The Sierra section JMT hikers cross in a blur and everyone else has never heard of. A chain of alpine lakes on a high granite divide with real solitude.
The Silver Divide is the section of the Sierra that JMT hikers cross in a blur and everyone else has never heard of. This loop visits a chain of alpine lakes strung across a high granite divide, with a fraction of the people you'd find at comparable Yosemite or Eastern Sierra spots. Start and end at Mono Hot Springs, where you can soak after four days of hard hiking. That's a proper trip.
Start: Mono Creek Trailhead / Lake Edison (7,796ft)
End: Mono Creek Trailhead / Lake Edison (7,796ft)
Water: Mono Creek, North Fork Mono Creek
The first 4 miles skirt Lake Edison on a dusty, uninspiring trail (Vermilion Valley Resort's ferry used to shortcut this stretch, but it is not running in 2026, budget the full distance). At the end of the lake, cross into the John Muir Wilderness and follow Mono Creek about a mile to the PCT/JMT junction, then turn off toward Silver Pass. Flat for another half mile before crossing the North Fork of Mono Creek, then switchback up through sandy granite, manzanita, and juniper to Pocket Meadow, the best camping on the loop and the last legal fire spot before the standing campfire closure above. Side trip option: Mott Lake, up a canyon to the south.
Water: Silver Pass Creek, Silver Pass Lake, Chief Lake
A short but steep day. Climb granite steps above 10,000ft toward Silver Pass, passing a waterfall where Silver Pass Creek cascades over layered granite. Skirt a large meadow near treeline, cross the creek, and climb through an open basin past Silver Pass Lake for the final push to the pass. From Silver Pass, drop down to camp at Chief Lake.
Water: Lake of the Lone Indian, Cold Creek, Graveyard Lakes
Another short, steep day. Briefly rejoin the JMT, then split off toward Goodale Pass, passing the outlet of Papoose Lake and Lake of the Lone Indian, fill up here, the next stretch is hot, dry, and steep. Goodale Pass is the true high point of the loop, cresting just under 11,000ft on an exposed, sandy plateau. Steep, dry descent to Cold Creek and Upper Graveyard Meadow, then a side trail climbs about a mile to camp at the lowest Graveyard Lake. A chain of smaller lakes sits above it, worth exploring if you have energy left.
Water: Cold Creek
Descend to Upper Graveyard Meadow and follow Cold Creek through the main Graveyard Meadows, crossing the creek twice. Cross from the John Muir Wilderness into the Ansel Adams Wilderness for the final three miles, passing old-growth Jeffrey pine on the way back to the trailhead. Celebrate with a soak at Mono Hot Springs, a few miles up the road.
Mott Lake, a side trip from upper Pocket Meadow: a steep climb through an open basin past several waterfalls to a broad alpine lake that sees far fewer visitors than the JMT corridor. The chain of smaller lakes above Graveyard Lakes, worth exploring if you have energy left at camp. Mono Hot Springs, a few miles down the road, for a post-trip soak.
Kaiser Pass Road (FR 5S80) opens seasonally around Memorial Day and closes by early December; confirm current status with the Bass Lake Ranger District (559-877-2218) before a trip. Gas up in Shaver Lake, nothing after that. Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR) is open for the 2026 season (closing September), but its Lake Edison ferry is not operating in 2026, budget the full ~4.8mi around the lake rather than counting on a shortcut; VVR does run a hiker shuttle, but only between VVR and the Bear Ridge/Bear Creek Cutoff trailheads, not Mono Creek. No campfires from 8,700ft in the North Fork Mono Creek drainage below Pocket Meadow up to the standing 10,000ft campfire closure line; this is a permanent regulation, not a one-time closure, and stoves are exempt.
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