TR Sabrina Lake to Hungry Packer and Moonlight Lake (Inyo NF
Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 12:17 pm
First TR here, thought I should share!
Day 1: We started at the Sabrina Lake TH (9080') and skirted around Sabrina Lake before climbing up some rocky switchbacks. The high elevation definitely got to us, and the 3 miles to Blue lake (10390') took us a lot longer than expected. Since Blue lake was pretty crowded, we continued on past Emerald Lakes to get to Dingleberry Lake. There was only one other group there, so we decided to set up camp there and relax by the lake. Day 2:
We woke up at sunrise, and after packing our daypacks we reached Topsy Turvy lake (10800') in less than an hour. We decided to head up to Hungry Packer lake first, and passed some beautiful meadows near Middle and Sailor lake with lots of flowers and streams. After hanging out at Hungry Packer lake for a while, we headed back down the trail and crossed the meadows to Moonlight falls in the distance. Then we followed the waterfall upstream, boulder hopping until we emerged at Moonlight Lake (11,600). This was all of our favorite lake, the water was just SO blue. After spending the day there and swimming in the lake, we decided to head back following the river downstream rather than the trail, and it took us through some gorgeous meadows and scenery. We followed the river back to Topsy Turvy /Pee Wee lake, and eventually found some cairns near the outlet of the lake that eventually led us back to the main trail. We saw marmots and even a deer on the way back. The sunset was beautiful that night, the sky and clouds were bright pink and purple.
Day 3:
We woke up early and hiked back to the car. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes, and the hike back was mostly downhill. Overall it was a great trip, and I couldn't get over how beautiful the views were.
Mosquitoes weren't too bad considering how much water and marshlands there were in the Sabrina basin. Even with DEET, we did get a lot of bites at the more marshy areas that the trail trekked through.
Day 1: We started at the Sabrina Lake TH (9080') and skirted around Sabrina Lake before climbing up some rocky switchbacks. The high elevation definitely got to us, and the 3 miles to Blue lake (10390') took us a lot longer than expected. Since Blue lake was pretty crowded, we continued on past Emerald Lakes to get to Dingleberry Lake. There was only one other group there, so we decided to set up camp there and relax by the lake. Day 2:
We woke up at sunrise, and after packing our daypacks we reached Topsy Turvy lake (10800') in less than an hour. We decided to head up to Hungry Packer lake first, and passed some beautiful meadows near Middle and Sailor lake with lots of flowers and streams. After hanging out at Hungry Packer lake for a while, we headed back down the trail and crossed the meadows to Moonlight falls in the distance. Then we followed the waterfall upstream, boulder hopping until we emerged at Moonlight Lake (11,600). This was all of our favorite lake, the water was just SO blue. After spending the day there and swimming in the lake, we decided to head back following the river downstream rather than the trail, and it took us through some gorgeous meadows and scenery. We followed the river back to Topsy Turvy /Pee Wee lake, and eventually found some cairns near the outlet of the lake that eventually led us back to the main trail. We saw marmots and even a deer on the way back. The sunset was beautiful that night, the sky and clouds were bright pink and purple.
Day 3:
We woke up early and hiked back to the car. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes, and the hike back was mostly downhill. Overall it was a great trip, and I couldn't get over how beautiful the views were.
Mosquitoes weren't too bad considering how much water and marshlands there were in the Sabrina basin. Even with DEET, we did get a lot of bites at the more marshy areas that the trail trekked through.
