This is a long overdue report out on this trip!
We followed the excellent suggestion of several members on this forum and took a Labor Day trip into Emigrant last year. Wanting to avoid the crowds (especially since we were a bit of a crowd ourselves) we opted to venture off trail and up to Ridge and Iceland lakes.
Knowing we had a long day ahead of us, we got an early (~7 am) start to the day. Kennedy Meadows trailhead is at a semi-developed resort area which requires payment for parking, but you can park up the road for free so we shuttled in packs and then parked down the road. We headed out from the Kennedy Lakes trailhead and enjoyed the trail up, past old mining equipment and up to Relief reservoir. I had heard there was a lot of stock, and we definitely saw the signs but didn't have to deal with too many animals ourselves. Not far past the reservoir, we reached a point on the trail where we could see our ultimate destination. It was a great vantage point.
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Not too long after the reservoir, we reached the junction in the trail and headed away from Kennedy Meadows and towards Summit Creek. At this point, we were just north but very close to where Summit creek joins up with the Lewis Lake outlet creek (let's call is Lewis Creek.) Having read the trail reports of others, we decided this would be the place to stop and refresh ourselves while we contemplated the off trail venture. We hit the confluence around noon and were delighted with the creek, it was a great spot to refill water and soak our feet.
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We had read one report that suggested going slightly right of a granite knob, but we had headed a bit further east and saw an approach going back west and more or less straight up the slab (just to the left of the knob feature). The off trail here is easy, steep and exposed but manageable. We headed up between two small peak formations on the east side of Iceland and Ridge lakes.
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Once we topped out the small ridge between the two peaks, we ended up across a wide bowl from another ridge. It was easy enough to traverse across the bowl and get to the other side.
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We headed a bit far to the south and popped out right by Ridge lake. Much to our chagrin, despite our early start, a few others had beat us up there and snagged the best spot at the unbelievably beautiful Ridge lake. Not to be deterred, we headed back west in search of Iceland. After a brief and confused stop at an unnamed and pollen choked little lakelet, we discovered the large and accommodating Iceland lake just north. There were campsites on the shore, but we opted to hop onto a small island that offered many flat tent spots, though it was very exposed.
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Though we were exhausted, that night offered a full moon and we hiked up to the small round peak just at the southwestern edge of Iceland lake. This afforded us moonlit views of the entire Kennedy Meadows valley, down to Relief reservoir, where we could even see the headlights on Highway 108 off in the distance. The full moon shining on that granite slab and Iceland lake is more beautiful than words can describe.
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The next day, rather than staying up at Iceland lake for two nights, we decided to head back down and try to find a campsite below fire level. Before heading back, we all stuck around and swam in the icy cold lake (even in early September!), and two of our crew were motivated to climb Granite Dome. They headed from the west and were able to make it to the top and back down in about three hours. Fortunately, they had the smarts to bring a couple beers and stash them in the ice that remained on the ridge and were able to reward themselves with a few ice cold beers.
Early afternoon we sadly bid adieu to the gorgeous basin and struck out. We headed back in more or less the same direction, but ended up a bit too far south and west coming down off the ridge, closer to the outlet from lewis lakes. I do not recommend this route, as the granite slabs were broken up and we encountered a few places we had to either jump down or take a long detour to the side. The creek coming out of Lewis has a lot of elevation and is a bit gulchy. However, if you head further north away from the lake outlet and to the wide flat area just south of the confluence of the creeks, the terrain is manageable and would probably make a better approach than we had initially taken up to the lakes.
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We came out onto the trail above the confluence of Lewis creek and summit creek and found many nice campsites just off the trail above the confluence. We had a great night with a beautiful fire, lots of whiskey, and many happy smiles with the adventure we had enjoyed.
Summary: This trip is physically demanding if you want to make it up to Ridge / Iceland, but is extremely rewarding. The off trail takes time but is not inherently difficult if you're armed with a topo map and the skills to read it.
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