Horton Lakes - Basin Mountain 9.28.13
Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 9:14 am
I thought I could mix beautiful fall foliage with a nice slog up to Basin Mountain's summit on Saturday, but it didn't work out that perfectly. The slog worked out okay. There's not much left of that dusting of snow that fell. It's actually a pretty nice hike until that last 1,500' or so of elevation gain from the upper lake (now dry) in the drainage south of the Big Horton Lake. From there it's a lot of loose rocks and sand, but a nice view from the top.
Some pics and a map of my route up Basin: http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... 3181-92813" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Anyway, on to the leaves. The leaves in the lower part of the Horton Creek Drainage before you get to the Big Horton Lake are still more green than yellow. They have some brown dots on them, but not too awful. By the time you get to the lake at close to 10,000', the leaves are almost all brown instead of the yellow and red I was hoping for.
I drove up Bishop Creek yesterday and there are some nice spots, but a lot of brown as you get higher. It wasn't great along Rock Creek either. So, a bit early at some of the lower elevations and brown or even missing at the higher elevations. I headed home without checking out any other areas. Hopefully, there are some other spots where the colors are great in the Eastern Sierra.
Some pics and a map of my route up Basin: http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... 3181-92813" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Anyway, on to the leaves. The leaves in the lower part of the Horton Creek Drainage before you get to the Big Horton Lake are still more green than yellow. They have some brown dots on them, but not too awful. By the time you get to the lake at close to 10,000', the leaves are almost all brown instead of the yellow and red I was hoping for.
I drove up Bishop Creek yesterday and there are some nice spots, but a lot of brown as you get higher. It wasn't great along Rock Creek either. So, a bit early at some of the lower elevations and brown or even missing at the higher elevations. I headed home without checking out any other areas. Hopefully, there are some other spots where the colors are great in the Eastern Sierra.