Big Five / Little Five Lakes Loop

Near the top of this ridge is Sawtooth Pass. Glacier Pass is near left mid-horizon. The Sawtooth Pass route is primarily the mid section of this picture. Look really hard and barley make out the lower trail section, one of the few good trail sections. At the bottom left corner is a trail section from which I am shooting this picture. The "Trail Not Maintained" is on the other side of this canyon, and is a sight to behold.

Its As Bad As It Looks, Going Up

Big 5, Little 5 Lakes Loop and Sawtooth Pass, August 4th to 7th, 2000.

After I had my fill of water and food, it was back to the now volcanic reds of the trail. The trail from the lake is almost level for ½ mile or more, and a curiosity in itself. In places the rocks I walked on tinkled and rang like shards of glass, and were broken into irregular polygonal shapes. Occasionally unusual rock formations lined the trail.
The view along that trail section is great, particularly of the trail across the deep gorge to the north called "Trail Not Maintained", which unrelentingly sweeps up from below like a phonograph groove dug into the side of a cliff. Looking at it you just have to long to be on it because the canyon walls are so steep you wonder how a trail can be there at all. The views from there must be spectacular. The views from the trail I was on were very fine as well. At one point I could look up to see the route from that far trail to Glacier Pass, now far above. Looking back at Sawtooth Pass, the slope I descended look vertical and very yellow. I almost wondered how I got down it.
I really started to make speed now, especially as the trail weaved among the cooler shade of the large trees below tree line. The trail began to lose altitude on easy well-graded switchbacks, occasionally allowing views across the canyon. Eventually, after a loss of more than a thousand feet, the trail entered a pleasant grove and crossed the stream from the Monarch Lakes that dug out the canyon. Shortly thereafter I reached the trail junction of the trail called "Trail Not Maintained", the trail that soared above the canyon on the north side. That must be the name of the trail, because otherwise it would imply the trails in that area were maintained, and from what I saw above on Sawtooth Pass, that was not true.

Monarch Creek makes its way from its headwaters at Monarch Lakes.

Further along the trail I saw a huge gushing torrent coming out of the mountain. It was the largest spring I have ever seen. I had to wonder if perhaps that was a doorway to caverns below the mountain.
Eventually the trail found its way to the junction that closed the loop I had been traveling. A bit more switchbacking delivered me to the trailhead and my vehicle. I headed back to Silver City for an excellent late lunch and a shower in the finest shower I have ever been in the Sierra. A fitting end to a great trip.

The End of the Trail