TR: Chocolate Lakes Loop
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:59 pm
On July 9th 2012 a friend and I hiked The Chocolate Lakes Loop which is in the Inyo National Forest near the Bishop Pass and John Muir Wilderness. At 6:30am we hit the trail head out of South Lake and headed up the Mountain. In all we reached 6 lakes and viewed a handful of other lakes in the distance. We fished 3 of the lakes and caught about 12 fish total. The distance of the loop was 7 miles and we added about an extra mile or so with exploring. I would consider this hike moderate but there are some strenuous areas as well as some areas where the trail is undefined and hard to find. I will try to highlight some of these areas in this report for those who may be considering this hike.
Our first stop was Long Lake which is at 10,800 feet.
From Long Lake we headed up to Ruwau Lake which isn't very far at all (maybe a half mile or so). It is a decent accent however.
At Ruwau Lake I did a little exploring to get some great views.
The fishing was great at Ruwau
After a couple hours at Ruwau we continued our trip onward and upward. This is where the hike becomes a bit tricky and strenuous. Even with a good map the trail leading from Ruwau to Chocolate lakes was hard to find. We ended up hiking to a high view point and used binoculars to locate the trail. This part of the trail takes you up to about 11,300 feet and around Chocolate Peak. There were some great views.
At this point the trail (or lack of one) leads you back down the valley to Chocolate Lakes and Bull Lake. The trail is unmarked in this area and you have to do some small boulder hoping to get back down the mountain.
Throughout the Chocolate Lakes the trail comes and goes a bit. Its easy to stay on track though. Our last lake we hit was Bull Lake which is at the base of Chocolate Peak.
After Bull Lake we headed back down the mountain. This was a great trip that I would recommend to anyone that is going to be in this area.
-Scott
Our first stop was Long Lake which is at 10,800 feet.
From Long Lake we headed up to Ruwau Lake which isn't very far at all (maybe a half mile or so). It is a decent accent however.
At Ruwau Lake I did a little exploring to get some great views.
The fishing was great at Ruwau
After a couple hours at Ruwau we continued our trip onward and upward. This is where the hike becomes a bit tricky and strenuous. Even with a good map the trail leading from Ruwau to Chocolate lakes was hard to find. We ended up hiking to a high view point and used binoculars to locate the trail. This part of the trail takes you up to about 11,300 feet and around Chocolate Peak. There were some great views.
At this point the trail (or lack of one) leads you back down the valley to Chocolate Lakes and Bull Lake. The trail is unmarked in this area and you have to do some small boulder hoping to get back down the mountain.
Throughout the Chocolate Lakes the trail comes and goes a bit. Its easy to stay on track though. Our last lake we hit was Bull Lake which is at the base of Chocolate Peak.
After Bull Lake we headed back down the mountain. This was a great trip that I would recommend to anyone that is going to be in this area.
-Scott