TR - Barney, Robinson,Crown, & Peeler Lakes Via Twin Lake

[Nevada]

The Bridgeport CA entry area into the Eastern Sierra and the Hoover Wilderness/Northern Yosemite N.P. is easily accessible off of US 395. Wilderness permits are available at the US Forest Service office just south of Bridgeport and the road into the Twin Lakes trailheads is on the opposite side (northern side) of town (turn at the gas station).

Once at Twin Lakes, stop at the RV camping kiosk and pay $10.00 for a 7 day parking permit. An annoyance, but fair enough. The restaurant at the campground has good food at reasonable to moderate prices and they do make a great hamburger on the day of your return. (Better than In & Out and 5 Guys if that means anything to you.)

We took an out and back 21 mile two day trip that went to Barney Lake, Robinson Lakes, Crown Lake, Peeler Lake and then back down the trail to return. We got our permit at the US Forest Office in Bridgeport at about 9:00 AM and were on the trail at Twin Lakes at 10:00 AM. In no hurry, we hiked first to Barney Lake, had a snack, enjoyed the views and headed up to Robinson Lakes making camp nearby at 4:00 PM. After setting up, we walked about a mile to visit Crown Lake. Nice. Plenty of time to explore and if you wanted to you could go ahead and walk up to Mule Pass and take a look into Yosemite. It is a dog friendly trail all the way. No fires above 9000 feet.

The next day we dropped packs at the Crown Lake cut-off from the main trail to Peeler Lake and walked up to see Peeler. Peeler has two outlets, one draining to the Pacific and one into the Great Basin. A worthy side trip for us, but a possible main destination in and of itself. Lots of trout swimming around, but we weren't there to fish this time. Walking back out on day two, we picked up our packs from our hidden cache and headed down to Twin Lakes for a burger. A mule train overtook us on the way and it was followed by some dudes on horses. Everybody was very nice.

You can find lots of information about this area in this forum and the various trail books. I just wanted to put in my two cents and say that for a 2 day out and back, the Sawtooth Range of the Hoover Wilderness was striking. It is every bit as beautiful as the Ritters farther south. We met a few people along the way mid-week, but didn't feel like we were hiking on a freeway like the PCT or JMT. The bugs late season weren't bad, a few Mosquitoes at the inlet to Robison Lakes where we got our night's water, but not bad, not bad at all. Water was plentiful all along the way in late summer 2016. Sorry that I don't have photos from this trip to share, but Google Crown and Peeler Lakes and you will see a multitude. No bears when we went, but we did see a few old scats here and there along the way. Oh, and the Aqua Pool on the way to Robinson and Crown Lakes is gorgeous...I will definitely visit this area again. We are retiring in the Smith Valley of Nevada and are only an hour from this trailhead...Happy Trails to you and yours. Nevada.

PS: Here is a Reno Gazette story about the area if you want more info: http://www.rgj.com/story/travel/destina ... /30901631/

[maverick]

Thanks Nevada for the TR, hopefully you will get the chance to do the whole Northern Yosemite Loop which is truly outstanding.

[Nevada]

Will do. Thank you Maverick.