NorCal Dog Trails: Florence Lake to Thomas A Edison Lake

Near: Fresno (but not really)
Trip Type: Backpack (2-4 days)
Distance: 25 miles
Elevation: 7,300 to 10,900 feet
Vegetation: Pine Forest, Meadows, and Moonscape
Last Visit: July 2018

**Note: the Thomas A Edison Lake and Florence Lake areas were heavily impacted by the Creek Fire of 2020. Check the Sierra National Forest website for up to date information on trail closures.**

The John Muir Trail, from Mt Whitney to Yosemite Valley along the Pacific Crest, is one of the most famous trails in the world. Much of this fabulous trail is off limits to dogs as it passes through Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks, but not all of it. A good 70 miles of continuous trail through the heart of the high Sierra is open to dogs though, as the trail passes through the John Muir Wilderness and Ansel Adam Wilderness between Yosemite and Kings Canyon. Having already visited (and loved) some sections of the trail in the Ansel Adams Wilderness before, we decided to check out a southerly portion of this dog-friendly section, backpacking from Florence Lake to Thomas A Edison Lake by way of Seldon Pass and Marie Lake (picture above). Ansel Adams still takes the prize on wow-factor, but this hike was almost as eye-popping and has an extra novelty factor from some optional boat rides at the start and end. We did it in 4 days (really 3 days and a couple hours) but we spend a middle day goofing off in the high terrain around Mt. Hooper overlooking Lake Marie. A fit group could do this hike as an overnight or even an epic day-hike, though making the ferries in time might be rough and leaving them out would add and extra 10 miles to the loop.

Rules and Regulations

This hike is in the John Muir Wilderness managed in this section by the Sierra National Forest. No permits are required for day hikes, but backcountry camping requires a wilderness permit. The Sierra National Forest administration is a bit old-school on this point. As of 2018 you still couldn't reserve backpacking permits online through Recreation.gov as you can for most other national forests in California with hiker quotas. So yeah, you've got to mail it in. It took several weeks to get a reply too, so plan way ahead. Campfires are allowed below 10,000 feet with a backcountry permit. Dogs are allowed off leash, if under effective voice control.

Trailhead

We stashed two cars at Vermillion Valley Resort on Lake Thomas Edison and started out from the ferry landing/trailhead at the north end of Florence Lake. The shuffle back and forth took several hours as the train into this area over Kaiser pass is very narrow, winding, and potholed. Our car (a Toyota Prius) bottomed out a couple times early on the drive until we slowed it way down and took the whole thing around 10 miles an hour. So just about any car should be able to make it to either of these trailheads, but it will go much faster in a high clearance vehicle. There is a free lot for overnight parking lot at Florence Lake, parking is a few bucks a night at Vermillion Valley Resort. We made use of the water taxis on both lakes for this hike. Both allow dogs and cost around $13 for a one-way trip. In 2018, the Florence Lake water taxi was running several times day, nominally with the last run at 4:30. The woman running the taxi and small store at the north end of the lake kindly run it an extra time for our group of 6 though after we'd missed the last scheduled run. The Edison water taxi was only running twice a day when we visited, in the morning and late afternoon but special runs could be arranged for a $75 minimum fee. Make sure to check the current schedules before you plan a trip, and also if the ferries are running at all. Both these reservoirs can get very low in the fall and they stop running the taxi service at some point.

Route

Caltopo map: https://caltopo.com/m/VGFA

This route takes the Florence Lake Trail past some lovely meadows in the shadow of Mt Ward, the Muir Trail Ranch (where they tolerate, but are strangely rude to backpackers asking questions like, "is there potable water here" and "do you have store from which we could buy some first-aid supplies" etc) and some natural hot springs, then joins the JMT to climb past Sallie Keyes Lakes and Heart Lake to Selden Pass.

Just over the pass is the gorgeous Marie Lake with excellent views of several high Sierra peaks to the east. We camped here two nights and used the day between to explore the high, open rocky terrain around Mt. Hooper to the west.

From Marie Lake the trail descends into Bear Creek Canyon past a few more meadows. As you drop down the canyon the creek grows to be pretty sizable and scenic with several notable cascades and few inviting chest deep pools that looked perfect for a dip.

By far the least fun part of this route is the slog over Bear Ridge. There are a few nice views up Bear Creek on the climb up the south side of the ridge, but the ridge its self is very broad and wooded. A few nice views to the north do open up on the descent to Thomas A Edison lake. After crossing Mono Creek, a mile detour off the JMT takes you to the ferry landing at the lake. We camped near here and took the morning ferry into the Vermillion Valley Resort where they are super friendly to backpackers. The ferry was crowded with JMT hikers stoked for their first warm meal in a couple weeks.

Note: We encountered pretty serious mosquitos on this trip. I often hear reports of bad mosquitos in the summer in the High Sierra and don't know what to make of them, as in my experience they've rarely been nearly as bad as the spoiled Californians thinks they are... until this trip. They were bad. And I grew up in Minnesota. I know mosquitos. The only worse I've experienced have been in the north woods. Several through hikers on the JMT had head nets, and I was jealous at times. Bring serious bug repellent if you come up here in July. Not that eco-friendly crap they mostly sell in California. DEET. High concentration, nasty DEET. It seems I've been unusually lucky on the mosquito front in the Sierras the past several years, and this trip my luck finally ran out...