Young America Lake

A snow blanket covering a steep slope downhill into Young America Lake

Young America Lake is hidden in the Sierra Buttes massif. Located north of the craggy peaks of Sierra Buttes, Young America Lake's outlet is Sardine Creek. Its water flows through the Sardine Lakes and continues downstream toward the North Fork of Yuba River. To get a bird's-eye view of the greenish blue glacial lake, hike along Sierra Buttes Lookout Trail and peek through the conifers while you are approaching the rock buttresses of Sierra Buttes. The picture above shows snow and ice that remained until July 2017 from the precipitations during the winter and spring of 2017. The lake is named after (I assume) the historic Young America Mine. Virginia Lutes recently put together the numerous stories about how the Young America claim came into being: available as an open-source article with the title “Young America Consolidated Gold Mining Company - Sierra City Mining District” in The Sierran, Winter 2017, pp. 1-7.