Mammoth Mountain via Dragon’s Back is a butt-kicker. We headed out from the hotel early and got to Twin Lakes Campground well before sunrise, alas, there were others even more ambitious than ourselves who took the two parking spots at the trailhead already. We drove back to the Twin Lakes general store and parked in the day-use area, walking the extra bit from the car over the trailhead.
The XYL is not an avid hiker (yet) so I knew we were going to be taking it slow, and I planned for a lot of stops and snacks along the trail. She surprised me, we only stopped to take photos, and a few times, we would get some water, but overall we hoofed it to the top at a more consistent pace than I would have expected. The Dragon’s Back is an awesome route up this peak. If I were to come back, I would want to trail run this with a vest and maybe trekking poles for stability on the way back down. There aren’t many steep sections and almost no scrambling at all. The entire trail is littered with stunning views of the lakes and peaks surrounding Mammoth. I think it was an awesome experience for the XYL.
As we neared the summit, the temps dropped drastically and patches of ice started to appear along the trail. The summit was windy and cold, but the sun was out making it fairly nice to hang out for a bit. The restaurant was closed, but luckily we packed some left-over pizza. That was a good idea. The XYL also found a five-dollar bill in the mud. Things were looking up.
I set up the SW-3B and the 40M EFHW along the fence to duck out of the wind a bit. Special shoutout to Rich NU6T for the CWops classmate contact! Great to get you in the log Rich!
KN6RDC on W6/SN-033 (Mammoth Mountain), 14 Jun 2022
