Checking Number 1 Out: Hiking around Horseshoe Lake of Mammoth Lakes

Horseshoe Lake

Date: July 12, 2022 

Place: Mammoth Lakes, California

Coordinates: 37.613062, -119.021264

Length: 1.5 miles

Level: easy

 

Lately I've been doing a lot of catching up with my writing of hikes I did in the last couple of years but this one is very recent. Last month my family came over to visit from overseas, and we went on a 2.5 weeks long road trip to Colorado and back. We did a lot of sightseeing and visitations of our relatives on Boulder, but we also did some hiking. Our first hike of that trip was in California still, before crossing over to Nevada. We planned to stay the night in Mammoth Lakes and wanted to spend the time until evening enjoying the Mammoth Lakes, specifically, Horseshoe Lake. 

Beach at Horseshoe Lake

Horseshoe Lake is the highest of the Mammoth Lakes lakes that can be reached by car. I chose that lake because I thought it would be nice to dip in the water. A local woman had warned us that the water is very cold but we went there anyway. The lake was pretty low, exposing a large coarse sand beach to which we went. The north lobe of the lake was very shallow and the water not so cold at all so we took off our shoes and dipped a bit. We settled on a large platform like granite slab and watched the youth playing in and near the water. After some time I felt antsy and decided to take a walk around the lake. My sister jumped up and said she'd join me, and so we left my brother in law in charge of the happy youth and started on the trail surrounding the lake. Where it looks in the image that we walked in the water, it was indeed within the lake's boundaries, but those areas were dry

Our hike as captured by my GPS

The trailhead of the lake-surrounding trail is shared also with a wilderness trail that extends up to the High Sierra and into Yosemite National Park. It starts as a wide, well packed and very comfortable trail.

Horseshoe Lake Trail

A short distance into the forest the trail narrows considerable and starts winding between the trees. Little creeks, running still, flow down from the mountain and the trail crosses them over short wooden plank bridges.

Although my sister and her family were in California for over a week already, this was the first time that we were alone together for any significant time. We took the opportunity to catch up about matters that were too personal to talk about in others' presence or that we wanted to go in more depth than what's is possible when having the children around. All that time we didn't forget where we were and the serene beauty we were walking through.

The trail doesn't go too close to the water, and the low level too makes the shoreline look far. Every now and then the trail wood curve a bit closer and we would get a partial view of the lake through the trees.

There was some bloom along the trail, especially near the little creaks. There wasn't much of it though. I don't know if that was because the year was so dry or because that is usual for the place. I was happy to see flowers though.

Broad-leaf Lupine, Lupinus latifolius

Horseshoe Lake is a small lake, even when it is full to the brim. It didn't take long for us to reach the south side of the lake. As we started rounding the south shore we had a nice view of the northeastern side with the ring of conifer trees, the bare mountains behind , and the looming clouds above. The clouds looked thick but they were far away. We didn't expect to be rained on that evening.

Horseshoe Lake

The south side of the lake was bordering the mountain slope and the trail to the wilderness split off. My sister and I continued around Horseshoe Lake, now going beside some impressive rocky outcrops.

We were walking slowly, chatting, breathing deeply the mountains dry, clear air. An intense heat wave was going on all over the southwest, but in Mammoth Lakes it was quite beautiful, and in the shade if the trees near the lake, the weather was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better place to be that day.

The familiar mountain heather was blooming near the creeks of the south shore, but the bloom was very limited, not the large pink clouds I'm used to see in the mountains. I guess the second year in a row of a very severe drought had a strong effect on even the hardiest plants of the Sierra.

Brewer's Mountain Heather, Polydoce breweri

We rounded the south shore of the lake and between the trees we could see now almost the entire length of the eastern shore. On the left of the photo - the south eastern slope of Mammoth Mountain coming into view.

Almost every little creek we crossed had some columbine blooming along its banks. We've seen these all along the west and south parts of the trail. They too seemed smaller and fewer than I'd expect for this location on this time of year. The Crimson Columbine is very common throughout California but I'm always happy so see it blooming.

Crimson Columbine, Aquilegia formosa

On the southeastern side of the lake we came upon what looked like an old and no longer used group campground. There was an old oven/grill structure, raised platforms, and old nails and pullies stuck in the trees.

From the old campground the trail veered more to the east and according to my navigator, it would remain distant from the lake until its junction with the lake's access road. We didn't want to get too far from the lake so we left the trail and maintained close proximity to the water.

It was obvious that many others did the very same thing because even off the trail there was a trail, even if unofficial. It meandered between the trees and pulled closer to the lake and we followed it.

 

Eventually we came out of the trees and slowly descended the scree and gravel slope towards the water. Just ahead of us, looming above the lake was the majestic Mammoth Mountain. I'm used to seeing it covered with snow but now it was completely naked. Across the lake I detected a patch of dead trees and I trained my camera on that patch.

Mammoth Mountain

The local woman who told us about the lake also told us about the dead trees near it. These trees didn't die of the drought or of any pest or disease. These trees were killed by carbon dioxide emissions from the mountain itself. Mammoth Mountain is an active (although dormant) volcano and emits gasses from its depths. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air and concentrates low by the ground, where it can accumulate to deadly levels, suffocating aerobic organisms. The locations of the gas emissions can change, and when carbon dioxide was emitted in this spot near Horseshoe Lake, it killed the trees in that area.

We came down closer to the water, walking slowly on the rocky ground, careful not to slip and also careful not to trample the few wildflowers we did  see on the scree slope.

Phacelia sp.

Although not an official trail, we did find an established path right by the water along the east side of the lake. We continued north on that path, heading toward the mountain. We tried The sun was getting low, soon it will be time to go for dinner. 

The makeshift path was clearly in the zone that would have been covered by water had the lake been full. There wasn't much vegetation growing there, and the plants that I did see were all quick-growing species, many of them annuals. Of these I liked best the little sedges and grasses that bloomed beneatrh the larger rocks.  

From the east we had a nice view of the flat top mountain southwest of the lake, and of the rocky outcrops that we had walked past, some that were down all the way to the water. The low sun made it hard to see details on that slope. 

A rocky ledge and some large scree protruded from the forest all the way down to the water. We followed the makeshift path back up toward the trees where the walking was easier. We didn't enter the forest again, we simply walked along the tree line. It was interesting to see that the trees that had the low branches, had these branches growing downward. I assume that's the effect of heavy winter snow weighing these branches down. 

Past the rocks and scree we went back down to the lake shore and resumed our walk by the water. We could see our youth gathered by the same large rock we stopped at in the beginning. My sister spotted her spouse lying down on the flat part of the rock. He seemed to be asleep. I noticed the pretty grasses that grew by the rocks near my feet. I also noticed the water lines painted on those rocks, an indication of how high the water was not so long ago. 

As we were closing our hike I went up a bit to look closer at the suffocated dead trees. That entire patch looked like a sad boneyard. This death however, humans had nothing to do with. It was Mammoth Mountain's reminder of its role as the dominant force shaping the region. 

We completed the round around Horseshoe Lake and rejoined the rest of the family. The kids were ready to go for dinner. My brother in law said he could have slept longer on that comfy rock bed. It looked like everyone had a very nice time that afternoon. I know I did, for sure.