Red and White Mountain and the Blue Lakes of the John Muir Wilderness, California

The Trip

Experience the beauty of the countless granite peaks, streams, lakes and meadows of the John Muir Wilderness in California. Circle the imposing Red and White Mountain and visit many of the beautiful blue lakes. Our trip starts at McGee Creek trailhead. We head west for two days before we join the John Muir Trail (JMT). We’ll stay on the JMT until we enter the Mono Creek basin where we stay near the Second Recess. We start heading east to our next stop at Pioneer Basin. On our final day we will go over the Mono Pass, and head down to our cars.

White circling around the Red and White Mountain, we will be passing and staying at McGee Lake. On our first layover day we will visit two beautiful lakes, Lee and Cecil. We will pass many lakes along the way but will dedicate a full day to visit the magnificent Mott Lake. During our stay at the Second Recess, we will hike to Laurel Lake and attempt to reach Grinnell Lakes on the south slopes of the Red and White Mountain. We will take a detour on our way to Pioneer Basin to visit the hidden gem of Fourth Recess Lake. While at Pioneer Basin we will explore several other lakes. The basin is surrounded by four peaks named after the industry pioneers. We’ll attempt to hike up to the ridge where we can see our anchor mountain. As we hike up to Mono Pass we will stop and look back at the beautiful lakes we left behind.

The packer will furnish delicious meals with a cook to handle all the kitchen chores including cleanup. Chairs are furnished to relax in camp. In case of rain, the wranglers will put up a large tarp to sit under. A sit-down toilet with a privacy tent will be provided at each camp. Mules will carry all equipment and food except what we require during the day and carry in our day packs.

A total of 10 days will be spent on the trail. Four of these are planned as layover days. During the six moving days, we will cover a distance of about 60 miles and 16,000 feet of gain. The trip should be considered moderate to strenuous in difficulty, although several days are fairly strenuous with over 10 miles and about 3,000 feet of elevation gain/loss. Though the layover days can be used to rest at camp, we are planning to visit some of the most magnificent lakes during these days.

The distances and elevation gains shown below are approximate. The mileages given are rounded up when there are fractions. The planned itinerary may have to be modified due to factors such as weather and limitations for camping with stock. (We thank the Rock Creek Pack Station team for helping us prepare this itinerary.)

Day 1: We meet at the Rock Creek Lower Corral at 4 p.m., which gives us a chance to provide orientation to trip procedures, and get acquainted with the other trip members before dinner is served around 6 p.m.

Day 2: Mosquito Flat Area (9.5 miles, 1,500-foot gain, 1,500-foot loss) We start the trip with a day hike, most likely to “Chicken Foot Lake," in the Mosquito Flat area. This day hike allow us to check our equipment, shoes, rain gear, backpack etc. It allows the trip leader to assess if everyone is ready for the trip ahead. Please come prepared. The campsite is at 9,400 feet and our hike takes us to 10,600 feet before we go back to our camp. The schedule gives us enough time to go over the trip and socialize with the other participants.

Day 3: McGee Creek TH to Big McGee Lake (7.0 miles, 3,000-foot gain, 300-foot loss) After our early breakfast a shuttle takes us from Rock Creek to McGee Creek trailhead, leaving our cars at the pack station. We hike along McGee Creek, passing by meadows and several cascading creeks. As we head south along the steep walled trail we may get a glimpse of mount Baldwin and mount Aggie to the west. The last two miles take us through a steep switchback before we reach our first camp near Big McGee Lake, under the towering Red and White mountain.

Day 4: Big McGee Lake to Lee Lake Junction (5.0 miles, 2,000-foot gain, 2,200-foot loss) Today’s hike is short but we go up through a steep canyon surrounded by loose rocks. After passing by Little McGee Lake we pass by another small unnamed lake, which stays frozen well into the summer. The trail takes us up through many switchbacks over loose rock until we reach McGee Pass at approximately 12,000 feet. We will linger at the pass to absorb the beautiful views of Red Slate Mountain to the north and the valley to our west with wide meadows and a meandering creek. We hike down about two miles from McGee Pass along a well maintained trail to our designated campsite at the junction to Lee Lake Trail.

Day 5: Layover day (Lee & Cecil Lakes) (4.00 miles, 1,500-foot gain, 1,500-foot loss) We plan an optional hike to up to Lee and Cecil Lakes. The trail is not very well marked but it takes us to a beautiful spot at Lee lake that is surrounded by very steep cliffs. We follow the inlet of the lake to find Cecil lake, another beautiful lake (an excellent spot for swimming). If people are willing we will scramble up to reach a ridge under the towering Red Slate Mountain looking back at McGee Pass and the valley we hiked the day before. A place to remember! If we are lucky we may see a beautiful sunset when we get back to our camp.

Day 6: Lee Lake Junction to Pocket Meadow (10.7 miles, 2,000-foot gain, 3,400-foot loss) Today we have a long hike with lots of decent and ascent. We leave our campsite and head west alongside Fish Creek with its tumbling and cascading water for three miles, passing by Tully Hole before we reach the John Muir Trail. We join JMT southbound and begin our ascent which passes by several lakes with Native American names before we reach Silver Pass at 10,500 feet. After hiking four more miles down the south side of the pass we reach our camp at Pocket Meadow.

Day 7: Layover day (Mott Lake) (5.0 miles, 1,300-foot gain, 1,30-foot loss) We will hike up to Mott Lake along a trail that, although short, is not well marked and can be steep at times. The lake’s dark blue water and the views will make the difficulty of this climb worthwhile. We may be treated to beautiful wildflower fields depending on the snow fall the previous winter. This is another highlight and a beautiful swimming spot.

Day 8: Pocket Meadow to Second Recess (6.0 miles, 1,000-foot gain, 1,500-foot loss) We take the JMT south for two more miles until we reach the Mono Creek Trail junction where we turn east and head toward the Second Recess. The Mono Creek basin is a deep canyon surrounded by steep granite walls with several small creeks that feed Mono Creek. The hike along Mono Creek climbs up gently until we reach our camp at the Second Recess. Red and White Mountain, though out of view, is directly north of our camp.

Day 9: Layover day (Laurel Lake and Grinnell Lake) (7-9.5 miles, 2,000- to 3,500-foot gain, 2,000- to 3,500-foot loss) Participants who are are interested can join our optional, but highly recommended, hike to Laurel Lake and then Grinnell Lakes. The hike takes us up steep switchbacks before the unmarked trail flattens out. We hike alongside Laurel creek until we reach Laurel Lake. The trail leading to Grinnell Lake is less clear than the one we use to arrive here, but after some scrambling we reach a ridge below which we can see second Grinnell Lake with unparalleled views. A short hike down gets us close to the lake. We can hike along the lake shore to get to the upper Grinnell Lake with Red and White Mountain towering over it.

Day 10: Second Recess to Pioneer Basin (8.0 miles, 3,000-foot gain, 500-foot loss) We leave our campsite to hike up Mono Creek Trail, which climbs steadily but gently, before we turn left (north) toward Pioneer Basin. We will take a detour to our right to visit the Fourth Recess Lake. Participants can sit at the outlet of the lake to enjoy the views of the smooth granite walls surrounding the lake with Mono Rock towering over it, or they can hike along the north side of the lake to get closer to the beautiful waterfall at the end of the lake basin. We leave the lake to hike three more miles up a steep trail that gets us to our campsite for the night next to the first lake.

Day 11: Layover day (Pioneer Basin Lakes) (4-6.0 miles, 1,000- 2,000-foot gain, 1,000- to 2,000-foot loss) As in every layover day, people can stay at camp, linger around the lake, or join us for an optional hike to visit some of the other lakes around the Pioneer Basin. There are four named mountains surrounding the basin: Stanford, Crocker, Hopkins and Huntington. As we get closer to the ridge we will see Red and White Mountain to our north.

Day 12: Pioneer Basin to Mosquito Flat (9.5 miles, 2,000-foot gain, 3,250-foot loss) We hike down from the Pioneer Basin to the Mono Creek Trail and immediately start a steep hike towards Mono Pass at 12,000 feet. As we climb we will stop from time to time to look back at the magnificent view behind us, bidding goodbye to the peaks and the lakes in the Pioneer Basin we visited over the last few days. Looking to our right reveals the Fourth Recess lake below our trail. As we continue our climb, we pass by the Trail Lake, followed by Summit Lake. A little further gets us to Mono Pass. After our mandatory group picture, we start our descent where we will see Ruby Lake from a distance, and then the Little Lakes Valley appears with its blue lakes. Three miles past Ruby Lake we reach Rock Creek Pack Station, where we left our cars.

Getting There

Please arrive by 4:00 p.m. on Day 1 at Rock Creek Lower Corral, which is 7.5 miles up Rock Creek Road from Toms Place off Hwy 395. Your personal vehicles can be parked on the dirt road next to our campsite.

Sierra Club leaders are not allowed to make carpool arrangements for participants, but a list of trip members to contact for possible ride-sharing arrangements will be provided before the trip. If you are flying in from outside of California, the nearest large airports are Sacramento, Reno, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose, and San Francisco. There is also a smaller airport at Mammoth Lakes.

Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip leader.

Accommodations and Food

We will use our individual tents and sleeping bags for accommodations at wilderness campsites after the first two nights of car camping. At each camp a latrine will be dug and a sit-down toilet and toilet tent will be set up by the wranglers. Folding chairs will be provided for comfort in camp. A large tarp will be set up in camp in case of rain. All meals will be prepared and served by an experienced cook beginning with dinner on the first day and ending with lunch on the last day. The cook will also handle the cleanup after meals. A food preference sheet will be furnished for trip members to fill out so that the food provided can more closely meet trip members’ needs. If you have special diet requirements, let the trip leader know and they will check with the packer to see if you can be accommodated.

Trip Difficulty

The overall trip rating is moderate to strenuous, although a couple of days are fairly strenuous. The relatively light day pack and layover days make the trip suitable for most people in good health who follow a good conditioning program for at least a couple of months before the trip. Be aware of the effect of the relatively high elevation on your hiking ability. Refer to the itinerary for the individual day’s hiking requirements. The most difficult days involve elevation gains of about 3,000 feet in a distance of about 9 or 10 miles. Endurance is much more important than speed. Our travel on moving days is all on trails, but exploring on layover days may involve cross-country routes over a range of difficulty. These excursions are optional for trip members.

The weather is usually quite pleasant at this time of the year, but we need to be prepared for wet and cold conditions as the mountains can always surprise us. Daytime temperatures range between 55 to 70 F, while night temperature can reach 35 to 45 F. Most summer precipitation comes in the form of afternoon thundershowers, with usually a clearing sky by evening.

Equipment and Clothing

A couple of months before the trip, participants will be furnished with a detailed checklist of required and optional personal items they should bring. These items will be very similar to what you would bring on a backpack trip except that the generous 35 lb. limit means that you can indulge in a little more luxury. You need only a day pack to carry gear since the mules will carry everything except what you will need during the day on the trail. The gear to be carried on the mules can be placed in one large duffel bag or split into two smaller duffle bags. A sturdy pair of boots — broken in but not worn out, with good quality lug soles — is needed. Your sleeping bag should be comfortable to about 25 F in case we get a cold spell. You can get by with a higher temperature rated bag if you are willing to wear your warm clothes to bed. A quality tent is recommended since we are camping at relatively high elevations and need to be prepared in case stormy weather catches us in an exposed location. The packer will furnish stoves, cookware, cooking utensils (including eating utensils and plates for trip members) and food. You will also have a camp chair provided. You might want to bring a mug or an insulated beverage container for your hot drinks and a plastic container for lunch sandwiches. The Sierra Club will furnish a group first-aid kit and a satellite phone in case of emergency. You are expected to furnish your own basic first-aid supplies such as band aids, blister material, headache relief, etc.

References

There are many sources of information on the Sierra Nevada in general, and also some that relate more specifically to the area we are visiting. The same is true of maps. We will list a few of each and leave it to you to search online if you want to find others.

Maps:

• Tom Harrison Maps, paper or download onto phone/tablet: "Mono Divide High Country"
• Apps for Smartphone/Tablet, download applicable areas prior to departure.
• Gaia GPS
• The leader will share the calTOPO map of our route.

Books:

• Arnot, Phil, John Muir’s Range of Light.
• Storer and Usinger, Sierra Nevada Natural History.
• Secor, R.J., The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes and Trails.
• Starr, Walter A., Starr's Guide to the John Muir Trail and the High Sierra Region.
• Horn, Elisabeth, Sierra Nevada Wildflowers.
• Laws, John Muir, The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada.
• Morey and White, Sierra South.

Conservation

Since we are hiking in wilderness, one conservation focus will be on wilderness. This includes how wilderness is defined, designated, and preserved. Our contribution to wilderness preservation will be to follow Leave No Trace principles.

A second approach to conservation will be to ask each trip participant to select a conservation issue, preferably one from the vicinity in which they live, and present that topic to the group for information and discussion.

In 2016 The National Park Service celebrated its 100th year anniversary. We will ask each participant to tell us his/her best memories from visiting a national park.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and will operate under permits from the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. This trip also operates under permit with the USDA Forest Service through Rock Creek Pack Station’s Special Use Permit on the Inyo National Forest.