High Sierra Topix

Here goes my first-ever TR! This was a solo trip I took in August, the second of two short ones. The first had been a 3-night ramble around the Tablelands, which was less fun/interesting IMO, but was good preparation for this trip.

Day 0: I had been camping in the Grant Grove area between the two trips, so I drove down to Road’s End to pick up my permit for tomorrow. While waiting for the office to open, I tried to hike around a bit, but the black flies were pretty miserable. Eventually the office opened and I was able to get the permit. My plan was to camp the first night at the confluence of Bubbs and Charlotte creeks; the ranger told me that a bear had been active in that area, even rifling through an (unoccupied) tent, and that if I saw the bear I should “run at it like I was trying to eat it”. Sure thing!

I headed back up to Grant Grove, enjoyed the sequoias some more, and treated myself to a night at the John Muir Lodge.

Day 1: Got an early start driving down to Road’s End, and was hiking by 8am. I was mobbed by black flies for the first several miles, but I had a head net and I was mostly able to tune them out until getting to an elevation where they went away. I made better time than I expected motoring up the Bubbs Creek trail (underestimated how acclimated I’d be after the Tablelands trip), and was at the crossing with Charlotte Creek by 11:30am. Since there was so much time left in the day, and since I wasn’t particularly psyched about running into the bear, I decided to continue on.

I turned right at East Creek to continue up the trail to East Lake. I hadn’t realized there would be a bridgeless crossing of Bubbs here (my bad for not noting that ahead of time), but it didn’t look too scary. I took off my shoes and socks, unclipped the straps on my backpack, and made it across the knee-high water without difficulty. I sat and enjoyed the peaceful setting while waiting for my feet to dry.



In 2023, I had turned back on day 1 of a planned trip over Taboose Pass, because the first crossing of Taboose Creek was too scary for (solo) me. I don’t regret making that decision even though I now think it would have been fine (uncertainty is a good reason to play it safe), but I did feel especially chuffed to have easily made it across this one.

I continued on up to East Lake; when the trail crossed East Creek, I was very happy to see the bridge, because the river there was more torrential than Bubbs had been. I arrived at East Lake with time to set up and eat dinner before sunset, and I was the only one camped on the north side of the lake that night. Day 1 stats: 13mi, 4600ft gain



Day 2: Started back on the trail up towards Lake Reflection. Shortly after leaving East Lake behind, I passed a couple coming the other way who had come down over Longley Pass the day before. Since that was on my itinerary, we chatted a bit, and they advised that the cornice was “intimidating” but that they hadn’t had much trouble going around it on its north side. After a few minutes we went our separate ways; that would turn out to be my last human interaction for the next 72 hours!

Just before arriving at Lake Reflection, I found some porcini growing right along the trail. I love foraging, but am not very keen on actually eating mushrooms – since I didn’t have anyone to share them with, I left them for whomever had already started nibbling.



Lake Reflection is as beautiful as everyone says, and I stopped for a while to have second breakfast with this view.



At this point I started the off-trail portion of the trip, and picked my way along the NW side of Lake Reflection. This was a little challenging, but not dramatically so. After getting to the other side, I continued on up to the large lake below Longley Pass (WL 3496). That part was a little harder, mostly because I didn’t choose the best chute to go up at the very end, but again it was within my comfort zone. I had had a little rain & thunder throughout the afternoon, but the skies were clear as I set up my tent near the lake.



I sat and stared at Longley looming overhead, psyching myself up for the attempt tomorrow, and reminding myself that if it didn’t feel comfortable it would be fine to turn around. Day 2 stats: 5mi, 2300ft gain



Day 3: Let’s go Longley! Getting to the foot of the pass was easy and fun. Slogging up the sandy slope to the cornice was tiring and not fun, but easy enough, and I reached the cornice near its north side. Going up the north-side rocks looked sketchier than I was expecting based on the couple’s report from yesterday, but I was happy to see that moving laterally along the cornice seemed straightforward, and I knew that it tapered out on its south side. So, that’s what I did, and eventually just stepped over the cornice when it became thin enough.

The picture below was taken from above the north side of the pass; I reached the cornice near the bottom of the picture, and stepped over it near the top of the picture. This was the most visceral experience I’ve had of foreshortening – from the bottom of the pass it was totally unclear how much room there was to maneuver, but from above the pass it looks “easy”.



Success! I knew Longley would be the crux of this trip, and I was thrilled to have made it without any issues and without getting out of my comfort zone. There were several times on this trip when I felt grateful to folks on this forum for extensive beta, but this was #1.



I stashed my pack by some rocks and did the easy hike up to the top of South Guard. The registers go back to 1966!



Incredible views across the range, all the way to Mt. Whitney in the far distance. It was so cool to know that this was basically the same view that the 1864 California Geologic Survey crew had when discovering that Mt. Brewer was not the highest peak in the Sierra Nevada. You can really pick out Mt. Whitney as the highest point!



Eventually I went back down to get my pack, and then circled around the south side of South Guard. I could have saved some time (and talus) going over the shoulder between Brewer and South Guard, but South Guard Lake was a sparkling jewel and I'm glad I saw it. Looks like it would be fun to ice skate!





Then I headed down into Brewer Basin to make camp, where (I think) I had the whole basin to myself. A special place for sure. Day 3 stats: 6mi, 2500ft gain, 2600ft descent







Day 4: I got a late start and wasn’t sure exactly how far I wanted to go today; was vaguely thinking I'd just try to make it to Sphinx Lakes and camp there. I was, however, getting pretty worn out. Learning how to consume enough calories is one of my “growing edges” when it comes to backpacking, and you can see the exhaustion on my face here at the top of Sphinx Pass.



I took a couple of pics on the way down from Sphinx Pass, but these would be the last of this trip.





I got to Sphinx Lakes around 2pm, and the idea of making it back to the car sounded way better than stopping, so I just pressed on. The descent went on forever, and I had my fill of talus several times over. Eventually, just when I thought there couldn’t be anything worse than more talus, the bushwhacking started. In retrospect I should have stayed higher above Sphinx Creek, but from what I’ve read there’s not really a “pleasant” way to get through this section. I crashed and bashed my way through the forest, and eventually got onto the trail heading down into the Bubbs Creek canyon.

The day was by no means over yet, but being on trail meant at least I could give my underfed brain a little rest. I did make it all the way back to the car, arriving well after dark. I slept fitfully in the car, and then drove down out of the mountains the next morning. Day 4 stats: 14 mi, 900ft gain, 7200ft descent

Overall, this was the most challenging backpacking trip I’ve done, and the longest I’ve gone without seeing other people. Both of those facts made it intensely rewarding! Brewer Basin is gorgeous, and I would like to spend more time there, hopefully while eating enough to stay energized. Both of the ways I took in & out were tough (Longley & Sphinx) – I’m guessing that coming up Brewer Creek isn’t easier overall, but it might be a while before I am in the mood to do Sphinx Creek again.

Thanks enmiles for posting - you gave us some really great images here, as well as some useful detail on Longley Pass. An excellent early Christmas gift to us on the HST forum

Your photos are really great! That was some rigorous schedule you had for a relatively novice backpacker. Speaking of bears, I had a mother-cub bear encounter on the trail near Sphinx Creek junction. I bailed off the trail and bushwhacked down. The entire Bubbs Creek area has some difficult bushwhacking if you get off trail down low.

About getting to Brewer Basin/Lakes, I have been to Brewer Lakes three ways.

The first time I went up Sphinx Creek on the left side (going up) and it was a bushwack for a while because we too got too close to the creek. Coming back, we stayed high and it worked better. The second time I went up the opposite side of the creek, and with a bit of rock scrambling down low, I pretty much followed a use-trail all the way to Sphinx Lakes. Both those times I went over Sphinx Pass and dropped to Big Brewer Lake.

Another time I came up from Cement Table Meadow, where there was supposed to be a use-trail long ago. I did not find it and climbed a very steep brushy hill and then traversed a bench and crossed Brewer Creek, where then it was quite easy then to get up to Big Brewer Lake. On that trip I got caught in a big snowstorm and did not want to go over Sphinx Pass with fresh snow, in a blizzard. I dropped down Brewer Creek and then down next to Moraine Ridge where I took the Avalanche Pass Trail back. That route is probably easier than going up from Cement Table Meadow. The hard part of that route was simply not getting lost. It is in timber and I could not navigate very well. I ended up too far south and had to drop down a valley/slot next to Moraine Ridge much farther than would have been needed had I not walked into that "slot" to begin with. It probably is easier to navigate without a blizzard, which thankfully turned to rain lower down. Just to note, there has been a significant wildfire since I did that route, so it could be a lot harder now with downed timber.

I have also gone up Cunningham Creek to Longley Pass. I went up the wrong (south) side and it was horribly steep and brushy. Evidently there is a use-trail on the other side, but I have searched and never found the start of it. I too went over the south (thin) side of the cornice on Longley Pass.

Definitely go back and spend at least a full day in Sphinx Lakes, hiking up to the upper lakes. This fishing is good. And get down to Big Brewer Lake to camp so you can photograph the amazing sunset alpenglow. And spend a day at East Lake if you fish.

Great report and a grand adventure. Thanks for the early Christmas gift!

Thank you for the great TR, enmiles. Really nice photos and accompanying words.

Enmiles, thanks for an entertaining trip to a favorite area of ours-- three of us Harlens read through your trip together. Echoing WD, we too think you would enjoy a few rest days around Sphinx Lakes. That might help you to appreciate the tough traveling back down. Great photos, congratulations on a fine trip and report.

Thank you for the great trip report and beautiful photos, enmiles. I have long wanted to go to Sphinx Lakes as well as Longley (and I have been very curious about its cornice); thank you for sharing your photos of the area. I hear you on the eating thing. I never had trouble with that on on-trail trips, but now that I have started going off trail a lot more the last few years it's been a puzzle. So far for me, figuring out the best way to eat seems harder than the off trail hiking itself! I'm either starving or forcing down food because I can't seem to stomach it the way I normally would.

Big Brewer Lake is one of my favorite places. There's just nothing like the sunsets that you get up there, it's truly magical for me. I echo the sentiment about the history and the Brewer party; it's so fun thinking about those who have been there before and what it may have looked like from their vantage point. The first time that I went to the lake was on the 4th of July in 2022; later I read the account of the Geological Survey's trip, where they first climbed Mt. Brewer - and it was on the 4th of July! I had no idea.

I've been to the lake twice now (I went back in July of 2023), both times via the Moraine ridge route, actually, following the valley below it, in which there are 2 gullies. I approached from below (Scaffold Meadow in Roaring River having come in via Marvin Pass in the Jennie Lakes Wilderness, and then up the trail to Moraine Meadow). Coming via this approach, after crossing Moraine Creek the trail goes straight-ish for awhile and then turns. Just at the point where it gets close to the creek again, head into the woods and ford the creek, then plod uphill (in the first gulley), keeping Moraine Ridge to your right. It isn't brushy once you get through the creek, just sloggy. At its head is a steep hillside, go up that, and then I suggest walking east along the spine for awhile before heading down a rocky hillside into a dry area that looks like it sometimes contains a shallow tarn, so that you can avoid a huge glacial pit near the start (I don't know what else to call it, a huge depression ringed with large boulders that was interesting to walk around and past the first time I went). Make your way to Lake 9,760 (which is where the Brewer party base camped!), cross the outlet, walk around the lake, turn to the left around its other end through a short boggy area, and then head up on angled slabs above the lake, staying to the left of Brewer Creek and well above it. You will encounter brushy areas here and there, but they are short.

(Side note: The 2nd time I went I stayed straight on the Moraine Meadow portion of the trail past the turn I describe above, which crossed the creek again, and then just where the trail turned to the north to go towards Avalanche Pass, I left it and headed up that way; even finding at first faint signs of an old trail. This route would be the 2nd gulley. However, that quickly disappeared into one of the thickest stands of Lodgepole that I have ever seen and was really hard to fight my way through. Once through that, I hit a large deep boggy meadow with stacks of dead trees to navigate around its edges, not a fun time! I mention it because if someone is coming down from Avalanche Pass this looks like it would be their logical point to leave the trail; I'd wait a bit).

That's a classic loop! I've gone up and down Sphinx creek several times and can safely say bashing through the forest just before the trail intersection is the worst option. From the trail/creek crossing walk through the forest/meadow maybe 135' before exiting on the west side of the creek and stay on that side the whole way up/down. You'll pass lots of evidence of a real (former) trail.

KT5519- it sounds like the Morain Ridge route did not get impacted by the fire. Until you mentioned it, I had forgotten about the talus sink hole/depression. The route was not bad but since I was headed to Avalanche Pass, I lost a lot of elevation. Given the fire, loosing this elevation and hitting the trail just before the crossing (which is what I did) is probably needed. It sounds like coming in from Marvin Pass is another good approach to Big Brewer Lake. Much easier to get a permit too.

Thanks for the enjoyable report and fine photos.