TR: Pine Creek-Granite Park-Bear Lakes-Merriam-French Canyon
Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:21 am
I did this 2 summers ago with a friend in early August.
We arrived at the Pine Creek trailhead in the evening and passed out. The following morning my friend woke up with a nasty cold and we weren't sure he could do the trip. We ended up driving into Mammoth lakes and buying some of the sudafed decongestant they keep behind the counter and going for it.
Day 1: Hike up Pine Creek
to Pine Lake, which was stunning:
continue past upper Pine Lake to camp at Honeymoon Lake. We found a bed of moss that felt like the most plush mattress ever created, and took an absolutely glorious nap before setting up camp. Stunning so far. My friend was actually quite sick, but is a tough son of a gun.
Day 2: Continue up the trail towards Chalfant Lakes
My buddy was feeling terrible so we only made it a couple of miles and decided to camp here:
Day 3: We were behind on our miles and decided to see if we could scout a pass that would cut the mileage down. From Granite Park it looked like there was a way over into Bear Lakes basin, which would mean we wouldn't see Lake Italy. It looked pretty gnar-gnar though! Like a huge canine tooth:
It ended up being harder than it looked, as it meant climbing up a long steep section that was just small, loose scree with nothing to hold onto. Here's the view from the top looking down on Black Bear Lake:
Black Bear Lake with 7 Gables in the distance:
We camped at Big Bear Lake:
It was pretty, but cold and windy up there. We were exhausted and my friend was still sick, so we set up camp and went to sleep early.
Day 4: We just rested and read a book to see if he could recover. I took some photos
Day 5: EPIC adventure day, leaving a basecamp. We went down this creek
and were treated to this amazing view of 7 Gables. What a mountain, another tooth looking thing, this time more like a shark tooth
We checked out the lakes along east fork of Bear Creek, including Stub lake and 7 Gables Lakes. The latter was stunning and we took a swim:
The we climbed up to Vee Lake
and up the drainage
and up
and up
and up
and up
and up to the top of an unnamed peak just shy of 13k
And back to camp for a sound sleep. This was one of the most amazing days of my life. So beautiful, so fun.
Day 6: Over this pass
and down to French Canyon.
Day 7: A day of frisbee, and then light painting at night
Day 8:
Up French Canyon and over Pine Creek Pass (easy) and back down to Pine Creek Trailhead.
What a wonderful trip. I highly recommend Bear Lakes Basin. I would camp in the meadow above Vee Lake if I returned, seemed by far the best spot in the basin.
