High Sierra Topix

I can't speak to Minnow Creek and trails west of Cascade Valley but the valley and Fish Creek are one of my favorite places in the Sierra. I've dropped down from Purple Lake to the Fish Creek trail and got on it from the JMT after Tully Hole. The trail was in good condition, all along the creek and up and over to Iva Bell Hot Springs. Fires and downed trees may have changed that (this was in 2011 I think). Camp was made in the evening on a sandbar adjacent to Fish Creek. It was mid-September. Snow was forecast the next day. Reflections of moonlight on the winding creek. Massive old growth conifer forest above swayed at its topmost branches. Stillness and beauty, and only one other group nearby, which were heard but not seen and they left early the next morning. It snowed at the high lakes to the west that night and Iva Bell had no other campers.

Thanks for this detailed description; it's the kind of setting i've been hoping to find and i am more excited than ever. Any more recent downed trees will make the beauty and solitude even more rewarding (within reason!). I am not planning to camp near Iva Belle, as it seems the hot springs have been "discovered" in recent years, but I may take a dip in them as i make my way over the ridge into the Cascade Canyon. Thanks again.