Backpacking The High Sierra: Ansel Adams Wilderness - Minaret to Iceberg Loop and Holcomb Lake

I spent a week out in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California in September of 2021. I basically spent this trip around lakes that hug the eastern slopes of the Ritter Range. First mini loop was to Holcomb Lake. This is a seldom traveled part of the wilderness; pretty much saw no one on this loop back towards the JMT in the first 3 days of the trip. The other half of the trip took me up to Minaret Lake, then Cecile Lake, where I camped the 4th night. Cecile Lake ranks up there with my top campsites ever. Close up views of the smoky Minarets is hard to beat. By day 5 I was completing a "traverse" (it's actually quite easy) that followed a steep boulder field down to Iceberg Lake -- the highlight of the trip. I then looped around at Ediza lake following Shadow Creek and then up to Rosalie & Gladys Lakes before ending the trip at Crater Meadow where I started.
I don't want to go on and on with exposition about the views, the conditions, the crowds or CA wildfires; it's all in the video. Thanks for watching.
Timestamps:
Intro (0:00)
Day 1 Crater Meadow (2:00)
Day 2 Holcomb Lake Loop (11:00)
Day 3 Holcomb to Johnson Meadow (27:18)
Day 4 Minaret Lake & Cecile Lake (35:42)
Day 5a Cecile to Iceberg to Ediza Lake (54:57)
Day 5b Ediza to Shadow to Gladys Lake (1:03:04)
Day 6 Gladys to Red Cones via JMT (1:15:50)

[@bluwtrgypsy]

Terrific video. Such great photography and minimal talking - only pertinent info. You have Joey Coconato's awesome style of filming your hiking adventures. (That's a complement). Thanks so much. Look forward to more. Blessings

[@trentc1098]

respect bro

[@TrekkingTheRockies]

Awesome video of your trip. I appreciate how descriptive your narration is of the terrain and challenges.

[@TheChurchOfPhakeKnewz]

Good video. I’ve hiked and backpacked in that area before. We’ve hiked from Clover Meadow to Reds Meadow in a day hike. Spent a few days in reds meadow then hiked back.

[@edenglehart2829]

Awesome video...thx

[@dmn3773]

Awesome. looking forward to the video.

[@jerrypeevey]

Nice hike thanks for the ride ! I am hoping to do much the same soon. Uh except I have a couple nice fishing poles and some heritage trout goals to get too.

[@NorwayHikesTrails]

Lovely place 👍

[@MotoWhispers]

Beautiful video thanks for sharing. i will try and visit somewhere like this soon

[@Ra79ra]

Dope intro

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thank you!

[@reggiebald2830]

Thank you. I very much appreciate your effort to share your time & experience surrounded with such beauty!

[@karnosadventures6599]

This is just an epic video, love that wilderness and the way you do your videos. Keep up the good work👍

[@NVIK5]

Excellent video! Your definition of crowded is very different from mine. You should see some of the hiking trails in Europe!

[@NickandRachel]

Gorgeous views! Thanks for sharing this

[@delaneykuric4092]

I grew up camping in Mammoth and hiking out to Devils Postpile every year. So now it’s a dream to do a backpacking trip further out into that beautiful wilderness, ideally solo! Thank you for the inspiration and the beautiful video!

[@reconeix]

Now the shuttle bus takes you quite close to Devi's Postpile. But it puts you closer to the John Muir Trail and high Sierra access.

[@whistlepig]

Ansel Adams Wilderness has been on my list for a while. Insanely beautiful scenery!

[@nato2959]

First time I'm meeting you. Simply excellent. As a retired forester, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be with you. Be always safe, please.

[@johnhelmuth9718]

In early aug 2013, we took agnew meadow TH to ediza, and explored nydiver lks; moved camp over to minaret lk via that cecil lk traverse; exited at reds and rode the shuttle back to Agnew FTW! Iceberg lk still had some ice in it at the far end...great way to cool off! Loved how you captured that traverse section. Great video :)

[@MojaveZach]

that is one epic video, thanks for sharing this epic trip!

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thanks! It was a really enjoyable trip.

[@lindawarrell4281]

Absolutely gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing! ❤️ It just makes my day!

[@reconeix]

It's cool that you paced yourself and only did 3 miles the first day. However, reaching Minaret Lake in one day is totally doable for any medium experienced hiker. p.s. don't worry about Minaret Lake being overrun with campers -- there are lots of options.

[@WildlandExplorer]

Absolutely. When recording video, I move about half as fast as a typical hiker.

[@erict5878]

You remind me of Joey from " My Own frontier"! I like the way you describe where you are and where you are going on an actual map! Great touch and I enjoy your description of the entire elevation throughout the hike! GOOD STUFF man!

[@trailcairn1717]

Like Joey's brother 😏

[@dannyho6786]

Devils post-pile !

[@milwaukeemotor5995]

breathtaking

[@GenX...MCMLXV]

i live in the Blue Ridge .... that is Mars and I have to go there

[@edgeplay4205]

1:18:26 - best pic of all so far - so many details - over on left is a cleft that has been blocked off with boulders and plastered over. Immediate right there is a doorway into another world - the grey patch with its own trees beyond. Then there are these three blockheads plummeting down on a shocked looking up in dread and astonishment. Forgot to mention all the dynamics : fractal juniper bushes spiraling out, the falling water of the twp orange blockheads and the splash in the doorway. Exhibit it: see what happens.

[@edgeplay4205]

51:45 Another great pic made perfect by the smoke. Do I detect the samer amount of color manipulation. The trunks pop out of the frame but their salmon colours are echoed by the mountains behind. Pure watercolour effect.

[@rickyoungs2231]

Dude, you are Ironman and your videos have made my life better ❤.

[@HP_VDP]

Xxl thanks for all of efforts to let me participate on that journey… you must have hiked it twice 🖖

[@michaelrogers9898]

Really beautiful views with that moon thank you wonderful.uk.

[@Raevenswood]

really nice trip! I checked out your channel and I can tell I'm going to be digging into more of your content. You definitely deserve more subs!

[@jillyelston6145]

I just have to tell you how much I have loved your videos, the scenery on this one just blew me away! Your photography is incredible, you allow the viewer to see all the scenery and just stop to explain where you are going next which is absolutely perfect. I love the areas of granite rocks, fir trees, waterfalls and rivers, just stunning, but I loved your film of the Minurets (hope that's the right spelling). Thank you so much for your fantastic videos, I am in the UK, we have nothing like this over here, can't wait to see more from you!

[@jibslundemo3245]

Thanks for the trip report and video. I don't live terribly far from, Mammoth, and I want to get down there to hike more.

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thanks! Lots to explore out there as you know! Sorry to see what's happening with the droughts though. I don't know how you all live with that level of smoke every year.

[@deepseabe]

Thanks for the video it helped a lot. We just completed this loop last week (Mid-June). Lots more snow around cecile and iceberg lakes. Lots of snowbridges between the boulders which made traversing very slow and sketchy....Iceberg lake is aptly named. Mosquitos were insane. We pretty much had the loop trail to ourselves, no other campers until Shadow lake. Weather was 70-ish in the daytime and maybe mid to high 40's at night. June was a good time to go, other than the bugs.

[@WildlandExplorer]

Haha that's an awesome story - exactly what I would expect for June. Personally I like to spend my time in the Sierra and Rockies late season to avoid those skeeters, but that always comes with the risk of fire closures. I've seen pics of the cornice that's frequently on the edge of the outlet between Cecile & Iceberg, looks sketchy. Did you need ice axe & crampons? Sounds like you had a great adventure and I'm glad this video was helpful!

[@deepseabe]

@@WildlandExplorer 😁 no ice axes needed, or crampons, but we did have heavy treaded boots on and poles. The poles were very handy on the boulder traverses. On the decent into Iceberg lake we slid on our butts down the snow on the steeper parts. Though we took care not to slide all the way into the lake. The snow and Ice extended out over the shallow beach and dropped off into deeper water which was pretty scary. An axe in this location might have been warranted, but we managed. Thanks again for the video it was a great help 😊👍 and much luck in your future adventures, we'll be watching!

[@VentureFarOut]

Awesome video! Great descriptions of what was going on. Thats one of my favorite areas in the Sierra. Can definitely get crowded but there's a lot of people in California and the further you get off trail the less the crowds are. I can attest that I don't think I've ever had my permit checked in the Sierra (in 5 years).

[@WildlandExplorer]

Oh totally, if I lived closer to the Sierra I’d be doing cross country routes left and right, but I don’t get many opportunities to get that far west from AZ. Thanks for checking out the video!

[@jamesbadham228]

Re: toilet paper; don't use it. Get a bidet, or pack it out. Nice vid. You walk a lot of extra to get those hiking shots. And you are one of the few people on KZbin who pans slowly so that you don't get that dizzying look/feel. Nice use of the map to show where you're heading, too.

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thanks! I agree about the bidet but old habits die hard, lol. Yeah too many hiking videos are shaky, un-stabilized mess where you can't tell what's going on where they left out the important bits. The philosophy here is: if I'm recording this - make it as good as possible right?

[@scepticrat]

Excellent hike, excellent video! I really like your style, reminds me of Joey C and his My Own Frontier channel. Great vibe, great info. Also, I really like your POV moving shots, such as the trail around Minaret Lake at 43:19 and your over-the-shoulder shots. They give a great sense of what it's like being on trail. Looking forward to checking out your other trips; thanks for sharing!

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thanks I appreciate that! I'm a fan of Joey's channel, hope he starts making videos again eventually. I'm looking at bringing more high sierra content this year if the fires don't force closures again. Let's pray for rain.

[@ropersix]

I was thinking the same thing, about being like Joey C's videos. And not just because of the tent stake with the map :) It's all about the actual backpacking which, for viewers who actually backpack, is very enjoyable and helpful for seeing new places and routes to do.

[@JustinMcKinneyhiker]

Nice to see you hiking in my neck of the woods. Thats a very popular area , and gets a lot of visitors. The temporary national park closers added to a lot more people out there during your trip. They had only opened not long before you started, but i'm sure you know that. I hope you come back to explore some more of the sierras ! Great video !!

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thank you Justin! I noticed immediately how different the Sierra is with crowds compared to the desert southwest (Grand canyon excepting of course). I hadn't even considered before your comment that a lot of the SEKI visitors probably funneled into other parts of Inyo since the NP closed right as Inyo opened back up. Will be back. I'd like to get out to SEKI eventually for a 9 Lakes Basin Loop.

[@Vito_Tuxedo]

My old stompin' grounds! I have a special fondness for the Ritter Range and the Minarets in particular. Sad to say they're so often shrouded in smoke from all the wildfires. Last time I was there I ended up leaving because the smoke was so bad it was hard to breathe. Glad the wind was in your favor enough to make your hike possible.We both know that no video can truly capture the majesty of that area, but you've come as close as anyone can! Thanks for another superb experience, amigo! 😎

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thank you! absolutely agree. If anything, the smoke added to the atmosphere. Will be back to the Sierra soon enough, maybe even during the short non-wildfire season.

[@SoloSchmitty]

🙌

[@karenabel6218]

Super awesome. Will you be making any more videos of the Sierras soon? You make top quality hiking/ backpacking videos.

[@WildlandExplorer]

I definitely want to but distance and funding are issues atm. I might (crosses fingers) move much closer to the area in a few years.

[@FrontlineLLC]

Just curious if you ever do gear load-out videos? Also, are you opposed to using trekking poles? Love your videos. So entertaining…

[@WildlandExplorer]

I've considered doing gear loadouts for some time and have started to script a couple times but to be honest, the process of talking about my gear bores me to death, haha. So I like to focus on just the trip videos. I might in the future, as I know people find it helpful. I don't have the best setup at home for doing indoor videos, but this might change in the near future. I use trekking poles from time to time but the reason you don't see them on my videos is that I'm using a camera tripod that doubles as a hiking staff. Thanks again for the comment!

[@DavidHerringtonOutdoors]

See!!! That's why I always dig first thing at camp hahahahaha. Look at ya now, lol. You still need a good porch rock, imo 😂. That final sunset scene at the end, 😳, beautiful. Amazing job again on this one, you really captured what I have of the wilderness in my head from all of the Adams photographs I grew up with. What an epic adventure, and again, love the video!

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thank man appreciate it! This was a fun one to put together. I'll work on that porch rock for the next one.😆

[@Edwardcruzz13]

Hey wildland !! What size of back pack are you caring plz..love the video ty😊

[@WildlandExplorer]

For trips like this I usually have something in the 55-60L range. The red exos in a 58. Lately I'm almsot always using a Levity 60L which has been discontinued. Currently experimenting with a gossamer Gear Kumo 36. I can barely fit a weekend's worth in it. Thanks for the kind words!

[@unknown7K38DH39]

Amazing views! do you have a gear video?

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thanks! I don't have a great home studio environment for doing gear related videos (echo! echo!). I plan to once I move in a few months.

[@AlfieLW]

Nice video. Im going to do the Thousand Island Lake loop in August. Entering Shadow Creek. What camera did you use?

[@WildlandExplorer]

Thanks! This was done on a Lumix G9 + Leica 12-60 f/2.8 for static shots. GoPro for walking shots.

[@Wondering_Fireball]

Ever thought about doing the Tahoe rim trail?

[@WildlandExplorer]

Definitely, but it's a long way for me in AZ. Atm have some obligations that prevent much more than 9-10 days out from home.

[@tlwhite0311]

What's the intro song? I must have it.

[@BLASTRONOID]

What brand jacket is that puffy one with the blue stripes on it??

[@WildlandExplorer]

It's a Cotopaxi jacket, it's sold at REI. I'll be honest it was an impulse purchase on deep discount, lol. But it's a good jacket in colder weather. A bit heavy for summer temps.

[@StephanieHughesDesign]

Just love your videos. Is the route you chose the classic/official High Sierra Trail? Looks like it is? Crosses JMT at certain intervals?

[@WildlandExplorer]

It's actually part of the Sierra High Route - I believe the section from the Minarets down to Ediza lake is part of that, which is generally more of a long-distance cross country route. There are parts of it that are more difficult than the section I hiked here. The High Sierra Trail is in a different area I believe. Easy to get the two mixed up -I am not an expert on the Sierra though and I could be wrong. Thanks for again for watching!

[@StephanieHughesDesign]

@@WildlandExplorer I like your route. I would only have 1 week. Not 3 weeks to do JMT. Don't really like too much exposure. Your route included some HST and also JMT and PCT looping back to where you started from. HST is point to point. Hard to manage transportation.

[@WildlandExplorer]

The exposure really isn’t that bad along iceberg lake as long as there isn’t a snowfield. That’s part of why I did that trip in Sept. That steep section frequently requires crampons / ice axe and requisite skills. I would personally not attempt if I wasn’t certain whether it was ice-free. For that, I use a paid CalTopo subscription to check weekly sentinel satellite imagery.

[@coffeedollsvp]

Havasupai hike or this hike?

[@erict5878]

Do you ever Fish on the way?

[@dataender96]

gotta fish

[@nancygeorge4030]

What was your entry point…. ie what trailhead permit did you have to get for this trip?

[@WildlandExplorer]

Red Cones on recreation.gov under the Inyo NF Wilderness permits.