TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

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rams
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TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by rams »

I guess a lot can happen in a week. The past week involved several scenarios that I'm guessing most hikers/backpackers can relate to. It involved showing your favorite spots to someone who's unfamiliar with the area in hopes that those spots will have the same effect on him/her. It involved finding that some places you think you're tired of ('cause you've taken so many friends there) never really get old. It involved finding something new in familiar places. It involved being pleasantly surprised when expectations were low. It involved failed plans being a blessing in disguise. Finally, it involved going somewhere new to satisfy curiosity only to find that you're now even more curious because time constraints didn't allow you to go further than your planned destination to see what was just around the next corner or just past the next ridge (e.g., time to plan another trip with more time).

My wife and I were given the opportunity to live in Mammoth for a month and make the most of our time here. I had the week off and wanted to show her places that I thought she'd like (hard to find a place to dislike, though). Not counting a quick stop at Convict Lake to show her and another friend the crazy geology, the first spot we went was Little Lakes Valley, knowing that it was easy terrain for someone who hadn't been hiking in a while and arguably offering the best bang for your buck. As expected, the crowds were sanity-shatteringly heinous, at least for me (low threshold). However, these crowds were not enough to reduce her enthusiasm for what she was seeing. So one by one we checked each lake along the trail off the list (never ventured off-trail on this trip though I have in the past), up past Chickenfoot and bypassing Gem Lakes to head to Morgan Pass. Since I had never been to the pass, this was my chance to make the day interesting for myself. It was such a contrast from Little Lakes Valley, looking like a borderline moonscape that was much more stark. Hooray for rain shadows. Even better was the fact that it was late afternoon/early evening (didn't start hiking until the afternoon) so Mt. Tom was glowing in contrast to the shaded canyon we were in. The return trip was more enjoyable as the crowds had died down and we almost had what you would call solitude in this popular valley. Furthermore, what had been relatively cloudy skies for much of the afternoon (not the dramatic photo kind of cloudy) had become much nicer so the landscape seemed more alive.
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The second place I took her was the Lake Sabrina area, which I hadn't hiked in 8 years but remembered loving. I'm pretty sure somebody changed the topography and pushed Blue Lake farther uphill in those 8 years because it felt way farther than I remembered it. Maybe the "3 miles" distance the guides give you is a typo for "13 miles" or something. Ugh. Oh well, it was still as spectacular as I remembered it. We pressed on from there debating whether to keep going to Baboon and Sunset Lakes or towards the drainage below Mt. Haeckel/Wallace/Picture Peak/etc. I had already been up to Hungry Packer and its surroundings but thought it was beautiful enough to take her up that drainage instead of going to a place I had never been, especially given that Baboon/Sunset seemed to have similar scenery as Blue Lake. It was a good choice, because she definitely had one of those "aaaaahhhhh" moments when the trail rounded the corner above Dingleberry Lake. You know, that kind of moment which in a cartoon or movie would have a beam of light and some sort of angel-sounding "aaahhhh" voice. It's kinda like on Hwy 395 when you round the bend (northbound) just past Crowley and then BAM! Mammoth and the Ritter Range suddenly appear. She had that kind of moment looking up at the peaks that suddenly came into view. For subsequent portions of the hike, I remembered a river crossing near Dingleberry I did with my friends 8 years ago and was a bit uncertain about whether we'd be able to make it across. I had the opposite experience to what I had at Blue Lake, though, as somebody must've squeezed the river to become narrower. It was almost disappointing how easy it was to cross. On up through the meadows we went until reaching a junction where we'd have to choose whether to go to Midnight Lake or Topsy-Turvy/Sailor/Moonlight/Hungry Packer Lakes. I hadn't been to Midnight Lake before but never felt the need to since it looked too closed-in and not very panoramic/scenic from the pictures I had seen online. It was closer, though, and we didn't have much time so we went that way. It was WAY nicer than I expected it to be and turned out to be a good choice. Sometimes photos don't do things justice. We took it in for a bit then bolted back down as fast as we could to be home in time for some other stuff. There was one major stop, though, since the sun was nicely hitting the Piute Crags and my wife loves pointy-tooth-looking peaks. They looked like what I'd imagine would happen if the Minarets started to rust. Ok, put the camera away and jet to the car.
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On the third day, we were a bit sore and tried to find something mellow with good scenery. The smoke was looking pretty bad in both directions from Mammoth so we flipped a coin at the last second before the junction with Hwy 395, with fate telling us to go north. I had been curious about Matterhorn Canyon but knew that our time would be limited so we wouldn't really be able to explore it much. Thus, I recommended another place I had been to a thousand times but she had never been to - Saddlebag Lake/20 Lakes Basin. I tried to downplay the scenic value so she wouldn't be disappointed because the place I would take her didn't have pointy-tooth-looking peaks. It didn't seem like her type of scenery but still better than nothing. After an uneventful hike around the reservoir (water taxi unavailable!), we made it to Greenstone Lake. I was shocked at how much she liked it because it wasn't nearly as rugged a setting as I thought she would want, though the water was colorful yet transparent and lined by flowers of every color (assuming only three colors exist). Well that was a nice surprise. At that point, I gave her a choice between Conness Lakes and the 20 Lakes Basin. She chose the basin, so I took her up the trail. In the past, I hiked around the east shore of Saddlebag and always knew where to head. This time, we skirted the western shore so I guess I was a bit disoriented as to where the trail branched off to make you choose which drainage to go to. So after it took longer than I remembered, I figured we must be on the trail to Conness and should turn around or go cross country to get into 20 Lakes Basin. I wasn't too worried about getting lost since we'd have to climb over Mt. Warren in order to end up in the wrong region. It's kinda hard to accidentally climb Mt. Warren. Anyway, we never found the trail I had taken in the past but stumbled upon the other end of the loop which I had never been to. In other words, my mistake led us to a new place for me that I knew would eventually connect to the places I had already been and wanted to show my wife given that I knew it was a loop. Perhaps the nicest surprise of the trip was seeing Odell Lake with its almost other-worldy Mars-scape (relatively desolate with red rock everywhere) and incredibly blue water. Even more surprising was that we were the only ones there (almost eerie). This was way better than I thought this side of the basin would be. Fast-forward a bit and we found ourselves at Shamrock Lake which, as with Odell, my wife fell in love with. But honey, it doesn't have pointy-tooth-looking peaks! North Peak is nice and all, but not pointy! She was telling me at this point that this was her favorite day so far, despite the smoke. I took her on one last detour to Cascade Lake, which we had to ourselves just like Odell. Again, we had to be back in Mammoth by a certain time, so we bolted as fast as we could back to the car. Nice lighting, but thankfully the views around Saddlebag are boring so there's no distractions from hiking quickly.
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The fourth day was pretty much a rest day with a little time at Devil's Postpile (also been there a thousand times) and some fireworks over Crowley with the rest of the family.

The fifth day, we could take on another relatively long hike after the rest day so we went to another place I felt my wife had to see. With that, we found ourselves in Onion Valley ready to hike the Kearsarge Pass Freeway. I had already done this hike around 7 times or so and was really going just so she could see it once. I was pretty over it, but University Peak still looked as majestic as ever and I was even given a surprise view of the moonset behind No Name Peak (I think that's its name). Thanks lunar cycle! On and on we went, past Little Pothole, Gilbert, Flower, Heart ("aw, how cute" in her words), and Big Pothole Lakes. We had the expected crowds at the pass and were eager to get away from them. Continuing downward from the pass with the Kearsarge Pinnacles watching over us, I led her to one of my favorite views anywhere, which for me never gets old even if the rest of the hike does. Overlooking Bullfrog Lake with Deerhorn Mountain, the Videttes, and Mt. Brewer in the background is way up there for me as far as views go. Down at the shore was good, too, with lots of flowers in bloom. As with the other hikes, we tried to rush back to the car because of some other plans. We were especially motivated to move quickly just to get away from all the people at the pass taking selfies and posing for shots 300 times. Sorry, if you didn't jump high enough when the photographer counted to 3 the first several times, what makes you think you'll jump high enough later on? Listening to all of them, I learned that people actually have trail names. I never knew that people actually name themselves something for when they hike. Is that like a screen name for a forum or something? If so, my trail name will be "Ouch".
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The sixth day was supposed to be a mellow day so I tried to think of a short hike that I had never been to. I had seen pictures of Treasure Lakes (by South Lake, not Little Lakes Valley) and thought they looked just OK but they'd at least be something different for me. Once again, my expectations were surpassed. The setting was way more majestic in person. I know that can be said about many landscapes, but it was especially true here. We were particularly impressed with the clarity of the water in the second lake. Unfortunately, as with every other day so far, we had to take care of things in Mammoth so we had to leave earlier than we would've liked. The short time we had the first two lakes, though, was good enough that I think I want to go back just to see what the upper lakes are like. They were tugging at me begging to be explored but I had to tear myself away and give in to discipline in order to make it back to the car on time. You know that feeling, though, when you keep telling yourself "just a little farther then we'll turn around"?
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The seventh day was another mellow one where we wanted to test out a backpack to carry our 2 year old daughter, who was being babysat throughout the week by my parents (the reason we kept heading back to Mammoth early for each hike). An easy hike that I had been curious about was Emerald Lake in the Mammoth Lakes Basin. Being only 1.5 miles roundtrip, it seemed like the perfect option. Again, it was nicer than I expected. Most of our time there, we had it to ourselves and it was really peaceful. Or at least as peaceful as a place can be with a 2 year old.
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Finally, on the last day, we went with our 2 year old back to where this trip started out. As opposed to the brief stop it was on the way to Little Lakes Valley earlier in the week, Convict Lake, with all its crazy geology, was now the main destination. We didn't hike much, as the rocks and leaves on the trail were far too interesting for our daughter, as were other people's dogs. When we got to the far end of the lake with the foot bridges, though, I managed to sneak away and do some off-trail hiking in hopes of gaining a better view of Red Slate than I could get from the main Convict Canyon trail. As I aimed for the high bumps extending into Convict Canyon from Mt. Morrison, the weather started getting a bit threatening. With the first sign of rain, I knew I had to get off the boulders I was crawling over just in case it got wetter. It never got really wet, so it was just an empty threat from Mother Nature, but I still had to accept defeat. On the plus side, I got to see something I don't really associate with the Sierra Nevada: cactus blooms. For some reason, it seemed out of place to have a flowering cactus in the shadow of Laurel Mountain. I also saw a decapitated animal. It looked like a fawn body with a fox head. So there's two interesting things I guess. After I met up with the rest of the family again, we circled Convict Lake in the afternoon light, with the water looking amazing along with Mt. Morrison standing guard. With that, it is now back to reality with having to work (or post in internet forums)...until next weekend that is.
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Last edited by rams on Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TR: A week of dayhikes

Post by rams »

More pictures:
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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by wildhiker »

Thanks for posting! Sounds like a lot of great hikes. I've done some of them, and now I need to do the rest!

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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by kpeter »

My family has also hung out at Mammoth and done dayhikes--it is a splendid way to spend some time in the summer! You've reminded me of many lovely spots--you did range quite a ways from Mammoth! If you can handle Kearsarge from Mammoth as a day hike (that is ambitious!), then did you think about Duck/Pika/Deer Lakes in your backyard?
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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by oldhikerQ »

Thanks for the trip report.
Lots of good ideas for hikes the next time that I'm in Mammoth with the family.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by giantbrookie »

Beautiful post. You record so well the magic the High Sierra holds for so many of us and how it never gets old. Familiarity and popularity does not breed contempt for places so wonderful.
Since my fishing (etc.) website is still down, you can be distracted by geology stuff at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/csm/ees/facu ... ayshi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by SSSdave »

rams, all your images have significantly low luminance thus ought be processed boosting brightness. Compare them to other's posted images on this board. It may be your monitor is set too bright so appears normal to you or camera levels are too low, images of which may be viewed with a histogram.

Other people's assessment of the aesthetics in 20 Lakes Valley with its wonderful metamorphic rock colors is much like your wife's. All the way to Midnight Lake and back was a long significant vertical hike. No wonder you two had to take a following day off.

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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by rams »

Thanks for the comments everyone! Very much appreciated.
did you think about Duck/Pika/Deer Lakes in your backyard?
Kpeter, I've never considered the loop though I have done Deer Lakes and Duck Lake as separate dayhikes in the past. If we had more time here I'd take my wife on that hike as well. I LOVE the colors in all of those lakes, especially the highest of the Deer Lakes. It was almost electric blue when I last went (2012 or something). Alas, we only have one weekend left before our short time here comes to a close (Oregon here we come).
It may be your monitor is set too bright so appears normal to you or camera levels are too low, images of which may be viewed with a histogram.
SSSDave, it's probably my monitor as I'm now looking at this on another screen and the pictures look dim. Knowing me, I'll probably overcompensate the next time I post and everything will look washed out. I guess I need to take the histogram advice. I have a similar problem with saturation. The screen I'm looking at now has muted colors compared to what I saw on the screen I processed the images on. On my smartphone, the same images are borderline cartoon-like! We'll see how I do when I post another trip report in the near future.
Last edited by rams on Mon Jul 16, 2018 12:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by maverick »

Thanks for the wonderful post, you all visited some great places, some of the highlights of the eastern sierra, fun trip! :nod:
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Re: TR: A week of day hikes (7/1 - 7/8)

Post by davidsheridan »

Thanks for the list of Day hikes and pictures!

My wife and I are going to be in Bishop in September,

We want to do 2 day hikes before we start our 6 day Sabrina Basin backpacking trip

I am leaning towards LLV & Treasure lakes.

We hope to get some acclimatizing and easy hikes in and beautiful scenery before we head out on out backpacking trip.

Would anyone else recommend other day hikes instead of 1 of these two? I will be hard pressed to not go to LLV because I have been hearing about it for so long and have never been. Treasure Lakes seems like a good one too, close to Bishop, not to difficult, beautiful.
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