Since we were keeping a close eye on the weather, and we had one day “left over” from our Mono Pass trip, we took the opportunity to day-hike up to Lamarck Lakes on July 7. The weather report was for thunderstorms, rain, hail and snow, so we felt just fine that we were going to end the day back in Bishop, rather than in a tent at 11,000 feet.
After our adventures over Mono Pass, this little hike seemed pretty darn civilized. The trail climbed steadily but smoothly through the forest up to the junction with the trail to Grass Lake. At that point things got a bit rougher, but the views opened up as well.
Before we knew it, we were at Lower Lamarck Lake…and we stopped only for a minute before continuing on to Upper Lamarck. Just long enough to take a photo or two.
It’s harder to really get to the water at Upper Lamarck, and we ended up eating lunch on a rocky knoll just east of the lake—which was just as well, because the mosquitoes were fierce closer to the water. The water here was an intense blue.
After a sun-drenched rest on the rock, we started down before the clouds could gather too much momentum. We met quite a few hikers on this trip coming down from Lamarck Col—some of whom told of quarter-sized hail pelting them the night before. They looked pretty whipped.
And while the views were nice on this hike, there was also a lovely flower garden at the base of the trail, just a few yards from the trailhead. We enjoyed the flowers, dodged the raindrops, and spent the night back in Bishop, getting ready for our next trip.
Photos are here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/balzaccom/BackpackingInTheSierraLamarckLakes2015#
