Ansel Adams Wilderness

[Ross]

Mt Ritter and Banner had such big cliffs, throw in any lake called Iceberg, plus seeing photos of Minaret lakes - the combination had put the Ansel Adams Wilderness on my list years ago.

I'm pretty fit, but this time the combination of miles, elevation gain, high elevation air, 43lbs with camera, bear canister and food for seven days, plus middle age, had me doing extra training for the first time ever. Walking up 200 floors of my London office stairs with 40lbs worth of water convinced me I'd be ok. (my advancing years had also led me to abandon my past policy of throw everything in the backpack just in case, and regardless of weight, a la the book Wild, and for the first time carefully consider weight)

The extra winter snow meant we could not go over some of the passes as planned, but we still saw everything by going up and down drainages, but this took the miles up over the 50 mark for the week. But at least the snow benefited these photos!

Day 1, 2800ft gain with the packs full - but it was ok, a relief.



We camped at Thousand Island Lakes. Knowing I wouldn't sleep much, I made sure I was out the tent at first light.








The next day we just walked around to an overlook of Garnett If anyone was here after August and found a camera left there, one of my friends left it - I'm sure she'd be very grateful to recover it.



The second morning, sunrise provided clouds this time.



Wish I'd been at the spot of the photo below when I took the one above - then it would have been perfect



Leaving Thousand Island, Garnet looked even better from the other end



Unfortunately with no crampons we couldn't cross from Iceberg to Cecile, but we got to see them both the long way round - and it took us to a beautful waterfall campsite instead.






















Wow, we'd been lucky with the weather. Not too hot, no rain.










Yet more beautiful sunsets and sunrises







A very early start to make it to Devil's Postpile before lunch and the milkshake and pumpkin pie I'd been dreaming of. I tortured myself my resisting the burger until the evening back in Mammoth. All the foods I don't care much for back home.














What a great trip...and aren't showers, beds and flushing restrooms good after a backpack!

 

[swmalone]

Beautiful pictures. That looks like a great trip. I also sympathize with your comments about approaching middle age. I try to avoid looking up what the actual age range for middle age is, so I can pretend that I'm not rapidly approaching, unfortunately the strange pains that I experience for what appears to be no reason at all won't let me forget that I keep racking up the years.

 

[Tim Valentine]

Glad you had a great trip. Also glad to see some of the snow fields probably persisted until the fall storms that are happening now. How was the hike up to Minaret Lake? The rangers in July told us all the stream crossings had been washed out by the heavy snowmelt so we had to cross it off our list. We also did not attempt Iceberg to Cecile for that reason. Good for you that you added the extra miles to hike around. I am sure it was worth it.
Thanks for posting. Great landscape photos!

tv

 

[Artemus]

Very, very nice! And well photographed.

 

[Ross]

Glad you had a great trip. Also glad to see some of the snow fields probably persisted until the fall storms that are happening now. How was the hike up to Minaret Lake? The rangers in July told us all the stream crossings had been washed out by the heavy snowmelt so we had to cross it off our list. We also did not attempt Iceberg to Cecile for that reason. Good for you that you added the extra miles to hike around. I am sure it was worth it.
Thanks for posting. Great landscape photos!

tv

No difficulties getting to Minaret. We did watch one guy walk through the snow from Iceberg to Cecile.



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[balzaccom]

Lovely stuff. Glad you enjoyed our backyard! This year the winter is starting a bit slower...and we may be back to drought conditions by the summer....sigh.

 

[Ugly]

Very excellent. great photos of a great place, just right for my lunchtime reading.

 

[tflaris]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.


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[AbinadiWitness]

Really enjoyed some of these photos. I mean, all the photos were lovely, but some I found particularly lovely. I'm sure this areas is very well-photographed already, but it looks like another place to make sure I get out to one of these days.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[wsp_scott]

Wow!! Great photos, I wish I lived closer to those mountains.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to get back to climbing office tower stairs

 

[danger02ward]

Wow that is beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

 

[WasatchWill]

WOW!!! Beautiful! Some of those Ritter shots are poster and puzzle worthy. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Laura]

Awesome trip and beautiful shots. That area is well worth it, and being well into middle age myself I can appreciate what the climbing up and down does to your body!

 

[Eugene]

Great pictures. When did you do this hike? September?

 

[Ross]

Great pictures. When did you do this hike? September?

Late August. Apparently the week before Iceberg lake was covered in icebergs. We just saw a frozen sheet around the shore


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[Curt]

Really enjoyed the beautiful pictures.

 

[blueeyes]

Gorgeous photos.

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[Yvonne]

Awesome trip, and nice pictures.


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[Ross]

Thanks all for the comments - always nice to see some feedback. I've posted TRs recently on another forum & you get barely any response, which makes you think why bother spending the time.

I'd rather people tell me most of the photos are rubbish except two they really liked, & I should have done a better route - or follow up with their own better versions of photos - than get nothing at all. So much appreciated that people have taken the time to comment & the nice ones are always a bonus

 

[wabenho]

Great trip report and awesome pictures! Thank you so much for sharing!

I realize this was 6 years ago, but I'm wondering if I could ask you a couple questions? I understand that 2017 was a big snow year, maybe similar to this year (2022-2023). Because of the remaining snow, it sounds like you did not go over the ridge from Iceberg to Cecile, but rather found a way down one drainage and up the next. Based on my understanding of the topo, it's not clear to me the route you took. Would you be comfortable sharing your exact path.

I have permits for mid-August to do a similar route to yours. I will be going up the High Trail to Thousand Island, then I plan to work my way over to Minaret via Iceberg and Cecile. With the record snow this year, I'm afraid I may run into the same challenge that you did on that ridge above Iceberg. Any alternative routes would be greatly appreciated.

TIA