R03 TR: Minaret Lake, July 1-4 2021

[Pietro257]

I don’t imagine there is much to say to the people on this forum about a little old hike to Minaret Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. We, eight of us, started in Devil’s Post Pile and hiked to the lake in five hours on July 1. We camped for three nights at the lake. We took a cross-country jaunt to the Minaret Mine on July 3. Random thoughts:

In backpacking, you can either suffer on the way in or suffer in camp. We brought along all manner of amenities which weighed down our packs and made the hike to Minaret harder. However, these same amenities, once they arrived in camp, made life very, very comfortable. We had a big Coleman stove, four camp chairs, and food like you wouldn’t believe. One of us is a very good cook. We had taco bowls, Asian-fusion noodle and rice dishes, and lots of fresh trout courtesy of some fishermen in the group. Anyone who stumbled on our camp would’ve thought we were glampers.

One member of the party had to start a day late. We had a betting pool as to when he would arrive on the second day. He drove over the Sierras from San Francisco starting at 9:00 the previous night, slept in his car in Devil’s Post Pile, and arrived in camp at 11:10 A.M., besting every predication about his arrival time. He came bearing 24 cans of beer, making the festivities still more festive.

Minaret Lake is gorgeous and a bit off the beaten path compared to the other nearby gorgeous lakes, Thousand Island and Garnet. It isn’t as crowded as those two lakes. I’ve camped there four or five times. The best campsite is on the western side of the lake by the inlet creek. Most backpackers arrive at Minaret Lake from the east and set up camp straightaway on the east or north side, but if you’re coming from Devil’s Post Pile and you have the patience and stamina to keep going around the lake, you’ll find a great campsite on the western side. The site is protected by trees and has a great view of the lake.

I discovered the western-side campsite many years ago when I came upon it after crossing the pass from Lake Ediza. On this trip I saw only one party arrive from over the pass while camped at Minaret Lake. The pass is not difficult although the route-finding can be tricky from the Ediza side. Several times in the past while camped at Minaret Lake I saw parties trying to cross the pass who strayed onto the cliffs above the lake.

It takes about an hour to cross-country hike to the Minaret Mine. The route-finding isn’t hard. Seeing the cast-off old iron equipment and mine shafts is quite amazing.

There were mosquitos, but enough said about that.

This trip to the Minaret Mine was a warmup for me. I’m heading to Bench Canyon in the Ansel Adams to reprise a trip I took there in 2012. Imagine my surprise when I searched Google for info about this hike and Google spit back a trip description I wrote on this forum in 2012.

viewtopic.php?t=8190

[Carne_DelMuerto]

Ha! I once was late coming in and made it from Crabtree to Pingree Lake in Emigrant in about 4 hours, but I was only carrying 5 beers. Your guy with 24 is a hero!

[windknot]

Thanks for the report. 24 cans of beer! That's extremely impressive. I thought I was being generous hoofing in a 6-pack for a few members of this forum when we met up in the backcountry once.

[cgundersen]

Pietro,
Yep, that's a record that will be hard to surpass. And what a great place to pop those beers! Delectable! Keep that in mind when you reach Bench canyon! Cameron