THE MAMMOTH CREST

Christy had to work on Friday. The school year was scheduled to start after we returned, and she had a lot of prep work to do. Her preference was to spend the day in a coffee shop with WIFI. My preference was to spend the day hiking. The closest coffee shops were in Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, and Lee Vining. Bishop was in the wrong direction, so I looked at hike options near Mammoth and Lee Vining. One of the first ideas that I stumbled upon was a loop hike that followed a long stretch of the Mammoth Crest above the town of Mammoth Lakes. It’s a long hike, over 12 miles, but it sounded compelling. It promised great scenery, and although parts of it are near the John Muir Trail, the whole hike would be entirely new to me. Christy had some concerns about how long it would take, but I was in great shape at this point, after four weeks of daily hiking. I vowed to keep a brisk pace and avoid a lot of “extra” exploring.

Christy dropped me off at Lake George that morning. She drove back down to Mammoth, with plans to pick me up at the Coldwater Trailhead that afternoon. This hike is typically done as a loop including Emerald Lake, but I would cut off a mile or two by having her pick me up at the other trailhead. That was advantageous since we had some time constraints that afternoon.

The hike started with a brisk climb on switchbacks in a dark forest with some large trees. I passed a spur trail to Crystal Lake, but resisted the temptation. I knew I’d get a view of that lake from above farther up the trail. It wasn’t long before a reached the view of that lake, and many more. The views expanded as I climbed. Initially I was looking out over the lake basin above Mammoth, which was nice, if a bit civilized. I reached the Mammoth Crest a bit farther on, and encountered my first views of The Ritter Range, with Yosemite National Park beyond. This is what I’d come for! Those views were spectacular, and they continued for a couple of miles.

Eventually I dropped off the crest onto the backside of the mountain. The trail took me through the Deer Lakes basin, which are more alpine gems. I then crested a pass before working my way down to the upper end of massive Duck Lake. This lake is immense, and gorgeous. I couldn’t resist taking a side trip here to get a better view of it.

From there, I climbed to one final pass, where I was treated to a great view of Barney Lake and down the Coldwater valley beyond. I followed the trail that way, passing quite a few hikers and backpackers on their way up. The Mammoth Crest is a very popular hike, but I only encountered a few groups during the first ¾ of the hike. The last stretch is a main route into the backcountry though, and it was a Friday afternoon.

I descended down into the woods, passing Skelton Lake near treeline. From there it was a quick hike down through forest to the Coldwater trailhead. I found Christy waiting for me there. We got the hell out of Mammoth – that place is crazy – and drove north towards the Blue Lakes. We arrived at Ed and Carolyn’s trailer in time for dinner, and enjoyed some fresh burgers, a campfire, and our last few beers.

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