Thousand Island Lake Loop … 17.5 miles … 4,400 gain

“A monkey with a camera could take beautiful pictures in this place”
That’s a quote from Ansel Adams Wliderness.

I have just found out that Agnew Meadows Trailhead (our original hike starting point) is being closed 10 days prior to our scheduled hike, but that should not stop us from our goal of hiking to Thousand Island Lakes.
Therefore, I am switching our starting point from Agnew Meadows to Silver Lake, in other words we will be hiking from north to south instead of south to north, so this is a completely different hike, the distance is about the same but the elevation gain will be around 4,400 ft, instead of the original hike of 3,400 ft, but for our trouble we will see lakes that you have probably never seen before and I have to say they are breathtaking indeed.

This hike has a lot going for it, Lakes after lakes at 7,000 to 10,200 elevation, beautiful mountains and meadows, but most importantly we should see Fall colors changing all around us.

Here is a complete description of our new and improved hike:

We will start the hike at Silver lake – elevation about 7,240 – we will take Rush Creek Trail (sometimes called Gem Lake Trail), the first 1/2 mile is fairly flat going parallel to the road, and then the climb starts right away, in next 1.5 mile we will gain 1,250 ft and arrive at Agnew Lake (elevation 8,475), here we will start our loop by continuing on Rush Creek Trail and staying to the west of the lake.

In the next 1 mile we will climb another 675 ft and arrive at the edge of Gem Lake (elevation 9,150), we will hike alongside the Lake for 2 more miles without gaining much altitude. This is where we will leave Rush Creek Trail and head south towards Clark lakes (elevation 9,850), which we will get to in about 2 miles and gain of 700 ft.

After about 3/4 mile we will get to get to the PCT intersection, which we will stay on for 1.5 mile to arrive at Thousand Island Lake and the intersection of PCT and JMT – again not much elevation gain here – where we will have our very well deserved lunch break and enjoy the truly magnificent views of the Sierras.

If we FEEL UP TO IT, we can decide to go for another 1/2 mile to visit Emerald Lake and another 1/2 mile to Ruby Lake and come back to Thousand Island Lake before we start our return.

To start our return we will go back on the PCT but instead of taking the Rush Creek Trail we will stay on the PCT and make a left to go towards the Clark lakes but this time we will stay east of the lakes instead of west, as we did on the way up, eventually we will get to east bank of Agnew lake (instead of west bank, as we did at the start of the hike) and merge with our original trail and head back to our cars.

Stats:

Distance: 17.5 miles

Gain: 4,400 ft

Altitude at the highest point: 10,050 ft

Pace: Steady but we will stop frequently to appreciate the views and take many pictures

Level: Advanced due to altitude, distance and gain

My Cell: 818-355-3520

Things to Bring: Minimum of 3 liters of water, lunch, ELECTROLYTES, snacks, sunscreen, hat, trekking poles and 10 essentials

Meetup Location and Carpool:

Carpool time: 6:15 AM Sharp

For carpool we can meet at Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center at 2510 Main Street, no later than 6:15 AM, otherwise meet us at the trailhead.

To get to the trailhead at Silver Lake from Mammoth Lakes, take 395 North, drive for 14.5 miles and turn left on CA–158 South, drive for 7.2 miles to the end of Silver Lake, the Parking lot is on your left.

This hike is at high elevation, you should be experienced in high altitude hikes (and know how well you can handle altitude sickness) before signing up. Arrange your own transportation and lodging in Mammoth Lakes.

IF YOU SIGN UP FOR THIS EVENT AND YOU HAVE NOT UPDATED YOUR CDH PROFILE, YOU WILL BE MARKED AS “NOT GOING”. UPDATE YOUR PROFILE AND RESIGN IN FOR THE EVENT IF YOU FIND YOURSELF REMOVED.