4-day loop trip exploring the Rush Creek watershed and cross-country and unmaintained trail routes between Thousand Island and Garnet Lakes. We had planned to camp our first night at Waugh Lake and found an unexpected surprise when we arrived at the lake, forcing us to improvise and change plans.

Map of our route

We started and ended our trip at the Rush Creek Trailhead near Silver Lake in the June Lake Loop near Mammoth.

Agnew "Lake"

The first 2 miles of the trail are pretty brutal - a steady climb with no shade. Then we reached a reservoir known as Agnew Lake, one of three reservoirs constructed in the early 1900s by Southern California Edison along Rush Creek to generate electricity. The Agnew dam was the first dam constructed and supplies were transported by rail to Silver Lake and then up a 4,800 foot long tramway from Silver Lake to Agnew Lake (a rise in elevation of 1,250 feet).

Tramway remains and Sign near Agnew Dam

The trail crosses some of the remains of the impressively steep tramway. Below the dam are some buildings that house equipment a polite old handpainted sign reads: "DEAR SPORTSMAN These installations are furnishing vital electricity for industry and home. Damage may impair that service and endanger human life. PLEASE BE CAREFUL Persons use this reservoir at their own risk. Southern California Edison."

Gem "Lake"

The next reservoir upstream is pretty Gem Lake. There are numerous campsites and cabins for maintenance staff. Before the dam was built, this area had three smaller natural lakes.

The Rush Meadows Dam at Waugh "Lake"

We had originally planned to hike a couple miles beyond Gem Lake and camp at Waugh Lake. We didn't know that it too, was a reservoir. We reached the dam at the lake and took a short detour off trail to see the outflow at the bottom of the dam.

Dude! Where did the lake go?

Imagine our surprise when we hiked up the trail to the top of the dam and saw a completely dry lake bed. It looked like a post-apocalyptic climate change landscape. So much for camping by the lake - it was time for plan B. It was still early enough in the day to continue hiking to try to find another campsite so we pushed on for another 2.5 miles to the junction with the John Muir Trail (JMT) where there was a good likelihood of finding a site. We were amazed that no one mentioned the drained lake to us when we got our permit and there was no indication of this on the map at the trailhead either. In doing some research, I learned that the reservoir has been drained since 2019 and Southern California Edison plans to take down the dam because of seismic risks from the nearby Silver Lake Fault. There are a lot of maps out there that will need to be updated!

Campsite at intersection with the John Muir Trail

We got lucky and found a secluded campsite on a granite rise near the intersection of the trail, not far from the creek. We had a nice view of Donohue Peak and the Kuna Crest and enjoyed a alpenglow sunset on the Kuna Crest (right).

Davis Lakes

The next morning we hiked a 1-mile detour off the trail to check out pretty Davis Lakes and Davis Peak. Definitely a beautiful place to come back to and camp!

Thousand Island Lake

We camped at Thousand Island Lake when we hiked the John Muir Trail in 2005 and the weather was extremely windy. It was nice to revisit it on a calmer day and enjoy the stunning view with Banner Peak.

Camp at Garnet Lake

We skipped over Garnet Lake on our previous trip so we decided to camp there instead of Thousand Island Lake. When studying the map, we noticed an unmaintained trail between Thousand Island Lake and Garnet Lake and set off an adventure to navigate it. Navigation and terrain challenges increased the time it took to hike the relatively short distance and we eventually found our way to the lake and found a sweet secluded campsite near the lake.

Garnet Pass

The next morning we took a cross country route from our campsite over Garnet Pass back to Thousand Island Lake. The start of the route took us through beautiful gentle meadows.

Garnet Lake

Climbing up the pass gave us this spectacular view of Garnet Lake.

Top of Garnet Pass

The gentle meadows soon gave way to scree and boulders and route finding became more difficult. Sometimes we had to backtrack and try again to find a more passable route. About half way down we found an easy social trail the rest of the way to Thousand Island Lake.

Campsite by Rush Creek

Our campsite on the last night of our trip wasn't beautiful but it got us closer to the trailhead to exit early the next day. It was hard to fall asleep as this criss-cross of fallen trees behind us made haunting creeking noises in the wind but eventually the wind disappated.

Tree and Horseshoe

My parting image: one of the beautiful trees we saw along the trail and the reminder of humans who had been here before us. How do you feel when you see human-made artifacts such as this in the wilderness?