North Peak, across Steelhead Lake
One of our many stream crossings
Yet another of several lakesCopyright 2008 Lydia Hinshaw
LEE VINING, CA -- Wednesday's hike proved a bit more interesting than we expected. The "trail" supposedly led around a series of lakes, starting with Saddlebag Lake, in the Inyo National Forest, just across Yosemite's eastern border.
My hiking book has a detailed description of the hike, but was too heavy to carry, and I had no luck trying to find a copy machine in Lee Vining, CA, where we spent Tuesday night.
There was a nice map of the hike painted in wood on a trailhead sign. It appeared if we kept a lake on our right at all times, we would be fine. A ring of higher mountains (this whole hike was above 10,000 feet) to the north insured that we would not stray too far.
It all worked out well, although the trail simply disappeared in a boggy meadow less than two miles into the 7.6-mile circuit. We slogged through wet grass and crossed one stream after another. We trekked over domes of polished granite, and walked along a cliff-edge above another lake.
We lost count and track of the lakes we passed.
Prince Charming has no route-finding skills and no confidence in mine. But I kept the lakes to the right and the mountains to the left and eventually we wound up where we were supposed to wind up.
Near the trailhead was a nice little cafe where we had lunch before wandering back toward home. It also had a free brochure with a map that likely would have been a big help if we'd found it before we set out.
On the way home, we stopped for a nice salmon dinner on the front porch of the lodge at White Wolf, another facility managed by our employer (thus we got a discount.)
It was the best weekend we've had so far.
My hiking book has a detailed description of the hike, but was too heavy to carry, and I had no luck trying to find a copy machine in Lee Vining, CA, where we spent Tuesday night.
There was a nice map of the hike painted in wood on a trailhead sign. It appeared if we kept a lake on our right at all times, we would be fine. A ring of higher mountains (this whole hike was above 10,000 feet) to the north insured that we would not stray too far.
It all worked out well, although the trail simply disappeared in a boggy meadow less than two miles into the 7.6-mile circuit. We slogged through wet grass and crossed one stream after another. We trekked over domes of polished granite, and walked along a cliff-edge above another lake.
We lost count and track of the lakes we passed.
Prince Charming has no route-finding skills and no confidence in mine. But I kept the lakes to the right and the mountains to the left and eventually we wound up where we were supposed to wind up.
Near the trailhead was a nice little cafe where we had lunch before wandering back toward home. It also had a free brochure with a map that likely would have been a big help if we'd found it before we set out.
On the way home, we stopped for a nice salmon dinner on the front porch of the lodge at White Wolf, another facility managed by our employer (thus we got a discount.)
It was the best weekend we've had so far.
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