Brewer Basin in Kings Canyon

Across the lake you can see the open slope where I took the previous picture which was shot looking back across the lake. Also, you can see the easy grade leading upward to Big Brewer Lake. Further across the lake the water is much deeper, and fishermen will be pleased to know there are fish in this lake, although they all may be catch and release candidates.

An Idyllic Setting

Returning to the west shore I stopped to admire the lake. The view up canyon was a grand study of glacially molded U-shaped architecture crowned by the symmetrically inverted "V" of Mt. Brewer. The lake itself was somewhat shallow in places and quite deep in others, and a fine example of the ideal mountain lake with gentle shaded banks, calm waters and leaping fish. A trip to this lake would be a worthy destination all by itself. I wish I could have stayed, kicked back in my chair, and just admired the view as the day wore on. It was a very ideal spot. It was then I decided this lake must be the ill defined Little Brewer Lake, and worthy of the name. The historic Brewer party of the 1800s undoubtedly passed through here on their way to Mt. Brewer above, and I saw no reason why they could not of made it as far as the small lake below Big Brewer Lake on horseback, and possibly beyond. The way was remarkably easy.

A glacial "U" shaped canyon paradise crowned by Mt. Brewer, center.

Resuming our load to the tune of snapping pack belts and straps, we headed down canyon. We followed the gentle slope downward until the high ridge to our right became an easily surmountable low ridge. Turning north we traversed levelly until we found the top of a low ridge that led straight to the Avalanche Pass Trail. The walk down the ridge was as easy as any trail, and in fact we did see traces of an old trail, either man made or game made. At the end of the ridge it was a steep but easy walk the last few yards down to the level area next the stream and the area where we would find the trail. I had long poured over maps of the Brewer area wondering how difficult or easy it would be to get to the Brewer lakes, and here I had finally arrived. To my surprise, the route was no more than a somewhat strenuous to moderate walk, depending on your conditioning.
We sat down a few minutes to fill our water bottles yet again and crossed the stream. We immediately and easily found the trail and began the long slog to Avalanche Pass. This turned out to be a pleasant walk with some views opening up of Cloud and Deadman Canyon in the distance. The flora also changed, depending on if the conditions were drier or more shaded by trees. It was also a long walk with deceptive false summits and rather steep sections that began to wear me down. At one point the trail shoots up to a notch and the surroundings change from crowded trees and undergrowth to sparsely scattered pines and fairly bare and smooth pine needle covered terrain. After climbing further, the trail finally leveled out into the large flat tree studded area of the pass summit. At this point I was pretty tired and needed a break. Dave, true to form, had by this point in the trip found his Sierra legs and had raced up to the pass and was well rested by the time I staggered in. After a good lunch in the overcast gloom that had formed sometime during the last part of the approach, we were ready to continue on.

I am always surprised by the way things really are as opposed to the way I imagined them to be looking at maps, and this whole trail section was no exception. The nature of the descent was fairly open with a fair canopy of trees overhead. The trail gently switched back and forth interspersed with steep sections making me glad I was not climbing UP this beast! Occasionally the trail would pass through a meadowed area, sometimes with a campsite obviously for those too weary to hike any further upward. On the map the trail is deceptive, and it seems shorter than the nearly endless downward slog we were enduring. I often wondered when the heck we would get to our day's goal of Sphinx Creek as I trudged along. Finally, at last, Avalanche Meadow came into view, and for the third time (for me), we made camp near Sphinx Creek. We had hiked in one day from a destination that had taken us two days to get to. It had been a long and tiring day for me.