The Birch Lake Trail On And Off

Dale Matson

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Initial Hike Route Black Line Is Correct Route

This Ambit 3 Map Is Not USGS

The Birch Lake Trailhead is accessed by heading west out of Big Pine CA on (initially) Crocker Street which eventually becomes Glacier Lodge Road. After about two and a half miles there is a left turn onto McMurray Meadows Road which is unpaved. Make sure you are on McMurray Meadows Road. You drive about 5.5 miles and Just before you cross Birch Creek, there is a trail to the right going slightly uphill there is a sign there. Follow that road for less than a mile with a high clearance vehicle and find a slot to park near the gate which is currently open. There are about 4 places to park. (It was closed and locked when I was checking it out later in the season). The trailhead sign is not far from there.

And this is where things can get confusing. I must first admit that I am one of the worst navigators on the planet. Also, the trail is initially a kind of continuation of the lousy road. (It also goes through pasture land with lots of cow trails leading to wherever cow trail lead to.) From there turn left at the first junction. (Going to the right looks like a 4X4 trail on the map heading north but since the map was produced it has become more like a single-track trail). and right at the second junction. I didn’t turn right at the 2^nd junction and continued following the “Wide path that leads to destruction”. You do not want to be near Birch Creek and that is exactly what I mistakenly did until I realized that it had become a trail into the “Heart of Darkness” along the creek. I was able to eventually climb up the steep sides of the pumice gully and get to higher ground. I was “Plumb tuckered out”, as they say and decided to head back to the truck at the trailhead. The Higher route on the map is my return leg. The hike to Birch Lake is about 12 miles round trip with about 4,000’ of gain. I had only gone about four miles round trip and climbed about 1,200’. I came across a single cairn outbound near where I turned around. I think the person that built the cairn may have been strong and dumb enough to follow the creek to Birch lake or he passed away sometime later never reaching Birch lake.

Ok, so now I know where to go next time and God willing, there will be a next time. I also placed several waypoints along the Birch Lake trail on my software map and downloaded them into my GPS. Now it is a matter of licking my wounds until the next time.

What good came of this…”recon”? I got some nice approach photos in the early morning along McMurray Meadows Road and some interesting shots from the trail too. There is one mountain I couldn’t identify in front of me that may be Disappointment Peak. Let me know if I am guessing right or not. The other thing is that I now think I know where to go next time. I believe I had enough water to reach Birch Lake but if you have taken this route please let me know if there is water available along the 6 miles of trail. The map shows a couple of springs but I am uncertain if there is water available there.

I used the Sony A7R3 with the Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8 and Zeiss Batis 25mm f2.0. I also took some backup shots with the Sony RX100 m3.     

 McMurray Meadows Road

Sign At Turn Off

 Tinemaha Left Birch Mt. Right

 Who Knows Why This Cairn Was There?

 Looking Up Birch Creek at Ed Lane Peak 13,576'

 Birch Mountain

 Looking Back And Down East From Where I Started Inyo Mountains

 Close Up Of Birch Mountain

 Coming Back To Truck

 Sunrise Over Birch Mountain Under Full Moon

Split Mountain

Here is the 2nd attempt. It should really be done as an overnight. https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2018/09/birch-lake-ii-bridge-too-far.html

Here is the 3rd successful attempt.

https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2020/06/birch-lake-third-times-charm.html

Kaiser Peak Hike 2018

Dale Matson

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Hike Route

I know this is beginning to sound a lot like the movie “Groundhog Day” but this was my final trip up. The hike is over 11miles round trip with 3,200’ of gain. There are additional particulars from the 2016 hike here:

https://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2016/07/kaiser-peak-hike-2016.html

         Ok, so what justifies this latest trip? I needed the conditioning, wanted to see what the Lions Fire is doing and use a relatively new Zeiss Batis 135mm 2.8 lens for my Sony A7R3. Additionally, other than the Lions Fire, the air is pretty good again and the 6:30am start temperature at about 7,200’ was a comfortable 40 degrees.

         Here are a few rules of thumb for this time of year for this out and back hike. The mosquitoes aren’t bad, there is no access to treatable water along the trail other than the small creek accessed about 6/10ths of a mile outbound. I had about 2.5 liters of water (over 5 lbs.) with me and that was about right. Snacks/food are needed too. Think of the hike being in about five parts and 12 miles total. It is about 3 miles and 2,000’ of gain to College Rock. It is another 3 miles to Kaiser Peak and 1,300’ of gain to the top at about 10,330’) It is 3 miles back to College Rock, .75 miles back to the Huntington Lake overlook on the trail and a very long 2.25 miles from there back to the trailhead (and your vehicle parked below the pack station).

         I saw two groups of deer along the trail but they were faster than I could draw my camera from its belt holster. I also saw a perched hawk this year and actually got a photo. The lakes were generally full of water except for Mammoth Pool Reservoir which is way down from capacity.

         Two sisters Dorothy and Nancy, who were vacationing from SoCal started at 8:30 am and caught up with me inbound the last quarter mile. I was out about 9 hrs. which is way too long for this distance. My Suunto Ambit 3 gave me the maximum (120 hours) recovery time from this hike. The ladies had almost caught up with me near Kaiser Peak but ate their lunch there too. When we got back to our vehicles, they kindly offered me a cold diet cola. Thanks! With their permission, I took their photos and included them too.

         The smoke and the source of the smoke was obvious. The smoke obscured the view of Banner Ritter and flowed south to Mammoth Mountain. The rest of the air was the usual level of “moderate”. The Lions Fire estimated containment date has now been postponed from 25 August to September 7^th. I worry about this particular fire because access is very limited.

         My drive home required the usual large Snicker’s Bar, small bag of chips and a diet cola. All of course are PPED’s (post performance enhancing drugs).

        

China Peak Ski Area Above Huntington Lake

Curious Hawk

College Rock Where The Mountains Begin To Emerge

Mt. Goddard Center

Mt. Gabb Center Left

Trail leading To First Of Two False Summits

Mammoth Pool Reservoir

Smoke from Fire Reaching Mammoth Mountain

Banner Ritter Obscured By Smoke

View Farthest North To Yosemite

Edison Lake Below The Vermillion Cliffs

Huntington Lake From Near The Top

Mt. Goddard And LeConte Divide From Peak

Sunrise Over The Sierra National Forest On My Way To The Hike

View To The Far South- Possibly Mt. Whitney

When you reach the top, there are several small lakes below including Jewell and College Lakes to the east and Bobby and Bonnie Lakes to the North. You can also see Mammoth Pool Reservoir (3,330’ elevation) to the east-northeast. You can see Edison Lake to the east and Huntington Lake to the South.