TR: LL Valley Circle- Mono Pass, Gabbot, Cox Col, 6/26 - 6/30/2022

[Harlen]

In my growing tradition of temporarily converting surfers to mountaineers, I took our visiting Argentine surfer friend "Manu" for a wild ride on the crest of the Sierra.  We started up Little Lakes Valley (LLV) with open plans either to explore Laurel Creek, cross the ridge over to Hopkins Basin, and return legally*; or to go up Mills Creek, Gabbot Pass, and circle around to LLV via the infamous Cox Col.

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Gazing toward our ultimate destination-- The shoulder of Bear Creek Spire, and Cox Col.

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Here's Manu and Bearzy.  

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Many flowers were in full bloom.  Indian Paintbrush and Mariposa Lily. 

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Bear Creek Spire is one of my very favorite peaks, and I have long wanted to get high up on its northern slopes.   The Cox Col route would put us out of bounds on our return down LLV.*[Not so, see comments below]  We let the Mono Creek crossing call the shot, and as it was dead easy-- off we went, up Mills Creek toward a life of crime.  

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Bearzy high on the Mono Pass trail, and dry as a bone.

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And Bearzy at 4th Recess Lake, like a soaking wet, big red rat!  What a difference a few miles makes!


We left the Mosquito Flat TH mid-afternoon, yet made the 7.7 miles over Mono Pass, and down to camp by 4th Recess Lake.  After leaving the day-hiker Mecca of LLV, we had the trail and the lake to ourselves.  Manu saw his first big Marmots, and Hares, and a few Golden-mantled Squirrels.  Wandering up that long lake in the morning, I saw nothing but very small trout, I have no idea what else might be in those deep waters, which look so promising.  The waterfall coming down from the hanging valley looked like a fun climb. 

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Our second day was grueling, and though Manu carried a liter of water, he suffered cramps, weakness, nausea and worse-- some of the water he drank came back up.  Dehydration was the likely culprit, and after a rest day at Lower Mills Creek Lake, Manu improved dramatically. I still seem impervious to dehydration due to my camel-like abilities, however, with the worry about Manu, and the long, dry stretch ahead, I made a rare water carry of 1.5 liters up to Gabbot Pass.  We found water very near the top of Gabbot, after carrying it from far below-- damn!  Originally, we thought to climb Mt. Gabb, but instead we just carried on over North Cox Col, to a high camp by Dade Lake.   It went very well for all of us.  I left Bearzy's empty pack on him, for the strong handle to use in lifting or lowering him, but there was very little of that needed.  I was grateful for the sound advice gleaned here about "North Cox Col."  It really did make the crossing easier.  

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Scarlet Gilia.


So, the route of our trip was this:  Over Mono Pass to 4th Recess Lake on Day 1; near to Lower Mills Creek Lake on the troublesome Day 2; and up to Lower Mills Creek Lake for a Day 3 of rest, and fishing around. On Day 4 we crossed over Gabbot Pass, and North Cox Col, to a camp by Dade Lake.  On our final day, we hiked out from Dade Lake through LLV to the TH below Mosquito Flat.  The trip was about 33 miles, with 7,350' of uphill.  Our biggest mammals were a closeup view of a big old Hare, and some nice sightings of Yellow-bellied Marmots.  The next biggest animal we saw, we ate-- that was the Golden Trout I caught.  Without my birding buddies (and stupidly leaving my binocs on the roof of the car!), I could only positively ID. 14 bird species, the best of which were the families of Grouse who exploded from around our feet on two occasions.  The dehydration health issue, occurring deep in the range, was concerning, but was resolved pretty easily.  We escaped the wrath of the rangers on our walk down LLV, * but now know for sure that the wilderness permits do indeed preclude mixing areas, which is a shame. *[Not so. Thanks to queries by "looks easy from here," and WD. I believe I am mistaken here. One must only head in via the pass/area of the WP, and then we're free.] The rule is necessary to limit the overuse of the areas, but on our walk out, we saw exactly 2 overnight parties, and 1 was a solitary camper.  There were no others high in the basin near us.  The whole trip was remarkable for the lack of other backpackers.  We saw only 5 people after leaving LLV.  We were alone at 4th Recess Lake, alone at our camps in  Mills Creek, and saw no one on the day we crossed the last 2 passes. Alone again while camped at Dade Lake, and we saw no one well into the next morning's walk out.  We had a great time in the mountains, but on our return, that damn Manu took off his boots, and went right back into the waves!

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Mono Creek at the junction with Mills Creek.  Easy crossing over a dry log.

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We stopped early at the lake just a bit lower than Lower Mills Creek Lake.

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Route Map: with Days 1 - 2 in Blue, Days 3 - 4 in Purple, and Day 5 Orange. Day hikes marked in Green. [Cl. 2x to expand]

[Harlen]

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The crest on the east side of Mills Creek is a unique, 3 mile long mountain wall stretching to Mt. Mills.

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There is a beautiful meadow on the east side of Lower Mills Creek Lake

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Upper Mills Creek Lake.

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I fished a couple of the lakes, and in one I released a lot of small Golden Trout, and in the other, I caught 6 Goldens, from 10 to 14."  

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I placed this fish here on a blank rock so I could claim my first 20" fish, but I reckon geologist Giantbrookie would find a way to analyze the size of one of the  crystals, and expose my fraud.

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[Carne_DelMuerto]

Nice report. I love that area. Did you mean 6/26 - 6/30 in your post title?

[Harlen]

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The saddle on the right is the gateway to Gabbot Pass.

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Climbing above the upper lakes, you begin to get a view north.  The broad peak on the right is Peak 12,160, hanging over Silver Pass. (Blue arrow)

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 The convoluted route to Gabbot Pass is roughly marked in red.  The old, off-trail High Route is now pretty well trailed in Mills Creek.  

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Nearly on the pass.

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Very close.

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 And we're there.  

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To the SW, you begin to see some Bear Creek area peaks.  Feather and Gemini are seen in the distance-- left and right.

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Bear Creek Spire, with Cox Col.  We chose an unnecessarily high line across, and ended up dropping back down a bit, to make it easier.

[oddtiger]

Nice! I'm actually driving up to do this loop tomorrow but have to compact it to 2 days. Would love to see the condition on the Cox col!

[Harlen]

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It was the most scenic route though. 

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Cox Col is very easy to reach from the west.

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The North Cox Col had Coyote tracks leading to it- which we took as a good sign.

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Bear Creek Spire, with Mount Tom, and Spire and Split Lakes in view.

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Little Lakes Valley again, on the east side of the col.

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Dade Lake.  The dawn was beautiful.

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The route we took down, from what some now call "North Cox Col," is shown in blue. The section hidden behind the ridge is all class 2 and easy.   The regular Cox Col, at the lowest point of the ridge, is within the red circle, and it looked a lot steeper, and more exposed.

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The next morning we found this deluxe camp-- Oh well.

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[Harlen]

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(Click on the pano to expand.)

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Pygmy fleabane? Erigeron pygmaeus.

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Columbine.

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Bearzy's favorite part of the trip-- not the end-- the water!

[jlweinberger]

Beautiful pictures and a great report. Thanks for sharing and inspiring

[Harlen]

Carne_DelMuerto wrote:

Nice report. I love that area. Did you mean 6/26 - 6/30 in your post title?

Thanks for pointing that out.

[Harlen]

oddtiger wrote:

Nice! I'm actually driving up to do this loop tomorrow but have to compact it to 2 days. Would love to see the condition on the Cox col!

That sounds like quite an effort. I suppose if you got an early start from LLV, you might make it to the Mills Creek Lakes area in one long day. We didn't start till 3 PM. It would help you acclimatize too, since you could sleep at a lower elevation lower in Mills Creek. Are you doing our same route Oddtiger? It isn't many miles is it? I added in our day hiking miles, plus our short deviation to explore 4th Recess Lake too-- so it might be less than 25 miles. Sounds like too very fine days-- Great luck!, Ian.