High Sierra Topix

Just back from a great trip in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness just north of Yosemite, off Highway 108.

This isn't what we had planned. First choice was in Desolation Wilderness...so we got our permit weeks ago. And realized there was no way we were hiking in that snow. Then we thought about Carson-Iceberg Wildnerness of 108. Both Arnot Creek and Disaster Creek sounded vaguely possible until a few days before our department. They both entered the snowline with a mile or two of the trailhead.

And that's when we thought about Lost Lake, Sword Lake, and Spicer Reservoir. The top elevation would only be about 6700 feet, and snowline was just about that. How bad could it be? Or how good?

We started from the Wheat's Meadow trailhead, because you couldn't get to the nearer County Line trailhead. A beautiful trip, and we had the place to ourselves. Admittedly, day one was a bit of problem. Threatening weather and poor trail conditions made this the longest five miles we've ever hiked. The first two miles were a simple climb up and down a ridge. But that was followed by two miles (and more than two hours) of wandering up the Dardanelles Creek watershed in the woods, tromping through the snow, trying to find places to cross the swollen creeks. The trail was either under snow or under water, but we managed to navigate with map, compass, and a lot of stopping and looking around. The last mile was a piece of cake/ Once at the lakes, we got amazing views--we camped on the western rim of Lost Lake, and admired the views of Spicer, the Dardanelles, and the rest of this part of the Sierra. Definitely one to keep in the back of your mind. And a great start to the summer!

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Nice pictures and thanks for the report! It's good to see that people are finding ways to get out there. My attempt at lakes in the 8500-9000ft range in Hwy 168 country further south were thwarted by snow several feet deep covering roads to various trailheads in the Huntington Lake area a couple days ago. My planned trip to the Ranger Lakes in KCNP looks like it might have to wait until late June because the Big Meadows road is still closed because of heavy snow, and snowline is at about 8000ft down there depending on exposure. Looks like it's back to the drawing board for me.

Matt

Very nice. It looks like you had a good time and had plenty of solitude. We did a day hike a few years back into Sword Lake, 4th of July weekend if I remember correctly. Great lake for swimming and jumping off rocks.

Thanks for report.

Nice TR and pic's , haven't been there since the 80's.
Interesting how many Lost Lakes there are in the Sierra, and most of them are
quite pretty, though the one in Kings is my favorite, followed by the one in
Ansel Adams Wilderness.

Thanks for the pics, I viewed a few at work on my break and some more just now. You sure some of those like the shot with the Juniper weren't from Summer?:) One photo of the wet ground reminds me of early season hikes into the Caribou Wilderness.

Thanks for the kind words, guys. The trip really was night and day. Friday was cold, misty and overcast. Saturday and Sunday were toasty warm and dry...when you didn't have to cross a creek or crunch through crusty snow.

Thanks for the pics and TR. That creek crossing looks cold! I can brave quite a few things, but call me a wuss when it comes to something like that.