NorCal Dog Trails: Jackass Lakes

Near: Oakhurst
Trip Type: Day Hike
Distance: 8 Miles
Elevation: 7,000 - 9,200 ft
Vegetation: Pine Forest to Moonscape
Last Visit: 11/25/17

**Note: the Ansel Adams Wilderness was heavily impacted by the Creek Fire of 2020. Check the Sierra National Forest website for up to date information on trail closures.**

It was that awkward time in late fall when there's enough snow at higher elevations to make following the trail near impossible, but not enough at lower elevations to go right into ski season. Poking around on some NOAA snow depth maps, it looked like there was a relative dearth of snow in the far western corner of the Ansel Adams Wilderness, so we resolved to take a trip out there on Thanksgiving weekend. We decided to hike up to the Jackass Lakes on the southeast side of Madera Peak. As usual Ansel Adams did not disappoint.

At 10,500 feet Madera peak is not particularly outstanding as a high Sierra summit, but it sits on the western edge of a large basin drained by the San Joaquin River. From its eastern slopes you therefore have an unobstructed view across this basin to a dramatic panorama of high Sierra peaks stretching from Mt Ritter and the Minerets in the north to the head of of the Evolution Valley in Kings Canyon to the south. That's about 50 of some of the most dramatic miles of the Pacific Crest. This is a view that must be taken in with the human eye to be fully appreciated. The pictures included in this post are an even more pathetic representation of the real experience than usual. We didn't have enough daylight to try for the peak, but it looks eminently hikable and should offer further views into Yosemite National Park to the north as well. A return trip in Summer is on the to-do list for sure.

The only down side to this hike is the trail is a bit sketchy at points and only indicated with tiny cairns here and there. We were able to find it OK most of the way, but I felt better having a topo map loaded up on my cell in case we needed it. I very much recommend Backcountry Navigator as cheap emergency off-line GPS option.

Rules

The Jackass Lakes are in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Permits are required for overnight camping and campfires or stove use. Because this part of the Ansel Adams is in the Sierra National Forest, reservations for wilderness permits must be made by (get this) MAIL. Yes, paper. So plan ahead if you want to camp. Day hikes do not require permits, though. Dogs are allowed off leash if under effective voice control.

Trailhead

We started from the Jackass Lakes Trailhead on Beasore Rd, part of the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway. This trailhead is reached only after a looong curvy drive from Bass Lake (north of Fresno). The last 20 minutes or so were pretty rough an pot-holed as well, though perfectly passable for any passenger car. The drive is quite remote and pleasant. We saw all of 4 other cars all day out here, though we were out on Thanksgiving weekend. There is another trailhead to access the Jackass Lakes and upper sections of Madera Peak, the Norris Trailhead further up Beasore and then north on a dirt road for a few miles. We had had enough driving already and were happy to start from Jackass, but Norris also gives better access to several other trails heading north into the Ansel Adams wilderness. From what I've read online is sounds as reaching Norris may require a high clearance vehicle, however.

Route

The Jackass Lakes Trail follows an old 4-wheel-drive route up a forested cleft behind some striking granite knobs on the the south face of Madera peak, then up a long gentle ridge extending from the lakes down to the southeast. (That is you reach the ridge and turn to ascend to the northwest). The trail has several great potential camping spots just below open rock prominences that would afford excellent stargazing, as well as lovely spots around the lakes higher up. In the summer I get the impression that this is a relatively popular area, but permit requirements will keep the crowding down if you're camping.

The lower portion of the trail is very easy to follow, but as you near the main ridge to approach the lakes, the trail becomes much more faint and lightly marked by cairns. As I said in the summary this trail is a great one to have a map pre-loaded on your phone or GPS device. The trickiest section for us, was just as you make the turn from north-east to north-west (just north of peak 8337 on the map). When you reach this section, the trail seems to lead straight up into an open field on the crest of the ridge and then disappear. This is because the trail has turned sharply left behind you. Once you've located the trail at this turn, go back south and check out the view from the rocky outcropping on peak 8337, it's the best view until you get above the Jackass Lakes.

The middle portion of the trail as you approach lower Jackass Lakes is a bit easier to follow due to blue arrows painted on the occasional rock. Without them we would have a hard time making the lakes as we started seeing lots of snow above 8,400 feet.

From the signed intersection with the trail from Norris lake (at about 8,700 feet and 2.5 miles from the trailhead), you can turn right and descent slightly to Lower Jackass Lake, or stay left and climb to Middle and Upper Jackass Lakes. Small cairns led us easily to Middle Jackass Lake, but from there became harder to follow. They may have just been under more snow. There a couple of different routes from the Middle to the Upper Lake marked on different maps which I've marked on the Caltopo map for this post. We went up the yellow and down the purple routes. They both seemed reasonable routes, and both had some cairns here and there, but for each one at some point you're basically route finding on your own.

Due to fading daylight, we did not try to make the peak, but instead climbed an open ridge south-west of the upper Jackass Lake and enjoyed a spectacular view of Madera peak and the Pacific Crest stretching across the horizon to the south east. The peak looks very walkable without any technical climbing though. I've marked a speculative route on the map in red.

Caltopo Map: https://caltopo.com/m/A1DC

Our route from the Jackass Lakes Trailhead to just above Upper Jackass Lake in yellow. A short-cut partially marked by cairns in purple. We took that way down. A possible route to the peak in red, though note we didn't have time to do this, so no promises you won't run into a small cliff or something if you try to summit this way.

Some satisfyingly large sequoias on the lower portions of the trail.

The view over Jackass Meadows from one of the rocky prominences on the lower southern flank of the mountain. Make sure to venture off the trail in the lower section to check out one or two of these spots.