Lillian Lakes Loop, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Sierra National Forest
August 8 - 10, 2003

By Steve Sergeant

I lead a backpacking trip to the northwestern Ansel Adams Wilderness on August 8th through the 10th. Participating were Jean Higham-Sergeant, Patricia Lunitz, and Jason Sun.

Friday, August 8, 2003

We planned to start out at the Fernandez/Walton trail head at 9:30 AM. Unfortunately, by 9:30 Jason wasn't there yet, and so we waited another full hour before actually starting our hike. By 10:40 we decided that he wasn't coming, and accepted that the three of us, Jean, Patricia, and me, would be the group.

The skies were cloudless, and the temperature was in the mid-sixties. There was negligible wind. All in all, it was absolutely a perfect day.

The Walton trailhead appears at the same parking lot as the Fernandez Pass trailhead, but the trail leaves the parking lot to the north rather than toward the east. The trail rolls gently up and down through dense forests with a few areas of open rock, more sparsely forested. We stopped for lunch on an open granite ridge at the border of the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

As we continued, the trail descended into the Madera Creek drainage where we encountered the largest (though still relatively insignificant) stream crossing of the trip. We followed the creek to a trail junction, and then the trail began a steady climb. Along some of the steeper switchbacks, we encountered day-hikers coming toward us. They warned us of an impending mule train approaching from further up the trail. The mules were bringing these hiker's camping gear back out after a week at Rutherford Lake. Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, we had to step off the trail along a rather steep, switch-backed section to allow the mules to pass.

We took a longer break to take off our packs and sit on some logs a bit before the junction of the Fernandez Pass trail and the Lillian Lake trail. Again, another mule train came down the trail -- this time with no day-hikers to warn us. One of the mules startled a little bit by Patricia or her pack, but no harm was done.

The terrain got drier and dustier as we climbed the Fernandez Pass trail toward the Rainbow Lake trail. A couple of points along the trail had some rather steep but brief rock scrambles. A half mile from the junction, we crested a small rise and found ourself on the edge of a lush grassy swale, and the junction to the Rainbow Lake Trail.

We hiked about 1,000 feet on the Rainbow Lake Trail, and then proceeded cross country through sparsely forested rocky terrain to the shore of Flat Lake, elevation 9,687'. We arrived about 4:45 PM at a very well-developed campsite on the south side of the lake, complete with a very large rock fire ring, and some very elegant rock-and-log benches.

We selected tent sites and started to set-up camp. I brought a ceramic gravity filter system in order to supply water for the entire party. Unfortunately, ceramic gravity filters are slow. We were frustrated early-on waiting for drinking water to filter for us thirsty hikers, just off the trail and out of water. More about this later.

A little after 6:00 PM I started to cook dinner. As it was cooking, we became aware of someone yelling and whistling in the general direction of the trail we came in on. We debated whether one of us should investigate. We figured that we were in a really obvious place, and that by staying put, someone who was able to walk and needed help would find us.

Just before I was ready to serve the first course, we saw someone directly across the lake. Jean and Patricia went out to who it was. He shouted a greeting at them. It was Jason!

As it turns out, Jason had missed one crucial detail and had started out from the wrong trailhead -- the Norris Trailhead about four miles from the Fernandez/Walton Trailhead. He started before we did, but he didn't have a map, and wound up going to Jackass Lake, quite a distance in the wrong direction from us. Someone there advised him of the right direction. Later on, he met someone coming out who gave him their extra maps. With all of his side trips, detours, losing the trail and going cross-country, it was truly impressive that he'd found us and joined the trip. I signed him in, and offered him dinner.

Hopefully, Jason will post a separate trip report describing his adventures.

The central commissary dinner of potato-leek soup and a soy-nut couscous was plenty filling for everyone. Jean brought bite-sized brownies as an additional treat. We were all tired from the trail, and after clean-up, went to bed promptly at dark.

Saturday, August 9, 2003

By the time I called "hot water" at 7:30 AM, everyone was already up and about. Both of my 6 liter Platypus tanks were bulging full from the gravity filter. We would have plenty of water for the day. After filling all of our drinking containers for the day hike, I re-attached a six liter tank to be filled again during the day.

Breakfast was individual commissary with group hot water. Patricia made it especially nice by bringing some innovative new single-use coffee filter bags for the coffee drinkers. She had enough to share.

After breakfast, our plan was to do a day hike to two or more nearby lakes: Rainbow Lake, and Lillian Lake. The most direct route to each was cross-country.

We began the 290' climb to Rainbow Lake about 10:00 AM. The terrain immediately to the west of Flat Lake is steep, with a few scattered spruce, and littered with large slabs of gray granite. Though the steps were often high, the terrain was easy to see. Within about 15 minutes, we arrived at a forested shelf and saw a well-worn trail which led to the lake.

Rainbow Lake is a popular destination. So popular that camping has been banned within 200' from the shore for the past twenty years. Immediately, when we arrived at the lake, we noticed at least six groups of people around it. There were probably close to 20 other people there -- it would be far from a solitary wilderness experience. One of the first people we encountered was USFS Ranger Richard W. He was the backcountry ranger for the Lillian Lakes region of the Ansel Adams Wilderness, and from June through early September, he spends a week at a time in the backcountry patrolling the area. He checked my wilderness permit.

"Ranger Rick" was busy with a shovel this day, obliterating illegal fire rings around Rainbow Lake. He told us that he finds at least one a week around the lake. Someone would have to spend the night at the lake to catch the people doing it. Because of budget constraints, he only has backup support on his radio during normal office hours, so policing such activity at night is a bit too risky for him. We talked to him for a while, and then proceeded to hike around the lake.

A few hundred feet away, from the ranger, we were startled by a goat appearing from behind a rock. The owner of the goat actually had two along on the trip. He uses them as pack animals; each is capable of carrying 40 pounds. An advantage they have over horses or mules is that they need to carry few supplies for themselves.

Around the lake we stopped to appreciate numerous wild flowers and made it a very relaxing walk. We saw several fishermen carrying some impressive catches. Near the completion of our circumnavigation, we stopped for what we dubbed "Lunch #1". While we sat and snacked, we saw large fish swimming in the crystal-clear water. I thought about how precarious their existence probably was there.

By 12:45, we were ready to continue on hiking south over a 9,500' ridge to Lillian Lake, elevation 8,868'. The route was moderately forested at first, leading to some rather exposed sections of sparse forest and large granite slabs further up, and then out onto a treeless expanse of open granite descending to Lillian Lake. Everyone had fun practicing dead reckoning and map-and-compass skills, comparing notes in the process. More for geeky amusement than out of necessity, I used a GPS receiver as well. We arrived at the shore of Lillian lake by about 1:45 PM.

There was a good-sized tent city along the shore of Lillian Lake. It is one of the most popular destinations from the nearby trailheads. Almost half of the Lillian Lake shore is closed to camping for vegetation restoration, so the campers who are there have to cluster together.

We stopped on the lake shore, cooled our feet in the water, and enjoyed lunch #2. Jason went for a swim, and stayed in the water for quite a long time. We didn't see anyone else near us, except one passing mule train, but we saw perhaps over a dozen other people scattered around the lake shore.

We debated hiking to yet another lake, Chittenden Lake. We decided that we wanted this to be an easy day, given the more strenuous hike out the next day. So we opted just to head back to camp. There were two options for our return route to Flat Lake: 1) The cross-country route by which we came, or 2) the trail, which was comparatively flat, but almost 5 times farther. We hiked back via. the cross country route.

We arrived back at our camp by about 3:30 PM, and found the water tanks again full. We were suffering no shortage of filtered drinking water from this system. We took turns going to a private area on some sunny rocks to bathe. Everyone relaxed and did their "own thing" for a couple of hours.

I started cooking dinner about 6:00 PM. The central commissary meal for the evening was Miso soup, followed by an entré of rice and vegetables in a shiitake/buttermilk sauce.

The dinner clean-up session was followed by a quiet evening of watching the near-full moon rise to illuminate the lake as the sun set.

Sunday, August 10, 2003

I called "hot water" about 7:20 AM and everyone gathered for breakfast. Over breakfast we discussed the hike out. How much did we want to linger at scenic points along the way? How many mileage-adding side trips did we want to do along the way? We arrived at a consensus and though we planned to hit the trail by 9:30, we didn't start hiking until about 10:15.

Jason discovered a cross-country route from the lake that brought us to the Rainbow Lake trail much more quickly than our way in. We encountered one group of about six hiking up to Slab Lakes, two small lakes above tree line. We took our first sit-down break between the Lillian Lake/Fernandez junction, and the side-trail to Lillian Lake.

As we continued on around the Lillian Lake Loop, we hiked out onto some open granite which gave us a tremendous view of the Minarets, Ishberg Peak, and a wide panorama of the crest of the eastern Sierras. I thought I identified peaks of the Glacier Divide on the northern end of Kings Canyon. The spectacular views at this point could have made the whole trip worth it!

We continued on into the forested area around the Staniford Lakes, where we stopped for lunch #1 at the junction to Chittenden Lake. This was immediately before a significant climb. Fueling-up seemed like a good idea.

Our next stop was about an hour later at the shore of Lady Lake. About 50 feet from the lake were two large rocks that made an excellent, cool place to relax. A 45 minute stay, including lunch #2 and a swim, made the stop at Lady Lake a rewarding break. There were a few other campers there, but we saw none of them close-up.

Leaving Lady Lake, the hike was a gentle, four mile descent to the Fernandez trailhead. We passed and briefly looked at Vandeburg Lake, passed a couple of other vista points, and saw a couple lovely hidden swales and meadows. On the way out we encountered at least three other parties going in to Vandeburg Lake or Lady Lake.

We arrived at the parking lot about 5:45. The trip officially ended after we shuttled Jason back to the Norris trailhead.