The Mammoth Lakes are is one of our favorite areas to visit for a weekend trip. And a backpacking trip so close to Mammoth?… even better! Ediza Lake is one of our favorite overnight trips in the Sierras. Despite how popular it is, the lake is truly stunning with so many cool granite formations to climb around on and explore.
Trip Overview:
Dates Hiked: July 18 – 19, 2020
Time: 3 hours in, 3 hours out
Miles: 14.6 miles (to the southwest end of Ediza Lake)
Elevation Gain: 1,794 feet
Permit: A wilderness permit is required year round for overnight trips to the Shadow Creek area and is available through Recreation.gov up to 6 months in advance
Trailhead: Agnew Meadows
Parking: Available parking at Agnew Meadows if you arrive before 7 AM. If arriving after 7 AM, you must take a shuttle bus (see below).
Dogs: Not allowed
Getting to the Ediza Lake Trailhead:
The trailhead to start this hike begins at Agnew Meadows. You can drive directly to the Agnew Meadows Parking Lot if you arrive before 7 AM. If arriving after 7 AM you must take the Reds Meadow/Devils Postpile Shuttle. The shuttle bus leaves from the Mammoth Mountain Main Lodge and costs $15 for adults, $7 for children aged 3-15, and is free for children under age 2. See the website for shuttle times.
Ediza Lake Trip Details:
Whenever coming to Agnew Meadows we try to avoid having to take the shuttle so we arrived for this trip around 6:30 AM. We took our time in the morning at the parking lot packing up, eating breakfast, and chatting with our friends before heading out onto the trail at 8 AM.
At about 3-1/2 miles and a short incline into the hike you reach Shadow Lake. We took a quick break here, enjoyed the lake, and continued our steady climb, following Shadow Creek on the left. Some parts of the trail feel like you’re walking up granite stairs.
We reached Ediza Lake at around 11 AM and stopped for a light snack at the east end of the lake. There’s no camping on the east side so we continued on the trail and scoped out some potential camping spots at the southwest side of the lake. We opted for higher grounds even though it was further away from the water in exchange for some sick sunset views!!
After setting up camp and eating lunch, we dipped our feet in the water and took a quick nap before heading off to explore Iceberg Lake. The trail to Iceberg Lake veers off from Ediza Lake at the south side of the lake and is about 1 mile south, with a little over 500 feet elevation gain.
After the nice stroll to Iceberg Lake we headed back to our campsite with views all to ourselves.
Need to Know:
- No campfires are allowed at Shadow, Ediza, or Iceberg Lakes
- No camping is allowed at Shadow Lake, Shadow Cree, and the east side of Ediza Lake
- Bear containers are required
- May 1 through November 1 overnight visitors are limited to 30 people per day
- Water from creeks, lakes, and springs should be treated before drinking
- Vault toilet is available at the trailhead
- Bury human waste away from water sources
When to Backpack to Ediza Lake:
Anytime from May to October would be a good time to hike to Ediza Lake. We were lucky enough to get a last minute permit in July and thought that the weather was perfect. I was afraid there was going to be a ton of mosquitos, but there weren’t too many on the trail and there were almost none at our campsite!
What to Pack for Ediza Lake:
- Hydration: We usually start with 2-3 liters of water, each, and pack a water filter and some iodine tablets. If you’re hiking where there’s snowpack, you can boil some snow to have drinkable water. Electrolyte packets are also very useful for hydration on the trail.
- Nutrition: We usually eat a bar or oatmeal and a piece of fruit before starting off on our backpacking trips. For this trip, we started later in the day so we had already eaten lunch. Then for snacks along the way, more bars, jerky, or trail mix. For dinners, we either eat dehydrated foods or even leftovers from a meal we ate on the road trip out to the hike (cold pizza makes a great dinner!).
- Stove: We love our Jetboil to boil water for drinking and to heat up our dehydrated dinners, oatmeals, coffee, etc.
- Navigation: For hikes with more difficult trails to follow, you may want to invest in a GPS tracker. For simpler hikes, we use the GPS system on our phones and a tracker such as Gaia GPS or AllTrails.
- Headlamp: I usually also pack our inflatable solar latern by MPOWERD and attach it to the outside of my pack while hiking.
- Sun protection: Sunscreen, sunglasses, and sun-protective clothes – always a must!
- First aid: Our first aid kit consists of band-aids, gauze, medical tape, Compede Bandages (love this more than Moleskin for blisters), antibiotic ointment, alcohol wipes, ibuprofen, tweezers, pocket knife
- Shelter: We use our Marmot Tungsten 2-Person Tent (3 season, 4 lbs, 13 oz).
Leave No Trace
Always remember to practice the principals of Leave No Trace! These 7 principals include:
- Plan Ahead & Prepare
- Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Others
Check out the Leave No Trace program for more information.
