Gabbot Pass and the Second Mono Recess

The initial target for the day was Gabbot Pass, a cleverly named low point between Mt Gabb and Mt Abbot which lay to the north of the valley. The low point was not particularly low at 12,200 ft, but it was an easy climb from Toe Lake up granite slabs and benches to a small tarn and then a short steep section to the top. It was here that I first saw the odd boot print indicating that others had passed this way. For the rest of the day, I would find the occasional sign like this – perhaps a very vague hint of a trail in places, or merely some grass that had been flattened. The area clearly did not see many visitors and I saw no one else.

On the way up to Gabbot Pass on left

The pass turned out to be an actual notch in a rock ridge. From here, I had my first peek down into the second Mono Recess. This long, deep and narrow valley was flanked by an unbroken wall of jagged granite – it felt Lord of the Rings-ish and if a hobbit had popped out from behind a rock, I wouldn’t have been surprised. The way down looked considerably more challenging than the way up: a steep drop down talus to the first tarn. I was very glad of my hiking poles. Unlike Alistair, the mountain goat, my ability to bound down from rock to rock with perfect balance is rather limited!

At the notch in Gabbot Pass

Looking down the Second Mono Recess from the pass to the tarn

By the time I wobbled my way to the first tarn, the sun was beating down with that high altitude intensity. It was time for the first T-shirt and hat dunking of the day. This was a fine strategy but unfortunately the cooling effect only lasted half an hour or so. I could only be thankful that I was going down and not up!

The tarn and the talus slope up to the pass behind

The Second Recess went down in a series of steep drops interspersed with stunning lakes set in flat benches. Upper Mills Lake was gorgeous, but Lower Mills Lake was even better. Situated right at the treeline at about 10,200ft, the azure water was fringed by meadows, a white sand beach, an area of bluffs lined with perfect cracks for climbing and clean white granite benches perfect for camping. And did I mention the solitude? I decided to stop for lunch. The clear water was so enticing and the day so hot that a swim was in order. The rock benches led directly down to a deep section of lake so in I plunged. It was an invigorating activity. Warming up on the granite slabs, I decided that Lower Mills Lake was actually paradise. I had found Nirvana.

Upper Mills Lake was stunning....

but Lower Mills Lake was paradise.

How could you resist taking a plunge here on a hot September day?

Sadly, I had to drag myself away as I was still only half way down the valley. I soon discovered why the lake had appeared to see very few visitors:  vegetation.  On the upside, the trees provided some much-needed shade. On the downside, navigation became much more challenging. It was necessary to follow the stream down, but it was cloaked in bushy willows that had to be avoided. However, drift too far from the stream and there were unpassable cliffs. Finding the sweet spot somewhere in the middle was tricky and I wasn’t always successful. Bush-whacking is so fun!  Fortunately, it would take a complete idiot to get lost; I may be a bit of an idiot but eventually, a bit scratched up, I reached an actual trail marked on the map near the bottom of the valley where Mills Creek met the western branch of the Recess.

A rare break from the bushwhacking for a view up the western branch of the Recess.

From here, it was an easy amble for a couple of miles to the end of the Second Recess where it opens into the Mono Valley at 8400 ft. Only one more hurdle, the river crossing that Al had been worried about.  We had been up to this point in 2011, a very heavy snow year, on a family backpacking trip. The Mono river had been an angry, raging torrent which you’d have had to be suicidal to attempt to cross. On this drought year, however, it appeared as a very tame little creek and I waded on across the gentle flow, getting wet only up to mid-calf. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! I found a campsite in the trees next to a small meadow by the river and settled on in for the night, well-satisfied with the day’s adventure.

Camp