High Sierra Topix

Exiting Garnet lake we descended down a chute (covered in snow) and continued down a very steep trail until we reached the San Joaquin where we were supposed to catch the river trail back to Agnew. Instead we ended up on a trail that hugged the west side of the river (at no time did we see a crossing that would have taken us to the river trail). It actually ended up being my favorite leg of the entire trip (even thought it went in and out of sight the second half). At one point we thought we were in some serious trouble when the only option was a straight down drop 100's of feet straight into the river. Luckily at the last minute we decided not to walk back the entire distance we had already come but took a higher route that eventually led into the Shadow Lake trail. Let me say it was much welcome relief when we saw a few people at the intersection. So my question is, where the hell was I at ???

Did you exit Garnet Lake via the trail shown on the north-east side of the lake? Perhaps you connected with a use trail to those two smaller lakes?

Yes, it was on the NE side of the lake and went straight down for about mile until i hit the river. However i didn't cross the river like I was supposed to and ended up on a trail that hugged the west side of the river.

Anytime someone mentions a trail hugging the side of a river, I think of fishermen...who create all sorts of trails that go nowhere except to the next really nice pool. You may have just followed a use trail like this...