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| Mono Pass from Mosquito Flat TH, CA | | -
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| | Mono Pass from Mosquito Flat TH, CA | | | |
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Mono Pass from Mosquito Flat TH, CA
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| Hiking | 7.40 Miles |
2,169 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.40 Miles | 8 Hrs 50 Mns | | 0.84 mph |
| 2,169 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Partners |
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none
[ show ]
| no partners | | This was my third day hike on a 13 day car camping trip traveling south on HW395 in the Eastern Sierras of California. The hike starts out on the Little Lakes Valley Trail from the Mosquito Flats Trailhead at the end of Rock Creek Road. There are several campgrounds along Rock Creek Road, I chose the upper Pine Grove Campground.
I arrived at the TH at 7:30am motivated to get an early start before the parking lot filled up. While getting out my gear I got in a conversation with a young man about our plans for the day. There appeared to be nobody else in the parking lot but our loud enthusiastic voices evidently woke up two young women backpackers sleeping in their small SUV crossover. They spilled out of their car along with their packs. I apologized for waking them up, but hey, it was time for them to get on the trail anyway. 
The trail to Mono Pass forks off the Little Lakes Valley Trail to the right about a half mile from the TH and is marked with a sign. The trail to Mono Pass started out with a fairly gentle uphill grade but with the starting elevation at 10K and Mono Pass at 12k, I was slowed down by the lack of oxygen. There were great views of the Little Lakes Valley and Ruby Lake as the trail climbed up to the pass. After the pass, the trail goes to the small Summit Lake nestled in a shallow valley. I made Summit Lake my turn around point. I was exhausted from the high altitude so took shelter from the howling wind behind a large boulder, had a snack, and took a short nap. After waking from the nap I noticed 3 people hiking near the top of the low ridge to the west. Later I encountered these people on the trail and found out that taking a route from Mono Pass along the top of that ridge provided amazing views of the Trail Lakes and many Sierra peaks to the west. Based on that information, I would recommend taking that route from the pass instead of the trail leading directly to Summit Lake. For a relatively short hike, this one left me exhausted because of my problem with handling altitudes above 10K. However it didn't seem to be bothering the 10 people, some as old as me, that passed me on the trail. This was definitely a worth while hike because of the great views climbing out of the valley and would be even greater taking the route I recommended above (but didn't take). Little Lakes Valley is a better alternative for the first time in this area but I had done that trail exactly 5 years ago on Oct 4, 2014. [ photoset ] |
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