Rock Lake

Six of us, worried about extreme heat and smoke decided to head up the highway. We were looking for a hike that would afford the ability to cool off (water) and less smoke than we had been experiencing from the Lowell Fire. Much to our surprise, we saw NO smoke all the way up 20 to Bowman Lake Rd.  So we continued to Loney Meadow. Long story short, no smoke all day. But heat? Brutal. We all swam for quite a while in Rock Lake, which we had to ourselves until we were leaving. We were happy to see new, beautiful signs making clear where trails go at most intersections. We returned by Culbertson Lake and Lindsay Lakes. The jeep road back to Loney was exceptionally hot and dusty. We had hiked 7.5 - 8 miles with a 1500 ft. Elevation gain. 

Stone Camp

Six of us wanted to see Stone Camp on a small, spectacular granite rimmed lake near 5 Lakes Basin below Glacier Lake.  Parking at Grouse Ridge, we headed down, then up Sand Ridge.  The views from that relatively level ridge were stupendous as usual. Then we headed down cross country across steep granite slab country towards 5 Lakes Basin in search of Stone Camp. Fortunately we had the coordinates from our last visit, as it is pretty hard to fine. After settling in on the comfortable stone sofa and chairs for lunch we read the logbook and discovered that a big bachelor party was expected this weekend and into next week. We left a message from the stripper. Also in the log was an entry from last year from my young grandson raving about the camp and complimenting the builders. Supposedly it was built in the seventies. 

From Sand Ridge

Stone Camp

When we were done our lunch we climbed up the huge granite outcroppings we had climbed down until we hit the trail. Instead of returning, we headed to Glacier Lake, and then the long trail back. The addition of Glacier Lake made the hike a bit long, 10 miles. We were lucky that the day was relatively cool and breezy.  Our ascent was about 1700 feet. 

Warren Lake Trail and around Castle

Six of us hiked 9.5-10 miles, depending on which numbers you believe. The weather was perfect as we headed steeply up the flowered Warren Lake Trail to the saddle between Frog Lake Overlook and Castle Peak. We decided to cross country towards Castle as we hadn't done that before. We stopped at a few volcanic overlooks but opted to eat lunch in the shade of some trees. 

Yellow trace is one from today. 

After a leisurely lunch in this beautiful woods, we were sucked into the most amazing landscape we had encountered. The grass was green the asters, fritillaries, lilies, and huge trees were were alive with birds chirping and a grouse booming to find a mate. Was Disney filming this?  We knew we were in for some tough hiking ahead but savored the easy level land while we could. 

Then the descent began. Steeply.  Right under Castle peaks, below the lava outcroppings. Down we went. Mostly sideways. For quite a long time. We were heading for the PCT south of Castle Pass. First we hit a jeep road and we knew where that would take us. But instead of waiting for the PCT we turned onto a new trail. Donner Rim Trail. I figured it would take us to the junction of the PCT,Warren,and rest stop trails. But no, it meandered back up in bike trail fashion, following the contours and finally deposited us on the Warren Trail at the Summit Lake trail. Some distance from where we wanted to be. It was a long slog back down and under the freeway to the car parked at Boreal. Phew. 

High Meadow Wonderland

Under dire but vacillating weather predictions, our group of eight headed up to Castle Valley for our around Castle and Basin trek.  The clouds were so-so and could go either way. By eleven we were hearing thunder so we figured maybe we could get to our high mountain meadows on the side of Basin Peak. Then we could turn around if need be. 

The meadows were in full bloom!  We had timed it just right this year. But the weather was not timed right. We could see darkening skies with precipitation falling, up towards the Sierra Buttes. To enjoy the meadows, we sat on scattered, partly embedded rocks and started our lunches. Pretty soon things didn't feel right so we donned our vests and raincoats in case.  I was up on the hill "taking care of business" when I felt something hit my raincoat and plopping to the ground. Will you look at that!!  I gotta show that to the others!  Picking it up, I realized it was not a white alabaster rock but a round piece of ice!  Even more amazing!  Wishing to show it to the others, I pulled myself together and started running towards them. At that point, it suddenly started raining these white ice balls upon us so fast we couldn't protect ourselves. To the tree!  We were screaming from the pain of them hitting us as we scrambled to fit 8 people under a scraggly little pine. A funny sight. The hail storm was over and the rain was intermittent during the hike back to the car.  We had hiked 9.5 miles. 

From Peter: