire, I headed north on the PCT. This was the southern end of the fifteen mile stretch where the PCT and JMT diverged. Vicki and I did both parts as a loop on that previous hike.
I ended up glad that I walked the extra distance to Minaret Falls. It was flowing very well. The creek split into several branches as it cascaded down the cliff, so it was more of a wide band of smaller waterfalls than one great plunging flow of water. But that was part of its beauty. Sadly, there were far too many smaller trees interfering with a good view of the falls, however. I had to work my way through bushes to get a decent shot, and even then I missed a seeing the base, even with my camera held up high above my head. Now, I’m not big on chopping trees for vicarious reasons, but this was one of the gems of the park. Surely they should maintain a better viewpoint for tourists such as myself. We can’t all be bushwhackers.
After that, I headed south once again, on a wide flat trail leading toward the Devils Postpile. I crossed the Middle Fork San Joaquin River on the footbridge, and stopped to take some photos. The view upstream over the meadow was particularly lovely that morning. Gorgeous! Yet another reason to love the Sierra Nevada.
I continued along the trail toward the Ranger Station, which was still closed. There were hardly any tourists in the park, so it wasn’t surprising. Then I hiked up the road to the backpacker parking lot. There were only a handful of cars in the lot. Truly, nobody was bothering with a vacation in the Sierra this year, after the Winter of 2023.
I tossed my backpack into the car and headed out, driving up the long winding road toward the town of Mammoth Lakes. Work crews were busy chopping down large pines along the road, which they were finally fixing and widening after all these years. It was long overdue. I pulled off up at the top of the hill to visit the Minaret Vista viewpoint. There was excellent visibility that day, and I took plenty of photos. This time I focused a bit more on the King Creek Basin across the valley, where I just spent the last three days. I also looked yearningly at the Minarets and the part of my hike that I hadn’t finished. I vowed to come back, maybe next year depending on snowfall, and complete that loop.
After that, I drove down to the town. People were still skiing up on Mammoth Mountain! Not many, and the snow was probably slushy, but there are always folks who want to ski in the middle of Summer.
I went into town and bought some lunch at a fast food joint. It was still early, and I wasn’t ready to head home yet, especially after cutting my trek short. I sat in the restaurant and made some contingency plans. The High Sierra was so big, and there were so many parts of it that I hadn’t explored. I decided to first try some fly fishing up above the town, at McCloud Lake, and then maybe I would drive south. I would do an easier backpacking trek in the Little Lakes Valley. I could camp near the trailhead tonight and hike out in the morning. That became my new plan.
And with that, I drove onward to my next adventure.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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