I hiked and backpacked into the Horeshoe Meadows/Cottonwood Lakes Golden Trout Wilderness area many times over the years.
Starting from the end of Horseshoe Meadows Road, the trail over Cottonwood Pass goes to the northern portion of the Golden Trout Wilderness. Small streams meander through tree-rimmed meadows in this wilderness area named for California's state fish, the Golden Trout. The Pacific Crest Trail junction at Cottonwood Pass gives the option to go to the southeastern portion of Sequoia National Park.
On July 18-19, 1970 Mike (Warren) Capa and I drove to the Horseshoe Meadows roadhead from San Diego and had a nice twelve mile round trip backpack in from the Cottonwood Creek trailhead to Cottonwood Pass, then easy cross-country to Chicken Spring Lake where we camped.
On Sunday we climbed the easy unnamed 12,400' peak behind the lake which I call "Chicken Spring Peak". The lake is pretty and the country nicely orested though a little dryish. We had a nice weekend.
Cottonwood Pass - Chicken Spring Lake Route Map 1970
