Our last time to Iva Bell Hot Springs was August 2019. It was a memorable trip with an unconventional approach, psychological warfare levels of mosquitoes, and some genuinely stellar hot pools to discover. Last time we approached via Horseshoe Lake, Mammoth Pass, and a steep off-trail chute through thick chapparal, and an exit along a comparably mild and popular trail to Reds Meadow, with the Devils Postpile shuttle and the town trolley to close our loop back up to Horseshoe Lake. Mid-June would probably be fairly difficult to access most years but with the overall weak snowpack we thought this could be a good opportunity to get in there early season with fewer people kicking around. The Reds Meadow approach was not an option due to seasonal closure and Heather had zero interest in repeating my off-trail option from last time, so this time we opted for a longer approach from the Duck Pass trailhead at the far end of the Mammoth Lakes road. Patches of snow, flooded creek crossings, and mosquitoes were all factors we did our best to prepare for ahead of time.
I initially was leaning towards spending our zero night in Darwin to look for some UV minerals but Heather was not feeling 100% and I wanted to maximize our chance at success so we instead aimed for Bishop. We were a little worried about the wind and so opted to check out the Pleasant Valley Pit Campground, which was set into an old gravel quarry. Initially we found the campground spacious and quiet but just as we were about to go to bed a group of young fukwits appeared in the site next to us and proceeded to play music loudly and talk. We weighed saying something or moving but ultimately let it ride. It seems like everywhere we go people are more and more a problem recently. In the morning I remember wishing I had a cable tie to give them a bit of a morning struggle with their tent zipper. A bakery stop in Mammoth, then we drove up into the lakes basin. There were more patches of snow around than I expected. Through the campground, we parked at the nearly empty (and quite brisk!) Duck Pass trailhead and did our final packing. I ended up packing pretty poorly with the bear can digging into my back and shoulder for this first day.
We set off a little after 8am, enjoying the cool morning temperatures excellent for backpacking. Despite the 600 ft elevation gain over 3.7 miles to Duck Pass, we initially set a solid pace of about 2 miles an hour past Arrowhead Lake, Skelton Lake, Red Lake, and Barney Lake. There were a few patches of snow on the trail along the way but it was looking across the cirque lake of Barney towards Duck Pass that we began to wonder how much snow we would run into and how much it would slow us down. We crossed paths with a few dog walkers, day hikers, and backpackers, but generally things were pretty quiet along the trail. As we began the climb from Barney towards Duck Pass, our pace slowed as we navigated switchbacks and traversing steep snow banks, including one Heather opted to use her microspikes for.
On the back side of Duck Pass we were presented with stunning views of Duck Lake with its little inset Pika Lake just beyond and a craggy skyline beyond still. The narrow trail along the west flank of the lake was one of our favorite parts of the whole hike. We rockhopped our way across the outlet of Duck Lake, Heather mistrusting a log to gain a wet shoe that set her up for foot misery later in the day. Down the hill from Duck Lake we joined the Pacific Crest Trail/John Muir Trail where we prompted ran into several groups of through-hikers. Both for traffic and trail quality this 2 mile section felt like a super highway. After a snack break at Purple Lake we left he JMT for the Minnow Creek Trail that dropped over 2000 ft down to the floor of Fish Creek.
Upon reaching the floor of Cascade Valley we had a choice between following the creek down valley or crossing and reclimbing up to a bench with some more lakes on it. After weighing options we decided to check out the slightly longer option of taking the southwest bench approach. We skirted around the edge of a picturesque meadow to the engineered trail crossing that was essentially a swimming pool. We instead opted for a crossing just upstream, about calf-depth, slow moving and shingle floored. Mosquitoes instantly appeared as we stopped to take off and put on our shoes.
The trail opposite was noticeably less traveled and in some state of neglect but was easy enough to follow. Some of the switchbacks and trail designs were obnoxiously over-engineered so we cut some corners when appropriate including just past the shore of Marsh Lake. Mosquitoes were really bad throughout this area, motivating us to keep moving and keep our breaks brief. We had to take our shoes off yet again to cross the creek exiting Long Canyon, then hiked past Scoop Lake and the turnoff to the Lost Keys Lakes. The trail was in rough shape with many downed trees suggesting no maintenance in years. The final 1.5 miles down the slope towards the hot springs was the slowest of them all- Heather's feet were giving her considerable grief and the trail turned heinous with dozens of chaotic downed trees crossing the faint trail. Eventually we reached the spot where I wanted to cross country over to the upper hot spring. After filling up on water at a little streamlet, we crossed and descended a marshy slope to gain the faint trail leading to the upper hot pool and my first choice campspot we scouted on our last trip. We arrived at 6 pm, putting in a long day to go 15.8 miles. Settling in, the campspot was even better than I remembered with a nice tent flat, campfire ring of seating, veiled downcanyon views through the trees, and the best temperature hot pool literally a stone throw away. Even better, I found out there was a coldwater trickle right next to the camp with a pipe placed for easy water collection and a small pool that would act as our chiller for our canned Tiki Rum Hurricanes. The mosquitoes were merciful here. Though we clearly were far from the first people to visit Iva Bell this season, more importantly we had the entire place to ourselves which was a special treat and redemptive after our previous night dealing with rude and selfish campers. We enjoyed dinner, sunset, then stars in our own private cliff-hugging hot pool (frontispiece) looking out over the glaciated granite valley. All would have been quiet were it not for the grouse booming around us. Unfortunately the approach hike and Heather's hurting feet had us rethinking our initial plan. Instead of staying here a second night with a full day of R&R, we would opt for a half day at the hot springs before starting back along the trail to make some other camp.
We slept in and enjoyed the cool shadows in the tent and in the hot pool, until the sun started prompting us to move. We had less time to explore than I had planned so we packed up our backpacks and did a limited pool crawl down the mountainside. I checked out the two pools at the top of the travertine which were much as I remembered (one too hot, the other pretty goopy). At the two halfway pools (warm, not hot) I dipped my fingers before continuing on down the slope. It took us a lot longer than I expected to make it down to the lowest two pools, in part because the trails were nearly non-existent. We stopped for one last soak in the deep pool against the granite rock outcrop, my second favorite here.
We crossed the rest of the squishy meadow and prepped our feet at one of the large empty campsites before taking the trail along Fish Creek back up to our crossing the day before (leaving 12:30p). I was frankly shocked to see what poor shape this trail was in, almost completely overgrown in places as if it had not been maintained at all since our previous visit 7 years ago. This continued to ring true with a rough and slow going trail continuing most of the length up Cascade Valley. Near the lower part of the valley we needed to cross Fish Creek at "Second Crossing". In contrast to our upstream crossing, this one was deeper, swifter, rockier, and all around much less appealing. I scouted upstream and downstream before deciding that the trail crossing would be the easiest, if unpleasant. Mosquitoes probably got us the worse here. I went across first solo with my pack then recrossed to cross together with Heather. It was brisk, rocky, and a little pushy. Another six inches deeper and it probably would have been a more significant challenge. Despite the trail, the hike had several nice moments including blushing patches of native succulents, scenic cascades along Fish Creek, a roaring waterfall with refreshing mist, a nice little aspen grove, and nearing the trail junction, some calm green riverbends.
Around 4:30p we closed our loop, reaching the base of the 2000 ft climb up to Purple Lake. We stopped for a snack bombarded by a swarm of mosquitoes; it took a few minutes but we were both impressed when the Thermacell I brought managed to clear the vicinity of the flying pests. Neither of us were thrilled but we were keen to put this stretch behind us and hoped for a nice campsite near Purple Lake. We counted the long switchbacks up the hill to pass the time, using the last of our water shortly before a refreshing spring crossed our path to redeem us. Onward we climbed, finally selecting a campsite overlooking Purple Lake at around 7p. A small patch of snow nearby chilled our last drink for us. Mosquitoes were miserable here so we got through dinner and retreated into the tent, putting 8.5 miles of our return behind us.
We broke camp around 8am and ventured back along the manicured John Muir Trail then the nice trail around Duck Lake. The sun shown even brighter on Duck Lake and Pika Lake, and the chain of lakes opposite the pass were particularly appealing. From the pass the trail was much more popular this day and we passed many groups. With lighter packs and gravity in our favor, we made better time down the trail past the lakes.
I convinced Heather to make the very slight detour past Emerald Lake, which ended up being well worth it between the lake and comparably sparsely populated trail. It took us under 4 hours to cover 7.7 miles back to the car.
We ended with deserved pizza at Nik N Willies in Mammoth, then worked our way through the drive, thankfully with not too much traffic. More time at the hot springs and fewer mosquitoes would have been preferred. The trails were in rough shape but the tradeoff was having much of the place to ourselves. All in all I thought it was a great hike with some new scenery and I appreciated the loop options. Thanks to Heather.
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