Ansel Adams Wilderness—Jackass Lakes, Madera Peak, Chittenden Lake.

       In mid August my dad, younger brother, and I were able to get out on a short adventure. We drove out to Bass Lake, CA and then headed northeast on Beasore Rd. (5S07) for 27 miles. Beasore Rd. starts off nice, but after 10 or 15 miles quickly becomes nearly a one lane road that is made of more gravel, dirt, and potholes than asphalt. We actually had to go an additional three miles out to a small rangers station because we forgot to pick up our wilderness permit in Oakhurst. With our wilderness permit in hand, we drove back and turned north on a dirt road  (5S86) until we got to the trailhead about a mile and a half later. We had decided to hike into the Jackass Lakes via the Norris Lake/Vanderburgh trail rather than the Jackass Lakes trail head, although it would be a slightly longer hike, the elevation gain would be less, and we would pass Norris Lake, and lower Jackass Lake on the way.

The hike took us about 3 hours, which included stopping for pictures every now and then, and second guessing the trail once or twice. We arrived around 5:30 PM and set up camp on the north shore of upper Jackass Lake. The lake is at about 9,150 ft and located at the eastern base of a mountain ridge that shoots south off of the Triple Divide Peak in Yosemite. When the sun dropped over the ridge the fading light was replaced by a quick gust of cold air reminding us that we were up where weather can change quickly. We used my dad’s old 1970s Optimus 99 backpacking stove and heated up some water for hot chocolate.

The chill of the night evaporated as soon as the sun began peaking through the trees. The morning light illumanted a beautiful view of the lake and mountains. I had only ever seen pictures of mirror like reflections in alpine lakes before this.

Now you too can marvel at the beauty of the land in the morning light.

After eating a quick breakfast of oatmeal, we packed our day packs with food and fresh lake water (sterilized with the SteriPen), and began hiking up to Madera peak. Madera Peak (10,509 ft) is the southernmost peak of the south ridge of the Triple Divide, therefore looking north from the summit we were in line with Sing Peak, then Gale Peak, and then the Triple Divide. Looking east we could see either Iron Mt. or the Mammoth Mt. range, and looking south we could see the smoke rising from fires in Kings Canyon National Park.

The hike up was fairly uneventful, although interesting to notice that there were three distinct layers of rock: white, red, then grey. You can see the white and grey layer in the picture below. Also pictured is Lady Lake which we passed on the way back.

After a lunch on the summit we walked the ridge north and dropped down to Chittenden Lake. On the way we had some fun encounters with marmots (mountain groundhogs). It was fun to hear their whistling as the warned each other of our presence as we hiked along. I took some great pictures of the marmots, but have yet to develop the film. Chittenden is much more isolated than either Lady lake, or the Jackass Lakes, and more beautiful in my opinion. It was a much deeper blue, with two little islands in the middle of it. We had about 30min before we needed to hike back, so I set up a hammock and then we took a quick swim; surprisingly it was not too cold. If I ever backpack into the area again, I think I will camp at this lake.

Jordan and I with Chittenden Lake in the back. 

From the summit of Madera Peak, we figured that we could hike around a portion of the ridge, and then cross over near Lady Lake. Unfortunately it is difficult to judge the grade of a slope when sighting from a distance and height. When we got to the backside of Lady Lake, we realized that we could not simply hike over the granite ridge as we had planed. While hoping to cut nearly 1000 vertical ft. out of the hike back, we ended up coming within 300-400 vertical ft. of the summit. Nothing like climbing a mountain twice..

The green is where we thought we could hike.

That night my brother and I set up our hammocks and slept in the trees while dad took the tent.

After a breakfast of eggs and hot chocolate we packed up camp and headed down. The trail back was a little more difficult to find due to the fact that much of the trail travels over sheets of granite and little (and I mean little) towers of stone marked the upper portion. We were never lost, however we had to pause a few times in order to scan the landscape until we saw a trail marker.

Next time I would like to bring more food, a fishing pole, and stay a few more days, never the less it was a great dad and sons outing.