A Five Lake Hike in John Muir Wilderness
In 2024 near the town of Mammoth Lakes in California we did a hike which ended up visiting five scenic lakes nested in the mountains of the John Muir Wilderness. Along the way we also got to see a pretty epic view of the Mammoth Lakes basin.
Our group originally intended to do a short hike to Heart Lake whose trailhead is located at the north-east end of the Coldwater Campground. We started out on the trail and took a turn before crossing a small creek and hiked on a trail that went along the creek. There were a few wildflowers in spots along it.
After a bit more hiking the trail began to peter out and checking the map it became obvious we were not on the trail to Heart Lake which at this point was some distance away on the other side of the creek. We continued on to see if we could find a way to get to the trail we wanted. After a little more hiking we came to a ridge which had this view of Mammoth Mountain and a little of Lake Mary.
On the left is the top of Crystal Craig.
A little higher there were views of the distant Minarets, and Banner and Ritter mountains. This was the epic view of the Mammoth Lakes basin both for the magnificent view and because we only saw it due to being off trail.
We consulted the map and decided there was not a good way to get to Heart Lake from here. However we found we were just a very short distance from the Duck Lake trail and decided to continue our hike on that tail. Once on this trail there were views of the tops of rugged mountains.
The first lake we came to was Arrowhead Lake. While I visited this lake on a 2022 Sierra Club trip some of the members of this family group had not been here before. This panorama is from near the center of the lake.
This is the inlet end of the lake.
In this closer view there was a group of people on the rocks. Those viewing this on a phone might need to zoom in a bit or those on a computer can click on the picture to get a larger picture.
Continuing on there were different types of mountains along the way.
There was a seasonal pond with some reflections.
This was our first view of a little of the second lake which is Skelton Lake.
This is more of Skelton Lake looking toward the inlet end.
Skelton Lake has two lobes and this is smaller one.
And a view from this lobe.
This is the larger lobe.
And a panorama view from it.
At this point some members of our family group decided to return and three of us continued on with more rugged mountains.
We get to the third lake which is Barney Lake which is set into a curve below the Mammoth Crest. At this altitude there are less trees.
There were a few patches of this wildflower.
Nearby is lake four, Red Lake, a smaller alpine lake with some pretty reflections.
This was our turnaround point and on the way back there was a nice view of Skelton Lake which shows the two lobes a little better.
Between Skelton Lake and Arrowhead Lake there is a fork in the trail and we went to the left which would allow us to go by another lake. Along the way were more mountain views.
There was a growth on a tree which kind of looks like an animal.
We finally get to the fifth lake which is Emerald Lake.
Which is fed by a small stream.
The lake is smaller but has a backdrop of the jagged mountains of the Mammoth Crest.
While the hike was not what we had planned we got to see more beautiful lakes and mountains. Our unintentional off trail adventure also provided us views not seen by many.
The pictures for this post and more that were not in the post are in the 5 Lake Hike John Muir Wilderness Gallery
On the 2022 Sierra Club trip I hiked to three of these lakes. It was also a dryer year and there were other differences so if you want to check it out see the A Three Lake Hike in John Muir Wilderness post.
The other two posts covering this 2024 Mammoth Lakes trip are:
More Information:
Mammoth Lakes Trail System information on the Coldwater Trailheads
Mammoth Lakes Trail System information on the Duck Pass Trail
