R03 TR: Ansel Adams Agnew-Ediza lk-Minaret lk-Devil's PP 8/17-8/21 2013

[sandiegonate]

Hello all. This is my 1st TR, hope you enjoy

Back in July I went up to Oakhurst to hang out with an friend and get some backpacking in. We ended up going up to Lake Chittenden via Norris Creek th. What does that have to do with this? This was our grand view of the Ritter Range that weekend.


The day after I got home I started researching hikes closer to the Minarets(and found this place)

1st day we drove up from San Diego in my buddy's sports mobile and camped at Twin Lakes campground. Campground was packed but it was still a nice base camp to grill up some carne y pollo asada and drink a bunch of beer. Sierra Nevada's hoptimum IPA to be exact, while the others cleared out the general store's supply of 'Happy Camper' red wine.


Not the most efficient vehicle for a 800 mile road trip, but you can't put a price on comfort. Plus there was 4 of us to split the cost. Riding in the back was like flying business class on a 747

The original plan was to camp at Ediza lake then head over to Garnet then camp at TI lake. While collecting the permits I was chatting with some of the rangers and I noticed they kept referring to TI lake as thousand man, thousand tent, etc. Then the next day while in line for the shuttle another ranger also used the same slang. We were undeterred though.


Started at Agnew Meadow at 11 am with nice blue skies and perfect temps


While stopping for a few pics at the sign, a couple dudes on their way out stopped to bs with us. They warned us about TI lake, not just the crowds but someone had stolen 1 of the guys boots in the middle of the night. He was hiking out with sandals and socks. Is it possible a bear could've ran off with them? I'd hate to think fellow hikers would stoop so low as to steal another man's boots 7 miles into the wilderness. Anyhoo that's when we decided to change course to Minaret Lake for the 2nd day


Making our way up the steep part of the Shadow Creek trail towards the lake. Wasn't too bad


Nice break at Shadow Lake. Took the shirt off to dry on a rock, as we were readying to leave a gust of wind blew my shirt into the lake


San Diego's been super dry this last year so it's very refreshing to see moving water


Awesome spot somewhere near the JMT trail. Can you camp here?


Just as we set up camp at Ediza the clouds rolled in


After mixing a drink 2 of us decide to climb the hill by camp for a better view and get the last sun rays of the day


Cool video spying on the 2 farts that would rather stay at camp and drink wine than make the climb up the hill.






Of course I had to wake up before sunrise to get some reflection shots

After breakfast we decide to follow the creek above the lake to the base of the peaks








Spying on our camp towards the top using my camera's full 80x zoom (20 optical) about a mile away as the crow flies

After making our way back down and packing up camp, the clouds were getting darker. Onward to Iceberg Lake!


Before reaching Iceberg the rain starts so ponchos on and cameras put away. We ran into a guy coming from the other direction who advised us to not take Cecil's outlet down but to stay far left




Looking back at Iceberg Lake. About half way around the lake the thunder and lightning started, adding to the super slick and loose rocks made this not the best place to be in inclement weather


The only shot of Cecile Lake I took because of the rain






Making our way down towards Minaret Lake following that dudes advise of staying left

Once we reached the lake we ran into a group who advised us all the good spots on the east side are taken so we took the west side. We ended up camping on the lake right by the creek that I assume flows out of Cecile. Looking up towards the top it didn't look like a bad way to make the descent. Oh well. By the time we set up camp it was getting dark and we were treated to an awesome sunset.




After years of sitting on rocks and logs and dirt, rei's little backpacker chair is worth it's weight in gold. And yes those are guitar hero fleece pant's. Never backpack without them. This was also the last shot I got before the camera died. Cell pics from here out

Next morning we knew we had a long day of hiking then driving back to San Diego







The rain started just as we got on the shuttle at Devils Postpile. Stopped for some really good buffalo burgers at a place called...Burgers. After that just a long and boring drive home. That's about it I guess. Hope you all enjoyed my trip. I think next up is a trip to the Palisades Glacier...

[giantbrookie]

Nice report that really injects the fun into the high country--everything from the ride (it would be positively grand to do a geology field trip with that vehicle), to the top-of-line IPA (reminded to raid my 'fridge for said Hoptimum), to the camp chairs, and more.

[tim]

Its a beautiful area - we were just at Ediza this weekend. Please pay attention to the camping restrictions though - camping is banned on the south side of the lake and you have to cross the inlet before setting up your tent. You're also on grass - you should stick to dirt instead.

With respect to the question about camping near the JMT: as the permits and maps say, between Shadow and Ediza lakes all camping is banned on the north side of Shadow Creek between the creek and the trail. And you should never camp in a meadow itself, only on the dirt/rocky areas around the edges (100ft from water).

[SSSdave]

You have displayed a rather common behavior of many Sierra wilderness visitors. That of receiving a permit but apparently not really bothering to read it carefully. Many of us get lulled into thinking we have seen and read it all, so don't need to bother any more. Otherwise you would not have put something like the below on a public board that will be a wee embarassing. Don't feel too too bad, just read it next time and it serves purpose to others reading this as you are not alone.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/inyo/ ... width=full" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Camping prohibited: Within 300 ft. of Shadow Lake & between Shadow Creek and the trail from Shadow Lake inlet to the creek crossing below Lake Ediza; the south side of Lake Ediza and on the west side meadows; within 1/4 mile of the outlet of either Garnet Lake or Thousand Island Lake.

Your ninth image from the top with your tent in the foreground, Ediza Lake midground, and Ritter/Banner in the background is within a no camping zone that has been the situation for many many years. Rangers regularly roust people from there as well as the significant no camping zones around Shadow Lake and those at the Thousand Island Lake east end. There also used to be actually signage on trails near the approach of all those lakes indicating the no camping zones.

Same corner of the lake looking towards the Minarets:

http://www.davidsenesac.com/images/print_06-dd3-4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[sandiegonate]

Yea we realized later that night we were in the no camping zone when looking at the map. I guess we kinda assumed we were far enough when we passed another camp by about 100 yards and followed a trail to that grassy area. If it makes you feel better we did collect various cliff bar wrappers left behind from a previous illegal camp and we also kinda spruced up the trampled grass that lead from the main trail to make it less obvious. True story!