Hiking off-trail Minaret Lake to Iceberg Lake Cross Country Route in the Ansel Adams Wilderness

Link to full length video here:    • Backpacking The High Sierra: Ansel Adams W...   ...This is an excerpt of days 4 & 5 from a much longer 7 day backpacking trip video in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California in September, 2021.

NOTE: This is not intended as a guide, but merely a triplog showing what it is like to hike this area. I provide a basic run-down of the route below - but this is my own recollection and not any type of official guide. Please do your own research and be honest with yourself about your comfort level with off-trail travel.

Route Description:
Approximately 1.3 miles / 2-4 hours going south to north, depending on comfort level with cross country travel. Most folks go north to south but I went the opposite direction on this one.

Once you're north of Minaret Lake, this is an off-trail route (class 2). There are pockets of intermittent social trails, but most of it is unmarked talus & boulder fields. There is a small amount of class 3 (scrambling with use of hands) mainly in the boulder field along Iceberg Lake, and depending on how you choose to hike it. Once you are down at Iceberg Lake, you're back on regular trail. Trekking poles are recommended.

Taking a fall anywhere along Iceberg Lake would be catastrophic; there is exposure, and the boulders you'd be landing on have sharp edges and are fairly loose. Most of the time, it is covered by a steep snowfield - in which case you want an ice-axe, crampons and the skills to use them. On this trip I knew ahead of time there was no snowpack left.

From the north side of Minaret Lake, the official trail departs a series of campsites near the shore, and becomes intermittent and very steep - around 40-50* angle. If you're hitting the talus/boulder slope on the very southern end of Cecile Lake, you've gone too far. The trail is clear enough to indicate that you go up into switchbacks between two granite mounds to the east when you are just north of and a good distance above Minaret Lake. In between the two granite mounds, the route levels out and there should be a small tarn to the north-east. Head north-west from here towards Cecile Lake. You'll be walking up a short easy, but steep boulder field before you see Cecile Lake. The views of the Minarets on top are breathtaking.

From the top of that section, you travel a mix of scree, talus & boulder fields, contouring the east bank of Cecile Lake. There is excellent camping at Cecile Lake, but the sites have a good amount of wind exposure and water is not easy to reach if the nearby tarns are dry as you're up high from the lake.

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From Cecile to Iceberg Lake is also very steep - especially from the Cecile outlet stream - 50* angle. If coming down from Cecile, you want to aim for its outlet stream. Many people cut away too early and end up in more technical terrain. Which is fine if that's what you're after!!

If you stay close to the outlet, there is "trail" which is again 45-50* angle. It's loose over hard dirt and easy to lose your footing and slide. Then you will be going in and out of walking through a complex boulder field that contours the east bank of Iceberg Lake; there are a few small random cairns along the route, mainly along Iceberg. They basically only serve to indicate if you've gone way too high or way too low from the "walkable" non-climber section of the route.