After our long day on Mt Brewer we decided to take a partial rest day on Day 4. Well, we didn’t decide that right away. We followed the fading use trail for about 2 miles up to Lake Reflection, and upon seeing the view we decided it would be a lovely place to spend a rest day. What a great idea, why don’t we do that! So that is how we had our tents set up by 10:30 am.
Trip Report
Lake Reflection is stunningly beautiful and we had it all to ourselves. The day was perfectly spent soaking our feat, dunking our heads, rinsing our clothes, and resting our muscles.
Although the day had dawned clear, by early afternoon smoke was blowing in again and I was having allergy-like reactions to it. So I took a Benadryl and took a nap to the sounds of birds chirping and the water lapping the rocky shore.
The next day would be one of our hardest, so it felt good to start off fresh. The true off-trail travel with packs started right away as we picked our way along the north shore of Lake Reflection. Cairns occasionally pointed the way, but it was mostly up to us to find the right ledges to connect as we try to get over to the western end of the lake to start our ascent to Longley Pass.
This photo looks back along the north shore of Lake Reflection (camp was at the outlet). We started off high, then snuck our way along the grassy narrow shoreline towards this end.
To get to Longley we started by following the inlet creek. Down by the creek it was brushy, and above us were cliffs. In between there was a mix of forest and slabs. It was tricky to find the best route through this terrain so our going was slow. Eventually we faced a wall of boulders that got us high enough that we had better visibility into the slabby terrain.
Above the wall of boulders we followed slabs until we reached the base of several chutes. We had been studying these from a distance from our camp the previous day, and the left looked the best. But up close the right green slope was the clear winner.
Inside the chute was a well defined use trail – the first we had seen all day.
The chute spit us out right at the northeast end of Lake 3496, a deep blue and pristine alpine lake. We took a break and soaked in the scenery, including our first view of Longley Pass.
Once again, I thanked the drought. In a normal year, a cornice blocks the east side of Longley Pass late into summer. It is usually bypassed by scrambling up the class 3-4 rock face to its right. However, several years of light winters have done away with this cornice for now, turning what is normally a sketchy remote pass into a simple sandy slog.
From Lake 3496 we had to find our way up to the smaller lake just below Longley Pass. I had some descriptions that were a bit too generic to interpret when we were there, so I ended up following the wrong chute at first. You can see this in my GPS track below. Just find the best route up from Lake 3496, but stay aimed towards the higher lake. It’s probably easier to just read the terrain than to follow some convoluted description I try to provide.
The upper lake was even more beautiful than the lower lake. Once again we rested and soaked in the views while simultaneously strategizing our approach to the pass.
We wanted to avoid as much sandy slogging as possible so we went around the lake’s north side and through the rocks on its west side as we angled up. This helped us avoid about 1/3 of the sandy slope.
Once on the slope I picked up a use trail and just trudged to the pass. A steep sand slog is never pleasant, but it wasn’t very long and considering how much worse it would be with a cornice, I wasn’t about to complain.
As I crested the pass I got a peek at the source of the smoke. A dense layer hung over the peaks to the west, and although I couldn’t see a plume I knew it was in that direction.
To the north of Longley Pass is South Guard, a ‘quick’ climb. We dropped our big packs, grabbed our summit packs, and headed up. The best thing about the sand slog is that you know it will be a lot of fun coming down! It was easy terrain with a bit of scrambling right below the summit. After the disappointment on Brewer it was great to be on a remote Sierra peak!
Back at the pass we continued west to descend to Upper Cunningham Creek, the outlet of South Guard Lake. The descent from the pass is extremely loose and steep, and I found it to be the most challenging part of the entire day.
We rolled into camp just as the sun was setting behind the ridges, wrapping up a long but rewarding day.
Gear Tips
I have a big gear win to report from this part of the trip! Overnight we had an incredible wind event come through. It lasted about an hour, but it was blowing our tents sideways. I was scared to get out and even check my stakes since I thought the tent would blow away without me inside to anchor it down. It had been calm when I pitched it so I hadn’t done a very thorough job.
Well, I’m happy to report that my 
Map and GPS Track
Wow! I can’t believe Longley is completely melted out, I was there in July 2014 and the cornice was going strong. We took the reverse route (a loop from Bubbs Creek – Sphinx Lakes – Brewer NW slopes – Brewer South slopes – Longley – Reflection – Hike out) and the descent north of the cornice is not something I would want to ever climb up, but you got away easy 🙂 Nice job and great report.
Awesome, the Copper Spur UL1 is on my list and good to know that it can take a beating. I’ve been using the UL3 as a two-person tent for years and love it.
That’s why I got the UL1 – David and I have been using the UL3 as our 2-person tent for a few years and have been really happy with it. I love the 1 person even more!
Nice photography Rebecca,
What camera/lenses do you use when backpacking?
For this trip in particular I went with my….iPhone! It’s the first time I’ve ever left my camera at home. I’m working on post about how this worked out for me, but spoiler: it worked really well.
Rebecca,
I really enjoyed this whole trip report. Thank you for sharing it. Question…Was the cornice totally gone on Longley Pass? Was this early August? (I recall the Rough Fire started Aug 1st). I’m wondering what it’ll look this September after El Nino.
Also, if you could plan this trip all over again, is there anything you’d do differently with the route? It looks fantastic to me–just wondering as I plan to follow something very similar with my wife this year.
Hello!
Yep, completely dry! It was one of the reasons this particular loop was selected this year.
Hm, if I did it again, what would I do differently…. I don’t think there would be much. I underestimated the climb from Lake Reflection to Longley. It wasn’t necessarily hard, it was just annoying route finding out of the lake. And once I got up to the lakes below Longley I wish we had more time to relax. and explore. It’s very desolate and open up there, but it would be a beautiful place to stay if the weather is good. I also wasn’t terribly excited about East lake. It’s a great base for Mt Brewer but it was kind of crowded and overused.
Follow up: I just saw all the pictures of Longley—totally cornice free..a pretty rare sight I am sure.