Thousand Island, Catherine, Ediza, Minaret loop in September

Use a watch for your alarm.

Beautiful area, be sure to post your best photos.

Some of the nicest shots in that area are from THousand Island Pass…just north of 1000 Island lake. There are quite a few small tarns there that make for great reflections…before you hike down to the lake proper.

Here's a link to one we took in the middle of the afternoon when there was a breeze

https://picasaweb.google.com/balzaccom/BackpackingInTheSierraNevadaAnselAdamsWilderness#5773032273065825090

Joseph, a watch is not a bad idea. I don't currently own one, but I can probably find one with an alarm for cheap. I'll absolutely put up my better photos. Don't expect too much, my skill level is nowhere near my gear level. hahaha

Paul, thanks for the suggestions on the tarns in Thousand Island Pass. I'll be sure to check that area out. I love your photo by the way, gorgeous area.

I'm far from a photo expert, but here are my thoughts which may help.

Garnet Lake makes for a great subject. Looking west from the outlet gives an excellent frame of Banner & Ritter in morning light. The usual morning calm will hopefully allow for an excellent reflection of Banner & Ritter in the lake. (Google "Garnet Banner Ritter" images for a sampling.)

The ridge between Garnet and Ediza is a good place to get distance shots of the Minarets. There is a small tarn or two there where I was able to frame the both the tarn and the Minarets behind in a vee notch. Also there are good views of Garnet and Banner/Ritter from up there. That ridge is not too difficult a climb from the JMT notch south of Garnet.

The pass between Garnet and 1000 Island is a decent spot to get panoramas of 1000 Island. +1 on Paul's mention of Island Pass as a good place to capture Banner/Ritter and other peaks over tarns.

Just about any of the knobs and ridges in that area give good views. For example, climbing the knob north of Ruby nets a fine view of Emerald Lake. So explore!

Generally speaking, sunrise will have better lighting than sunset in this area with not many high peaks to block the sunrise and big peaks to the west blocking sunsets. So an alarm may be well worth the extra ounce or two for this trip. Thread 92613 has some alarm ideas.

Thanks for the suggestions David! I haven't had a watch for the past two years, when mine finally broke (I hate wearing them). So I decided to plunk down $34 to get the very last one REI had on sale of a Timex with waterproofing and an alarm. So my alarm situation should be good now. :)

Looking at my topo, I think I see the tarns you're talking about on the ridge between Garnet and Ediza. There appear to be about 3 of them on the ridge, 1/2 way between the Muir Trail and Nydiver Lakes. How did you access them? Did you get to them by going straight south from Garnet, or by going west from the Muir Trail? From your post it sounds like you accessed it off the Muir trail, I just wanted to be sure. Hmmm…it looks like there are also two more on the same ridge between Nydiver Lakes and Ritter.

My concern for morning shots and reflections at the two bigger lakes are chop. I've seen some glassy photos from them, but the only time I was there 1000 Island was so choppy it looked like the Pacific. I figure I'll have a better chance with reflections from tarns than from the actual lakes. Hopefully the Weather Gods will smile on me and I'll have glassy lake reflections and nice cloud formations. Haha

I’ll be out there with my Dad starting Sept 6. He’s dead set on some morning shots too. Here’s hoping for glass!

Also, my Dad has been having fun playing with the “View From Here” feature in CalTopo to dream about those photos.

For example:

http://caltopo.com/view#ll=37.7253,-119.1769&e=304&t=,t&z=3&c=6.49,213.75

Yes, the last time I was there I hiked the JMT south from Garnet to the notch just south of the lake and then scrambled west up the ridge from there. It's not too hard with a knapsack, but could be cumbersome with a heavy pack. During a previous visit, I climbed up there from Nydiver Lakes. Here's one sample shot with a cheap P&S camera.

I've been to Garnet several times and the wind has been just about calm enough in the *early* morning. Here's a sample P&S shot taken at about 9:30 a.m. An hour earlier and the chop visible on the left wasn't there. Of course, the weather was very cooperative that day.

Looking over my old photos, one other possibility not previously mentioned comes to mind — the tarns at the west end of 1000 Island Lake. I camped there once, it's a good place to avoid the crowds.

JJ, I've got my fingers crossed for both you and your father's trip as well as mine. :) Thanks for the link to Caltopo, that is fun to play around with.

David, beautiful photos. I think I will try to make it up on that ridge (ad Volcanic Ridge as well). I like the idea of the tarns at the west end of 1000 Island Lake. I'll check them out as I head towards Lake Catherine.