The Mammoth Crest Loop

16 August 2024
Lake George to Deer Lakes to Duck Pass to Emerald Lake to Lake George
(14 miles, +3,200/-3,200 feet).

I thought it would be hard to beat the North Fork Big Pine hike for its scenic beauty, but Half Cookie and I both liked today’s hike even better.

We drove from Big Pine to Mammoth Lakes before dawn this morning and then started our hike at Lake George. Soon we were climbing up to the Mammoth Crest.

pxl_20240816_1444227832 — Lake George and Lake Mary

pxl_20240816_1514218682 — Mammoth Mountain towers above Mammoth Pass, McCloud Lake, and Horseshoe Lake

pxl_20240816_1549451972 — Mount Ritter, Banner Peak, and the Minarets

Up on the crest the views were endless.

pxl_20240816_1608328812 — Lovely meadows

pxl_20240816_1615094492 — Distant mountains

pxl_20240816_1700409352 — Cliffs on the Crest

pxl_20240816_1703023022 — Snowfields below

pxl_20240816_1703249182 — The trail winds forward

After a couple of miles the trail starts descending to Deer Lakes.

pxl_20240816_1712410532 — Lower Deer Lake

pxl_20240816_1719261112 — Intermountain dandelion

pxl_20240816_1723335732 — Sierra penstemon

pxl_20240816_1737301562 — Rockfringe willowherb

We took a nice break at the middle Deer Lake.

pxl_20240816_1754376222 — Half Cookie gets some water

pxl_20240816_1806329382 — Sargent’s Catchfly

pxl_20240816_1825520832 — Sierra stonecrop

pxl_20240816_1827453542 — Upper Deer Lake

pxl_20240816_1831574842 — Rockfringe Willowherb

We crossed paths with a hiker who told us the trail forward was hard to follow. But we had no problem finding it all the way to Deer Pass.

pxl_20240816_1834010012 — Switchbacks through talus above Deer Lakes

pxl_20240816_1837556562 — Sierra Columbine

pxl_20240816_1845004612 — A broad meadow near Deer Pass

pxl_20240816_1848354822 — Almost to Deer Pass

pxl_20240816_1909267402 — Nuttall’s sandwort

pxl_20240816_1916529282 — Prickly hawkweed

Once we started descending from the pass we found broad flats that were so easy to walk across that the trail did, in fact, disappear.

pxl_20240816_1925177772 — No trail? No worries!

pxl_20240816_1927440312 — Half Cookie adores some Ranger Buttons

Half Cookie and I passed a man who told us he was hiking with two 80 year olds: “Don’t make eye contact or you’ll never escape!”

The first one said hi to us only briefly, but the second one did stop to chat with us. It turns out he came in 11th in the 10,000 meter run in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City! Later on he was also the high school cross country coach in Bishop. Since both our sons ran cross country in high school, we thanked him for his service!

A short while later we got our first glimpse of Duck Lake.

pxl_20240816_1936133952 — And behind it: Pika Lake!

We stopped in the shade to snack and enjoy the deep blue shimmer.

pxl_20240816_1957274522 — So beautiful here!

Then on to Duck Pass and a beautiful view of the lakes below.

We passed a trail crew working on the switchbacks below and a traffic jam of about two dozen hikers and backpackers who all seemed to be converging on Duck Pass at the same time.