Drove through Tuolumne Meadows on the way to Mammoth the night before. The Meadows looked more like a lake.
Started hiking from the hiker’s parking lot around 8 am. First views looking up South Big Pine Creek were outstanding.
One of the glaciers.
Views hiking up the trail towards the First Lake.
The Second Falls
A little friend I found along the way
View of the 2nd lake overshadowed by Temple Crag.
Kept hiking up to the 3rd lake and found a great campsite overlooking the lake.
Set up tent and headed off up towards the 4th lake but instead of going to the 4th lake I took the Glacier trail towards the Palisade glacier. Hit snow on the trail at about 10.5k ft. At about 11k ft feet, the terrain was entirely snow covered, except for large rock croppings all the up to Sam Mack Meadow. That was the end of hiking for the day because the trail beyond the meadow did not look very passable.
Views from the Glacier Trail
Sam Mack Meadow. Looking more like a snow play area.
Spent rest of the day relaxing at the 3rd lake resting my sore feet.
Look some night photos around 11 pm. Too much moon to get good shots of the Milky Way.
Got up early to hike out.
The mosquitos were not bad. I think I got more bites with my windows down driving through Mammoth the night before the hike than I got during my two days of hiking.
Unrelated, but I watched the 4th of July fireworks show at Kings Beach at Lake Tahoe the next day.
Two more trip reports to come this summer! Hope you enjoy the photos! MRrogers aka Blue Moon
