A Three Lake Hike in John Muir Wilderness
There are many lakes in the vicinity of the town of Mammoth Lakes in California. A lot of the lakes are quite scenic. I hiked with a group where we went on a route that took in three lakes, each very different but beautiful in their own way. The trailhead is a short distance from Mammoth Lakes at the far end of Coldwater Campground. Almost immediately after starting there’s a trail intersection and we took the trail to the right which goes to Emerald Lake.
After a short distance hiking though a forest of lodgepole pine we came to the John Muir Wilderness boundary. The wilderness namesake is from the famous 19th century naturalist and conservationist who was instrumental in the development of the National Park system and his activism helped to preserve the American wilderness. The John Muir Wilderness stretches for 100 miles along the crest of the Sierra, from near Mammoth Lakes south to Cottonwood Pass near Mount Whitney.
We start to see at little of Mammoth Crest through gaps in the trees.
More of the mountains that make up Mammoth Crest can the seen as we continue.
When we got to Emerald Lake we found a green lake with reflections of trees and the tops of the sheer cliffs of Mammoth Crest.
While going up a series of switchbacks on the trail we saw a view of the massive Mammoth Mountain. During winter there is usually plenty of snow for the popular Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. During summer a gondola goes to the top of the mountain for great views of the surrounding area.
To the east are reddish mountains. The color is the result of ancient volcanic activity.
Even a puddle we passed by had reflections.
The trail we are on comes to the Duck Lake trail where we go to the right. After a little more hiking we come to Skelton Lake which was named for the Skelton boys who were early prospectors that had a three-stamp mill below the lake.
This hike was part of a Sierra Club trip. For the hikes we divided into three groups each with about eleven people. On the shore is one of the other groups. If you look closely at the Skelton Lake pictures you can see circular ripples caused by raindrops. We somehow managed to miss the rain on this hike though we sometimes saw rain in the distance.
Skelton Lake has a lobe which extends from the main portion of the lake.
The other two groups continued to Duck Lake while our group returned. This time at the trail junction we stayed on the Duck Lake trail. After some mostly downhill we came to the third lake, Arrowhead Lake. When seen from above Arrowhead Lake is shaped like an arrow but at ground level this is hard to see. The lake was long and I was not able to get a panoroma without cutting off the mountain tops and most of the lake. So you will need to visualize the three overlapping pictures in your mind. The first is the left end of the lake.
The second is the middle of the lake.
The third is the right end of the lake.
A closer look at the rock wall. I found it interesting how the large trees found enough soil to grow.
Two members of our party taking in the tranquil scene before we return to our starting point.
For this Sierra Club trip we were transported to Mammoth Lakes by bus which also took us to the starting point of the hikes. In this case the bus did not drive through the campground so we also had a short hike between here and the trailhead.
This hike was about 3.5 miles round trip with a little under 900 feet of elevation gain (from the trailhead). On this relatively short hike we saw some lovely lakes and majestic mountains.
Blog posts on other hikes on this trip
More Information:
USDA Forest Service information on the John Muir Wilderness
John Muir Wilderness article in Wikipedia
A blog post by someone who did our route but in the opposite direction:
Hiking Skelton Lake Trail In Mammoth Lakes by californiawanderland.com
