A Solo Hike Along the Silver Divide

Upper Pocket Meadow: some nice camps with great views from the brink.

Upper Pocket Meadow

Silver Divide Trip from Edison Lake Trailhead, August-September 2001

Upper Pocket Meadow, about 718 feet above (lower) Pocket Meadow, is a flat green lawn-like respite from the usual granite and tundra of the high Sierra. Here there is plenty of flat shaded camping scattered around the meadow.

At the western end of the meadow looking East towards Recess Peak.

Strangely, the map shows the main stream on the north side of the meadow, but there also seems to be plenty of stream on the south side of the meadow. In any case, the trail takes a bumpy tack around the south edge of the meadow before coming to the brink of the North Fork Mono Canyon. It was here on the brink at the outlet of the meadow that I found a well used camp. I looked around, but could not find a better camp, so I set up my gear for the night. In any case, I wanted to be near the brink for the views and pictures. It is not a bad place to stay due to the many camps, the assessable cross-country (go climb Mt. Izaac Walton or visit Vermilion Lake), and the unending parade of hikers coming and going. I met one guy who was about 90 years old who just came up to day-hike.