TR: Golden Trout Lakes (Onion Valley) 7/8/16 - 7/10/16
Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2016 3:29 pm
Last weekend, I needed to unplug and visit the mountains for a few days. Fortunately, my favorite backpacking partner was available. Ozzy and I drove north to the Onion Valley trailhead and headed out. Our destination was the northern Golden Trout Lakes.
Here's our camp at the upper northern Golden Trout Lake. We had the entire lake to ourselves. We didn't see a soul from the time we took the Golden Trout Lakes turnoff until we got back to the trailhead.
Back to the beginning... We arrived at the trailhead Friday afternoon with a Saturday permit. We drove up the short 4WD road near the trailhead and found a nice, quiet place to camp for the night. We awoke to this beautiful sunrise, had breakfast, then hit the trail.
The turnoff to the lakes from the Kearsarge Pass trail starts off steep and gains elevation quickly. You can see the Onion Valley trailhead below.
After sections of scree sliding and boulder hopping, we hit a few patches of snow. That's Ozzy in front of the snow.
The outflow from the lakes made some nice snow sculptures.
The meadow below Golden Trout Lakes.
Beautiful creek flowing through the meadow.
From the meadow, we could go west to lakes #1 and #2, or northwest to the northern lakes. We headed northwest. Here's Ozzy taking a break above the meadow but before we arrived at the lakes.
Not far above the meadow, we arrived at the lower northern lake. The upper lake is just beyond the tree-covered saddle in the middle of the photo.
The trail is faint or nonexistent between the lower and upper lakes, or maybe I just missed it. Regardless, it's straightforward to the upper lake. The upper lake was stunning with the flowers still in bloom.
Here's a self portrait after breaking down camp the next morning. The wind was blowing hard all night into the morning, which made the moderate temperatures feel downright cold. It also kept the mosquitoes at bay. I'll take wind over mosquitoes any day.
The lower northern lake from a different angle on the way down.
A few more snow patches as we pass the lower lake.
Back down in the meadow. Ozzy knows he can take a break when the camera comes out.
I'm told there used to be trail here before a major rock slide some years ago. Some boulder-hopping is required, but there are several variations of use trails to get around the most difficult sections.
Ozzy gets roped up when crossing snowfields with any incline. He's a southern California dog who hasn't quite figured out the low-friction properties of the frozen stuff. I'm pretty sure he's glaring at me here. He doesn't understand why he has to wear a leash on this section.
This was my first time visiting Golden Trout Lakes, and it was definitely worth it for a short weekend overnighter. I think there are only nine overnight permits per day spread over four lakes. That, along with a few rougher sections of trail, make for a nicely uncrowded trip without having to venture too far from the trailhead.
Here's a final photo. One more of the sunrise from Saturday morning at the trailhead.
Here's our camp at the upper northern Golden Trout Lake. We had the entire lake to ourselves. We didn't see a soul from the time we took the Golden Trout Lakes turnoff until we got back to the trailhead.
Back to the beginning... We arrived at the trailhead Friday afternoon with a Saturday permit. We drove up the short 4WD road near the trailhead and found a nice, quiet place to camp for the night. We awoke to this beautiful sunrise, had breakfast, then hit the trail.
The turnoff to the lakes from the Kearsarge Pass trail starts off steep and gains elevation quickly. You can see the Onion Valley trailhead below.
After sections of scree sliding and boulder hopping, we hit a few patches of snow. That's Ozzy in front of the snow.
The outflow from the lakes made some nice snow sculptures.
The meadow below Golden Trout Lakes.
Beautiful creek flowing through the meadow.
From the meadow, we could go west to lakes #1 and #2, or northwest to the northern lakes. We headed northwest. Here's Ozzy taking a break above the meadow but before we arrived at the lakes.
Not far above the meadow, we arrived at the lower northern lake. The upper lake is just beyond the tree-covered saddle in the middle of the photo.
The trail is faint or nonexistent between the lower and upper lakes, or maybe I just missed it. Regardless, it's straightforward to the upper lake. The upper lake was stunning with the flowers still in bloom.
Here's a self portrait after breaking down camp the next morning. The wind was blowing hard all night into the morning, which made the moderate temperatures feel downright cold. It also kept the mosquitoes at bay. I'll take wind over mosquitoes any day.
The lower northern lake from a different angle on the way down.
A few more snow patches as we pass the lower lake.
Back down in the meadow. Ozzy knows he can take a break when the camera comes out.
I'm told there used to be trail here before a major rock slide some years ago. Some boulder-hopping is required, but there are several variations of use trails to get around the most difficult sections.
Ozzy gets roped up when crossing snowfields with any incline. He's a southern California dog who hasn't quite figured out the low-friction properties of the frozen stuff. I'm pretty sure he's glaring at me here. He doesn't understand why he has to wear a leash on this section.
This was my first time visiting Golden Trout Lakes, and it was definitely worth it for a short weekend overnighter. I think there are only nine overnight permits per day spread over four lakes. That, along with a few rougher sections of trail, make for a nicely uncrowded trip without having to venture too far from the trailhead.
Here's a final photo. One more of the sunrise from Saturday morning at the trailhead.
