Day 1

We started this one really early. Koga slept over at our place the night before and we got up around 4:30 am to beat the traffic and get out to the trailhead. We left around 5 and picked up Dave on the way. Of course we also picked up the traditional McDonalds breakfast – coffee and McMuffins. Dani opted for a crazy coffee concoction called Marbled Cold Brew that was basically sugar and milk. We made good time on the way up, passing the time listening to lots of music, including Speak Now (Taylor’s version). After passing through all the small towns along the 395 in Owen’s Valley, we turned off the road and headed south into the canyon containing Rock Creek Lake and Little Lakes Valley. Mosquito Flat trailhead was our destination, about 9 miles up the valley at the end of the road. The road past Rock Creek Lake pack station had still been closed for winter up to a few days before, but it was open when we got there. Lucky! On the drive in, Dani had a little bit of a bladder emergency (likely due to the aforementioned coffee creation), but we were stuck behind a slow poke all the way up the road. We finally got around him and made a pit stop at the pack station bathroom.

We reached the trailhead at around 11 am. There was plenty of parking despite this trail being an extremely popular with day hikers. There were a ton of people heading in or out and we chatted with a couple of them before heading out.

First Leg (1-3)

The guy we chatted with warned us that the first bit of the trail was the hardest – he was not wrong. We started at about 10,260 ft and climbed another 240 ft in the first ¾ mile (1).

The winter of 22/23 had reached historic levels of snowfall, and even in July we quickly encountered sections of snow on the trail and tons of snowmelt, making everything soggy and turning parts of the trail into full-on streams. We all brought trekking poles, which helped a lot with navigating this challenging terrain. We also had micro spikes, but it was late enough in the day that the snow had softened and was pretty manageable with bare boots. We did not have waterproof boots, so we were careful to avoid more than an inch or so of water lest we soak our socks.

Once we crested the first ridge, the range of towering peaks at the end of the valley came into view, still covered in blankets of snow. This was right around where the trail forked off to the right up to Mono Pass – the same trail I descended at the end of my Long Term trip way back in Boy Scouts! The left fork, the one we wanted, was totally covered in snow, so we accidentally took a wrong turn. Thankfully, a friendly hiker set us straight before we got too far off course (2).

After a bit of snow-trekking, we arrived at the first of the string of lakes that give Little Lakes Valley its name: Mack Lake (3). The trail doesn’t offer great views of this one; it peeked through the trees with the impressive bulk of Mt Morgan towering behind on the left.

Marsh, Heart and Box Lakes (4-5)

Next, we had to navigate a longer snowfield in between Mack Lake and Marsh Lake. Again, it was quite soft and manageable with poles, so we didn’t break out the microspikes.

Next up was Marsh Lake. On the way there we ran into a Boy Scout and his dad, who recognized my Philmont shirt and chatted with us. They had camped at Long Lake and day hiked to Chickenfoot Lake, which was apparently still entirely frozen. We had read online that the trail crossing at Rock Creek was sketchy due to the unseasonably high snowmelt, and they confirmed this to be the case, though there was some fallen timber at the outlet of Long Lake that could perhaps function as a bridge. They also said there were no fish – we’ll see about that! We took the trail breaking off to the left to get up close and personal with Marsh Lake for lunch (4). I cajoled everyone into climbing a rock outcropping which yielded wonderful views of the lake and the end of the valley while we chomped. We had packed sandwiches made with Dani’s fresh-baked bread and bougie french butter. Dani brought a riddle book, but the contents were not exactly popular with this crowd. There were too many puns and silly wordplay.

After lunch we also ran into a crazy looking old man who gave us some tips on trail conditions and creek crossings. He had two cotton balls’ worth of nose hairs trying desperately to escape his nostrils. But he seemed nice!

Next up was Heart Lake, which was almost directly connected to Marsh Lake. On the approach the trail crossed a cute footbridge over a very healthy stream of snowmelt.

You can see here just how much water was flowing all over everything, including the trail. There were a few camping spots here on the north side of the lake, but they were pretty close to the trail; not my favorite given its heavy traffic.

Continuing on, we shortly reached Box Lake. The trail followed the west bank southwards, perched atop a high bluff of talus. We took a break here on some comfortable (?) rocks, enjoying the view.

Long Lake (7-9)

Between Box Lake and Long Lake was the bit of the hike we had been discussing all day – the Rock Creek crossing. I had originally planned to take this trail all the way to the end of the valley and camp at Gem Lakes, but we had read reviews online and heard firsthand that this creek crossing was a little gnarly. As we approached the spot, we saw the creek had overflowed its banks and was basically drenching the entire valley floor. It was dispersed and the current was mild, but finding any patch of dry ground was a challenge and we had to carefully pick our way though to keep our feet dry.

The established crossing was definitely not happening – the current was strong and there were no good rocks to jump across (7). So we went off-trail and followed the west bank of the creek, looking for a place to cross. We didn’t end up finding anything until we reached the outlet of Long Lake itself, which did indeed have some timber collected, but it did not look very stable (8). Furthermore, the continuation of the trail skirted the east bank of Long Lake atop a 45-degree slope of snow. If you slipped on this section you were sliding right into the lake. Nobody really liked the look of this, so we decided to take a tip from the hikers we had talked to and find a site on the west side of Long Lake.

There were a couple prime spots on the north shore, but these were close to the trail (and already occupied). So instead we departed the trail and started picking our way around to the west side. On the way we enjoyed even closer views of the mountains at the end of the valley, and the semi-frozen lake itself.

After navigating a tricky bit of shore where a bunch of talus had fallen and picking our way over a flat, soggy bit of marshland, we found a nice dry site on a bluff overlooking the lake. We set up camp at around 4 pm and pumped some water. Koga caught a few tiny trout while we were pumping on the shore. In all we had hiked 3.8 miles and ascended 600 ft according to my watch.

Oh, also David made a snowman friend and they did a dance together. Unfortunately he didn’t last long in the July sun. But David had bigger fish to fry. He had noticed that the entire sole of his hiking boot had detached and was flopping about. He had been using these boots since high school, so this wasn’t much of a shocker. Good thing this trip was just a one-nighter.

After settling in a bit and taking a break, we decided to explore the west shore a bit more and try some more fishing. It was golden hour and the scenery was absolutely mind-blowing.

Koga was not messing around with these fish.

We did some fishing on a flat beach just south of our camp. It was fishy dinner time and we must have caught at least 6! I caught one on my first cast and Dani caught at least four. They were all tiny fingerlings so we tossed them back. Dani got bored because she was just too good, so we packed it up.

It was at this point that David realized his little feeties were very wet and cold. The loss of his rubber sole did not play nice with the water-saturated boggy ground. Luckily we were not far from camp and we headed back up. The sun was getting low to the west, casting most of the valley into shadow except the high peaks to the south and Mt Morgan to the east.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to have a campfire since we were above 10,000 ft. Dinner was REI freeze-dried meals, as usual. We had chana masala rice and chicken pesto pasta, both of which were great. There was also chilaquiles that we put too much water in and it turned into a weird chunky soup – not so good. Then we had a nice chocolate mudslide pudding with chocolate cookie crumble on top, which was good except we didn’t mix it all the way and there was a bunch of dry powder at the bottom. Mosquitos were definitely around – big chunky boys – but the DEET was effective and they didn’t give us too much trouble.

It was getting cold, so the boys zipped up in their tent and Dani and I told them riddles from her book. Dave actually liked the “story riddles” chapter and we went through it pretty quick. Then we tormented them with other inane chapters (“what vegetable…?”) until it got cold enough that we turned in too. We were all in bed before it was even fully dark. I suppose that’s what happens without a campfire.

Day 2

I slept like crap (as usual when backpacking) and got up about an hour or so after it started getting light out. Nobody else was up for a while, so I found a nice rock outcropping a hundred yards or so from camp and took some photos. I also whipped out the map and compass and finally tried to identify the peaks at the end of the valley.

Eventually everyone emerged from their warm tents into the chilly morning air. Once the sun hit the bottom of the valley it warmed up very quickly. The weather all weekend was wonderful with temperatures in the high 60s F, with a bit of breeze and blue skies. Perfect for hiking. It had gotten pretty chilly at night, but I don’t think it went below freezing. I didn’t see any ice in my Nalgene, at least.

We pumped water and made breakfast – oatmeal and mandarins. We also had these new cool little individual paper pour-over coffee thingies. They took a couple minutes of repeated topping-off to brew, but they made pretty good coffee for the wilderness!

The hike out is always a blur. We took a quick stop at Heart Lake for a snack and I was really considering taking a swim. But I settled for a foot dip – it was icy cold! Dani also made her instant Pocari Sweat for the hike out, which tasted just like the real thing.

Somewhere in the last mile before we dipped over the ridge and out of sight, I climbed atop a boulder and took one last wide-angle shot of the peaks. The elusive range of 13ers that I had been looking for all trip finally emerged from behind the valley wall on the right - Dade, Abbot, and Mills.

We were back at the trailhead before lunch. Nobody was excited about the salami stick, cheese, and crackers I had packed for lunch so we hit up the McDonalds in Bishop, naughty style. Then it was a long, endless drive home listening to podcasts. I think I fell asleep around 8 pm that night against my will and slept for 12 hours straight!