Black Mountain is the southernmost peak in the White Mountains, most commonly known as the home of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest. On the northern end of the range is…
I've been meaning to visit Cerro Gordo for a long time and it was with great excitement that we turned up the dreaded road on Saturday afternoon. I have heard…
Happy fall! Up until Saturday, I was still functioning in 100% summer mode - summer can't quite possibly be over, right? Although I wasn't really ready for it, on Friday…
We continued with the 'easy' portion of our trip on the morning of Day 5 by turning off the John Muir Trail and heading up Piute Canyon to Humpreys Basin.…
The big day! I've been wanting to get over Lamarck Col for a long time. Typically used as a quick approach into the Evolution area of the Sierra, it's not…
When planning this trip I kept three things in mind for the first day: it's a long drive to the trailhead from the Bay Area, I had to pick up…
It’s Whitney Day! My watch alarm woke me at 4 am and remembering last night’s cold temperatures, I maneuvered myself to the door while staying inside my sleeping bag. I wanted to heat my breakfast and coffee water inside my vestibule and get as much packing done as possible while staying all warm and cozy inside my down cocoon. As I started moving around I realized it was warmer than the previous night – a check of the thermometer on my GPS revealed a temperature of 47, warmer than most mornings in the Sierra. I ridiculed myself for being a baby and finally got out of my bag.
On the morning of Day 4 we had a break from packing up camp. Instead we prepared for dayhiking to some of the other nearby lakes. With no rush, David…
We had an easy day ahead of us on Day 3, so we took our time packing up in the morning. Pavla went for a swim, I wandered around with my camera looking for wildflowers, and David fished a bit. I think we hit the trail around 10 am and headed south along the JMT towards Shadow Creek. When I went through here in 2007 I was flying and barely noticed how amazing this stretch is. Ruby lake is a stunning deep turquoise color, Garnet Lake has a million little things that make it unique and different, and the wildflowers were just popping.
Once at Shadow Creek we left the JMT and headed up the Lake Ediza trail. The plan was to find a campsite somewhere in the area and stay for two nights, dayhiking some of the less popular lakes in the area. We found a nice legal site just before Lake Ediza where we could have campfires (so we could cook any fish we caught!), and set up.
After setting up, resting, and eating, we decided to dayhike up to Cabin Lake, which is a bit off the beaten track. It was stocked with golden trout in 2000 and David wanted to see if there were any left. Rumor had it there was an unmarked trail heading up to the lake, but we couldn’t find it on the way up. A bit of bushwhacking, scrambling around rock, and persistence finally got us to Cabin Lake. Of course, once we were there we saw the use trail. Figures.