The Benson Lake Loop

As the canyon turns...the meadow sweeps around with the stream beneath increasingly steep canyon walls.

The Matterhorn Canyon "elbow"

The Benson Lake Loop, August 2002

Here and there along the canyon walls near the meadow forest groves stood, including the way to the hanging valley above. If there are trees, then that usually means the route can be traveled by foot. The trail stayed in the open until it began to turn the corner below Quarry Peak and entered the woods for the first time that day. These woods held sheltered level campsites near the trail some distance from the water. The sites were obviously packer camps that got only a fair amount of use.

On the trail there came a point where I could look up canyon at the spectacular peaks of the Sierra Crest, and down canyon for views of the glacial canyon and its impressive walls. Further down the trail in a meadow area with a small grove of trees hiding a rarely used camp, the trail crossed the stream (a wet but probably easy crossing early season) and climbed a steep bank. From that point to my next camp the trail acted more a typical Sierra trail: some back and forth mixed with up and down in forest.

The "Yosemite Valley" like walls of Matterhorn Canyon. This is looking up!

I was now descending into the next great surprise of the trip: a small Yosemite Valley! The south wall of Quarry Peak was a huge white vertical expanse of solid granite over 1800 feet high overlooking a beautiful open meadow. After crossing the steam once again (a bit more difficult here) I entered this pocket "yosemite" of towering granite. The trail stayed well above the marvelous meadow, but the occasional views were a sight to behold. I kept craning my neck upward to look at the vast walls, wondering where all the rock-climbers were.

On a sad note, I heard what sounded like a loud catcall, which turned out to be a fawn crying for its mother. Somehow they were separated, either by blind bad luck or the mother falling to predators or some other ill fate. I heard the cries far into the night in camp until they suddenly stopped. Such is the natural world.