High Sierra Topix

A few of us are planning a 6 day trip at Mammoth toward the end of July and I'm trying to put together a loop hike to aviod the crowds. Would like to cover the area between Thousand Island & Mineret Lake and most of it will more then likely be crosscountry. Any suggestions from those of you who know the area would be appreciated. Thanks....

You want to do what? Better go in Oct. if you want to avoid the people in those areas. If you go in Oct. you should see 6 people in 6 days, and many days not seeing anyone. Pooch and I never hit any of the lakes off trail since we covered a large area and I didn't plan any time for getting lost. Looking at my map, there are a number of lakes not showing a trail to. Take a chance and go for it. Have fun.

I expect you to mean avoiding crowds between those two lakes and not avoiding crowds on the major trail in from Agnew Meadows trailhead to Thousand Island Lake or out from Minaret Lake down to Devils Postpile trail end. Thus the trail in and out of those areas would have major traffic since they are major arteries into the wilderness. Otherwise between the two lakes you can easily avoid many others by staying away from the PCT/JMT trail areas. Thus at Thousand Island Lake camp at the southwest end of the lake. Then use the Secor's High Sierra Route that is totally offtrail between there and Garnet, and Ediza, and Minaret Lake. And in each area camp well away from lake edges that backpackers and fishermen typically frequent. ...David

I thought Mammoth was where you go to avoid the crowd in Yosemite or at Whitney Portal

Thousand Island Lake is so pretty, you're bound to see people there, but it's worth it! Even at Lake Catherine I saw 3-4 small groups of people in a one day span.

Take the trail to Minaret Lake.
From there you can head off-trail to Cecile-Iceburg-Ediza-Nydiver
Garnet-Thousand Island Lakes without touching the trail.
You wont have crowds of people, but expect a few.
Youll most likely have alot of skeeterz though youll also have
wildflowers which to me is a fair trade-off but to some there not.
The most people will be at Minaret and Ediza on this route, Nydiver
and the ridges between Garnet and Thousand Island offer solitude
also the area up towards North Glacier Pass can be okay with a
good view Thousand Island Lake and a base to climb Banner Peak.