High Sierra Topix

After much help from people on this forum, our trip to Inyo national forest turned out to be successful and rewarding. Here is our trail report and some pictures. I am a very amateur in terms of photography. Since there are so many pros on this forum, if any of you think my picture can use some re-work please tell me!

Our group consist 5 people and I am the only one with backpacking experience. Our initial plan was camping at Ediza Lake and Thousand Island Lake. But our group keep facing difficulty on the trail, we end up stop at Garnet Lake instead of Thousand Island Lake.

Day One:

River Trail -> Shadow Creek Trail -> Ediza Lake. The starting section has a lot of dust/sand. There was also a very steep section with little to no shade that was about 400 ft up vertically. Then you will reach Shadow Lake which is the first taste of High Sierra Lake for us, and it was indeed beautiful. Ediza Lake is absolutely stunning. The most beautiful view can only be seen in the entrance section of the trail with view of amazing rocky pointy mountain (minaret?). Too bad we can't camp there. Ofc I might be wrong since I was only on the bottom section of the lake.

Shadow Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

Ediza Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

Day Two:
Ediza Lake -> JMT -> Garnet Lake Our initial goal is TIL. In my opinion the trail is pretty mild. But my group was exhausted from the first day trip. After consulting the map I realize if we want to reach TIL we would climb at least another steep 500 ft, so we decide to stay at Garnet Lake. I don't regret the decision at all, it is very beautiful. The best thing is we have a very nice view where we camp. I swam to one of the center island at 4 o'clock, and it was very cold. I am glad I visited Canada for studying which sort of give me some cold resistance.

Garnet Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

On Route to Garnet Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

Milky Way Picture at Garnet Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

Garnet Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

Day Three:
Garnet Lake -> River Trail -> Agnew Meadow Campground. Last day of the trip. We missed the trail in the beginning so we went cross country a bit. So I can't comment on the trail condition. People in my group is extremely motivated to eat some nice dinner at Bay Area, we were almost running on the way out. The result: we finished our trip before 12 and at Bay area by 7. and nothing beat a hotpot filled with meat after this kind of journey.

Garnet Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

Ediza Lake / Garnet Lake by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr

HotPot Feast after Ediza/Garnet Lake Trip by Tianyu Yang, on Flickr


In conclusion, this trip is awesome and I really glad I did this before I leave California at end of this month. I would like the thank all you guys again for the help I received when I was planning this trip. One day I accidentally sent out a PM which asked a bunch of questions about this trip as a group message. out of my expectation, although knowing this message is not for them, many people actually replied with very useful informations while many others wished me good luck. This truly showed how awesome people on this forum is. Thanks!

Glad you had a good trip. Awesome pictures!

Sounds like you had a good time. Love the milky way pic...looks like you caught a meteor in the pic?

Thank you for coming back and writing up a TR and posting these pretty pictures. Glad to read that you had a successful trip before heading to Canada. Hope you get some more chances to visit the Sierra, and if you need any help with planning, please ask.
Don't be stranger, we enjoy TR's and photo's of the wilderness from other countries too.

Thanks for the report.

Beautiful shots! Garnet can be a bit windy - looks like you had some calm moments there.

That's a great trip report.

Photos were solid too.

The Other Tom wrote:Sounds like you had a good time. Love the milky way pic...looks like you caught a meteor in the pic?

I really hope so. I had other pics with plane in it, and this one definitely looks different.

maverick wrote:Thank you for coming back and writing up a TR and posting these pretty pictures. Glad to read that you had a successful trip before heading to Canada. Hope you get some more chances to visit the Sierra, and if you need any help with planning, please ask.
Don't be stranger, we enjoy TR's and photo's of the wilderness from other countries too.

Haha, I will be back to Canada and possibility I will head straight back to Mt. Whitney. I got a permit for September. I do school in Toronto in East coast, the most boring part of Canada. (You have to drive 9 hours for some skii resort as good as tahoe) All the good stuff is in the West Coast and Mountain Region. I hope I can find some time to visit them as well... If I did, I will definitely post some TR

Incredible pics!! My wife and I were just up at ediza last weekend. We camped just above the farthest rock along the lake on the right side of your second pic..amazing spot just inside of the no camping zone. Great views that you don't get from the other spots. Enjoyed your TR!