The Loneliest Lake - Eight Day MK Loop

[lambertiana]

From the NPS stock camp at the Lost Canyon trail junction, we went SE to get over the south wall of Lost Canyon. Once over, we headed due south until we crested the gradual ridge and could see down toward Soda Creek. From there, we simply headed up that ridge until just short of point 10,861, then dropped down a little to the first lake. From there we contoured over to my lakes. This route involved a lot of rocks once we were on the ridge and heading up it; I took that route because it was a very definite route where I could see exactly where I was going. On the return to Lost Canyon, we took a route that was much easier. From the smaller lake north of my lakes, we crested over the divide just west of point 10,861, then headed down the (dry) creek drainage until we reached the flats at about 9700', where we turned north. That route would be a better way to go, with far less rock hopping. When you reach the rim of Lost Canyon, if you are too far west you end up cliffed out.

Near camp we found some fairly fresh scat that at first glance looked like stock had been there, nothing but grass. But it looked more like a bear had been eating grasses, and I could not find any tracks of any kind. Plus, I couldn't imagine how anyone could get stock to that location.

We also wondered about getting to what SSSDave calls Peanut Lakes, but from our vantage point at my lakes, it looked to be at least Class 3 if not worse, and I wasn't too keen on trying it.

[RichardCullip]

Thanks for a great trip report on some country I was very familiar with back in the 1970's. Took some nice trips up and over Franklin Pass to Little Claire Lake over to Big and Little Five lakes and back out semi-cross country via Spring Lake and Glacier pass. Age has caught up to me and I'll probably never walk that high country out of Mineral King again. You brought back some fond memories.

[lostcoyote]

wonderful trip report.
thank you for sharing.
these isolated lakes (hundreds of them) make high sierra cross country travel all the more worth the effort.
(ps - it was most amusing to see someone else herein get "jealous" for not having been there first)
pick another one & have fun.

[toejam]

Great TR! I'm planning a MK loop and now may need to add going off trail to a lonely lake.

[RooPhillip]

Awesome! Thanks for the look! And what an outstanding place to introduce your friend to the Sierra...

[rscofield]

Sounds like a very cool trip!

[Cheetahwoka]

Shoulda left a lake register there in an old chew can. "8/1/2013 Joe Hero was here with friend Gump from Lousianna. No evidence of humans, except the small eel-like brookies in the lake, that I caught by putting an oat flake in my palm and holding it in the water until they swam into my grasp." Imagine someone finding it 25 years later.

[cgundersen]

Hi Lambertiana,
Great, inspirational trip & report. Yes, I'm not at all surprised at the dearth of signs of human activity there. I last did a trip through that area by traversing from Crystal Lake to Amphitheater and then collecting boletes in Soda Creek canyon. Very little sign of folks even in that corridor. But, I remained curious about the other off trail lakes up there, and now you've solved much of the mystery. I'm very much looking forward to returning, someday. Perhaps, the most memorable part of our trip was that as we reached the trail at the outlet of Soda canyon we ran into a guy who said he'd intermittently been wandering the Sierra since he graduated Cal in '59. It took me a while to do the arithmetic, but it meant he was either a genius or well over 70. Or, both. Either way, I hope to be so lucky.
Anyway, since I'm just starting to catch up on last year's TRs, this was a fabulous start!
cg

[iHartMK]

What a great trip report! Thank you for sharing.