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Photos Maps Summary: This is a fantastic loop hike on the eastern edge of the Ansel Adams Wilderness that features several alpine lakes, wildflowers, some waterfalls, and lots of views. Most of the hike is on maintained trails but some of it is on use-trails and only a short section is off-trail. Nonetheless, some experience with off-trail travel is needed and, as always, bring a map and compass. Between Fern Lake and Holcomb Lake expect more solitude, even in the summer. This is not an easy hike, so bring plenty of food, water, and energy.Distance: 14.9 miles totalElevation Gain/Loss: 3,550' totalSeason: July through OctoberFees & Permits: Devils Postpile entrance fee ($7/adult via shuttle or $10/vehicle when shuttles not running in 2014) for everyone and a wilderness permit is required for overnighters.Finding the Trailhead: 37.62999 N, 119.08469 W (Devils Postpile Trailhead). From the Main Street/CA-203 (Minaret Road) intersection in Mammoth Lakes, follow CA-203 northwest for ~4.1 miles to the Mammoth Mountain Village. If you are arriving between 7a and 7p during the summer, you'll need to park here and take a mandatory shuttle bus into the National Monument to stop #6 (Ranger Station/Devils Postpile). If you are arriving outside of the shuttle service times, continue ~1.3 miles to the Devils Postpile entrance station immediately after the turn for the Minaret Vista. After paying the entrance fee, continue down Reds Meadow Road for ~6.7 miles, turn right toward the Ranger Station and Devils Postpile, and follow the road to its end (~0.3 miles further) and park in one of the parking areas. Overnighters will find their parking lot off of this road ~300' after turning off of Reds Meadow Road. The trail begins off of the southern end of the end of the road (road loops here).
The Hike: Follow the flat trail as it approaches the Middle San Joaquin River and then climbs slightly to the southwest. The Devils Postpile Trail splits off to the left at ~0.2 miles. Light is better for photos on the postpile in the afternoon. Therefore, we recommend waiting until the end of the hike to check it out (~0.3 miles round-trip to the base). Keep right and at ~0.25 miles cross the river on the footbridge immediately downstream of Soda Springs Meadow. Continue following the trail to the northwest and reach the beginning of the loop at ~0.3 miles. We did the loop in the clockwise direction because Anona and Ashley Lakes were a little closer this way. However, you can choose which direction you'd like to go. Turning left, we headed south and began to climb. After only a short distance some views of Devils Postpile open up across the river. At ~0.6 miles the PCT and JMT are met at a four-way junction. The right trail heads back toward Minaret Falls, the left towards Reds Meadow. Stay straight and continue climbing. When the trail crests a small rise, the trees give way to an open area burned by the 1992 Rainbow Fire. Here, less than 10% of the original vegetation survived the fire but there are lots of young trees replacing the old ones. Shortly after this, the trail turns to the southwest to leave the monument and enter the Ansel Adams Wilderness (~1.05 miles). Now the trail begins to descend back into the trees toward King Creek (~400' in elevation drop). A few springs are crossed along the way that are lined with wildflowers in summer. At ~2.1 miles King Creek is reached where there is no footbridge. Earlier in the spring and summer this will be a bit tricky. Some find a better place to cross a little upstream but wading is still required. Downstream of here is a relatively deep pool. However, later in the summer or in autumn the flow should be low enough to rock hop across. Once on the other side of King Creek, begin climbing again to the southwest.
Follow the contours of the slope to the north and reach an Ashley Lake use-trail at a switchback (~6.6 miles; 37.61912 N, 119.15150 W). Turn left onto the use-trail and follow it steeply downhill to the west-northwest before it turns to the southwest to approach Ashley Lake. Ashley Lake is reached at its outlet at ~6.85 miles. Iron Mountain looms over the lake to the southwest and Ashley Lake Falls can be seen cascading down toward the lake along King Creek. Small glaciers can also be seen below Iron Mountain on either side. When its time to leave Ashley Lake you could follow the use-trail back. However, we felt that the use-trail unnecessarily gained and lost elevation so we tried a different route. We stayed on the west side of King Creek and headed downhill to the north-northeast. We continued to the north-northeast when King Creek turned more to the east before turning more to the northeast near the southern end of a marsh system to cross the creek after it turned back to flow north. We crossed the creek just upstream of where the tributary from the marsh joins the creek and climbed up to the east where we ran into the use-trail coming from Ashley Lake (~7.2 miles). From here we followed the use-trail to the north to recross King Creek (~7.3 miles) and join a "maintained" trail just north of a large pool in the creek. This trail doesn't seem to have seen a lot of trail crews over the years, but isn't terribly difficult to follow as it heads slightly downhill to the northeast. Just before the trail crosses the outlet from Noname Lake we left the trail (~7.5 miles) and climbed along the outlet to the north-northeast to take a short-cut to see Holcomb Lake. We recommend staying above the outlet when possible. Noname Lake was reached at ~7.7 miles where we spotted a mountain garter snake. From here, we walked north along the western shore before turning and climbing to the west. Staying on the south side of Holcomb Lake's outlet, we reached the lake at ~7.95 miles. The view over the lake from near the outlet is very nice and highly recommended. There are a bunch of tree trunks jammed together at the outlet which allow for easy passage to the other side to find the maintained trail. Once on the maintained trail, follow it away from Holcomb Lake down toward Noname Lake. A few alpine gentian were sprinkled in along the trail here and there is a nice view of the mountains to the southeast, including Mt. Isaak Walton, Mt. Gabb, Recess Peak, Double Peak, and Sharktooth Peak.
The first option was to continue steeply uphill to the north-northeast for a little while before turning slightly to the northwest just shy of reaching the top of the rise. The second option was to turn to the northwest and follow a steep and narrow couloir up to a meadow. We chose the second option which ended up having a little less climbing but some of the climbing in the couloir was class 3 (all fours needed), whereas the first option would only continue the class 2 (off-trail) hiking, albeit steep class 2. It was very interesting popping out of the top of the couloir to the meadow area. It felt a little like coming out of a secret entrance/exit to a hidden alpine area. The meadow and stream were dry but earlier in the year we'd expect more water, which may make the second option dangerous if water is flowing in the couloir. Follow the eastern edge of the meadow to the north and then climb up away from it. Next, turn slightly to the left to traverse to the north-northwest where the first and second options should meet. Here, trees block the view of Gertrude Lake to the northeast, but the lake may be visible along the first option's path.
The trail weaves its way between treed and open granite sections as it climbs. There are nice views at a few places looking back at Mammoth Mountain. As the trail switches from an eastern aspect to a northern one there are several tight switchbacks on the exposed granite before the trail moves back into the trees to continue climbing. Soon after, there is a great view up Snow Canyon (King Creek) near a larger switchback. The backside of The Minarets is visible to the northwest as well as Iron Mountain to the west. Take advantage of this view and check it out. You may think that the trail will offer up another shortly, but unfortunately it does not unless you hop off the trail (which may be dangerous). The trail finally levels out at the junction with the Summit Meadow Trail at ~4.0 miles. Stay right as the trail turns and slightly descends to the west and northwest passing through a marsh filled with vegetation. The trail next slightly climbs to reach the junction with the Fern Lake Trail (~4.5 miles). The right trail heads northwest to join up with the trail heading toward Holcomb Lake. Stay left to head west toward Fern Lake. Cross the narrow but somewhat deep outlet gully and reach the eastern shore of Fern Lake at ~4.8 miles where the maintained trail ends. Fern Lake is nice and quiet but not terribly scenic. Continue along a use-trail above the northern shore of the lake ignoring a trail that branches off to the right (north). The use-trail now leaves the trees to begin climbing northwest of the lake over the rocky terrain. Cairns mark much of the way, but if you loose the trail stick to the northern side of the gully. However, just below a little pond the use-trail climbs up through the middle of the gully to the western shore of the pond (~5.3 miles) before turning to the west to continue climbing up through some trees. Leaving the trees behind, the use-trail continues climbing up through the steep and rocky top of the gully on the north side. At the top of the gully, the use-trail reaches a little marsh and turns to the northwest to begin descending (~5.55 miles) toward Anona Lake. For those looking to bag Iron Mountain, one route follows the slope to the south-southwest from here. Follow the use-trail steeply downhill before it begins to level out to the west-southwest. The use-trail stays on the south side of the outlet and reaches the eastern tip of Anona Lake at ~5.8 miles. The view of the huge natural amphitheater over the lake is fantastic. We found fresh bear tracks near the outlet here. Cross the outlet and follow the shore to the southwest to reach a tip with more great views. Take a break and rehydrate before continuing on the off-trail portion of this hike. We left the northern shore and headed to the north-northwest toward some trees. At the western edge of these trees pick your way further uphill and then over some exposed rock to the north to reach a small marshy area. We passed along the eastern edge of this marshy area before heading northeast under some trees to another arm of the marshy area. This secondary marshy area is steeper and at ~6.2 miles we reached a point with two options.
The view from the eastern shore of Noname Lake (~8.3 miles) is nice and we found a few deer prints in the soft mud. Here, the real trail deviates from the path shown on the USGS topo slightly as it continues to follow the shore before heading downhill to the southeast on exposed rock. Take a look at the view of Iron Mountain while following the trail below Noname Lake. A trail junction is reached at ~8.85 miles at King Creek Falls. To the right is the trail we left earlier to check out Noname and Holcomb Lakes. Stay straight/left and follow the main trail downhill to the east and reach the junction with the Fern Lake connecting trail coming in from the right (south) at ~9.1 miles. About 300' before (west) this junction, a mystery trail splits off to the left and heads north-northwest along the western edge of the marshes. This use-trail is blocked by some branches at the junction and we suspect that it is a short-cut to Superior Lake and Beck Lakes if you're coming from the south or west. After the trail junction, the main trail turns to the north-northeast and meets the actual Beck Lakes Trail at ~9.4 miles coming in from the left (northwest).The main trail continues climbing to the northeast before reaching a small rise and descending slightly to the southeast before resuming to climb to the east then north-northeast in the trees. The trail then mostly levels out before approaching the western end of another marsh. North of the marsh the trail then heads steeply to the northeast where it reaches the top of the final rise (~10.6 miles) and begins descending through the forest to the east and northeast. After leveling out some, the trail descends steeply through many switchbacks to the southeast and east before intersecting with the JMT at ~13.4 miles where the forest thins out. Stay right and follow the JMT for a short distance to the east before it turns to descend back into the trees to the south-southeast. At ~14.1 miles the wilderness is left for the monument and then the JMT intersects with the PCT at a four-way junction. The left (north) trail leads to Minaret Falls, the right toward the first JMT/PCT junction mentioned near the beginning of this description. Stay straight and follow the mostly level trail to the southeast before it turns to descend to the south. The loop junction is met at ~14.6 miles. Stay left and descend to the footbridge and then the Devils Postpile Trail junction (~14.7 miles). Stay left again to head back to the trailhead (~14.9 miles).
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