Lakes and Snow...



Lake George in the Mammoth Lake Basin

 After a spectacular drive through Yosemite National Park, we arrived at Mammoth Lakes on Memorial Day afternoon.  Most of the campgrounds in the Mammoth Lake area don’t open until mid or even late June.  So we stopped at the Inyo National Forest Visitor Center to see what was available and pick up maps of the area.  We had plans for some serious hiking. 

 

Arrow Head Lake

 

Twin Lakes Campground in the Mammoth Lakes Basin fit our needs perfectly.  Being a very desirable location on two lakes with a waterfall, Twin Lakes is often completely booked.  But most everyone had left after the holiday and we had no problem getting a lovely site.  (It is so nice to be able to arrive after the crowds have gone home and back to work.)  Because we were away from town and down in the lake basin, it meant little or no phone and Internet but that’s a price we are willing to pay for the remoteness and beauty. 

 

The next several days were spent hiking in the Inyo National Forest and the John Muir Wilderness.  “Inyo” is a Paiute Indian word meaning “Dwelling Place of the Great Spirit” and we think the Paiute could be right about that.  I know my spirit was happy to dwell there for a short while. 

 

TJ Lake and reflections of the Sierra Nevada

 

Mammoth Lakes is aptly named – there are lakes everywhere and a Mammoth Mountain!  Almost every hiking trail went to a lake or two or three.  The lakes nearest the campgrounds were full of people fishing and catching, too.  We didn’t take the time to fish but we probably should have as this area is known for great trout.

 

Maya loves snow!

 

Once we left the campground area and headed up the trails we quickly ran into snow.  At first it was just drifts in the shaded areas but above 8,000 feet there was more and more snow making it difficult to follow the trail in places.  We had a few wrong turns because the snow obscured the trail.  Snow hiking is not something we have done a lot of and we developed a new appreciation for finding the trail in snow. 
 



There is a trail here somewhere...

 

In the morning the snow was hard and in most places easy to walk across but as the day warmed up the snow became soft and we started to sink more and more into the deeper drifts.  Thank goodness for our hiking poles that we gave each other for Christmas this year.  They really came in handy.   But even the poles weren't much help when I hit an icy patch and had an impromptu ‘luge’ run down the side of a hill.  It was a fun ‘ride’ but then I had to climb back up the hill - luckily with nothing bruised but my pride. 

 

Skeleton Lake with ice

 

Mostly our snow hikes were fun, adventurous and good practice in following and finding the trail but we did say ‘uncle’ one day.  After a gorgeous hike to Skeleton Lake which was still partially iced over we had planned to continue on through Duck Pass to Duck Lake.  Almost immediately after leaving Skeleton Lake we started getting into deep snow.  Maybe if we had persevered and made it past the pass the trail would have been better.  But after David twisted his knee and we almost lost Maya in the snow, we all decided it wasn’t that much fun anymore.  Maya loves romping in snow but even she was struggling.  So we turned back and left Duck Lake for another time.



Maya almost buried in snow - time to turn back

 

We are spending the weekend in a commercial campground in Mammoth Lakes and are taking a few little ‘day trips’ this weekend.  This region of the Sierra Nevada is rich with amazing places.  There is so much we want to do that we will stay another week.  We are looking forward to visiting the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest tomorrow and then spending most of next week in the Ansel Adams Wilderness.



Emerald Lake

 

David's Stats:
Days Hiked     3 
Total Miles Hiked     19.01
Ave. Miles per Day    6.34   
Total Elevation Gain       3,178
Ave. Elevation Gain per day  1,059