I battled the winds up to Lone Pine on Thursday evening, spending the night in the back of the Ranger while backed up to some rocks in the Alabama Hills. Arriving at the Interagency Visitor Center in the morning, I was really excited to draw number 1 in the daily permit lottery. It came in handy as I managed to get the last of 10 overnight permits for this trail.
Big Pine Creek has a large campground and a lodge, but the hiker parking lot is about 3/4 of a mile down the road. The trail starts out on the side of a hill and is really exposed to the afternoon sun, but the good thing is it remains high above the canyon so no elevation is lost along the way. It's not a real scenic walk until First Falls which is a little more than a mile up the trail.
I took the turnoff towards Black Lake, where I managed to avoid all the foot traffic near the numbered lakes. The wind picked up again in the afternoon, it was actually a cool breeze at that elevation. I walked past Black Lake and missed the turn near 4th Lake, but that provided me a different view of the area. Moving back on the correct route, I soon reached my intended destination of 5th Lake. Unfortunately there was a tent city near the main trail, so I headed up a steep use trail to a plateau above the lake and found a really nice camp spot. When the sun retreated behind the high ridgeline at 5:30pm it started to get cold, so a warm dinner and Johnny Walker Black was definitely in order. I woke up a couple times at night because of the wind howling in the trees, even though my spot was well-protected.
Saturday I reserved just for hiking, so I walked around 5th lake, took a side trail back to 4th Lake and then hung out for a long time at Summit Lake. Summit Lake was the highlight of the trip, at least when the wind wasn't blowing too hard. I headed towards 6th and 7th lakes but I was running out of water and couldn't see any flowing streams ahead. Since it was a up-and-down trail, I did some rock hopping back across a high ridge rather than give up any more altitude. That was pretty fun and gave me some different views.
Walking out the next morning was uneventful, I took the other part of the trail and walked past 3rd, 2nd and 1st lakes. These have the unique glacial flour coloring and are the most popular with the hordes of dayhikers in the area.
This trip was really different for me, it felt odd to have a full day without the routine of packing up, hiking and setting up camp. Just to sit around reading was nice for a change.
A few pics below
Morning view of Mt Whitney from the Alabama Hills.
Wildlife as I arrived at the hiker parking area.
Noted fisherman Lon Chaney's cabin, now owned by the FS.
Looking down at 1st and 2nd lakes from the trail towards Black Lake.
Black Lake. This one really did seem darker than the others.
Trail junction. I was happy to see the sign, I thought I may have missed another turn at 4th Lake.
Last of the sun at 5th Lake. I was filling up on water and it got cold outside real fast.
Morning view over 5th Lake from my campsite.
Summit Lake and Palisade Glacier. If you want to see it you better plan soon, it won't be around too much longer.
Meadow somewhere below 6th Lake.
2nd Lake, Temple Crag in the background.
1st Lake, 3.5 miles from the overnight trailhead, less than 3 from the Lodge.
Fall color happening now.
New winner of the most boring trail I've hiked, over a mile of this terrain. Around every little bend was just more of the same.
