TR: Hilton Lakes from Rock Creek May 2017
Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 8:00 pm
The relatively warm weather and still abundant snow is making for some very scenic early season trips!
With Rock Creek Rd. now open to the corral, my wife and I decided to spend a few days up at Hilton Lakes. We spent a few nights in Little Lakes Valley about 2 weeks ago and were surprised to see how much snow had melted. There is still plenty left, but it seems to be going quick, especially below 8500.
There was nearly 100% snow coverage starting from the trailhead. Lakes 1 (Davis) and 2 were mostly frozen, but had some areas of thaw. Upper lakes still fully frozen. I would say complete snow coverage starts between 8500 and 9000 feet. Temps were generally pleasant, but wind gusts were forecast to be 50 mph Thursday night and Friday and I would say they reached that. Full sun and warmer days made snow conditions very slippery by early afternoon. I would estimate at least 4 to 6 feet of snow in most areas above 10000 feet.
Beautiful area for nice short trip. There was one set of ski tracks that looked to be a few days old, but otherwise that was the only sign of people we saw.
With Rock Creek Rd. now open to the corral, my wife and I decided to spend a few days up at Hilton Lakes. We spent a few nights in Little Lakes Valley about 2 weeks ago and were surprised to see how much snow had melted. There is still plenty left, but it seems to be going quick, especially below 8500.
There was nearly 100% snow coverage starting from the trailhead. Lakes 1 (Davis) and 2 were mostly frozen, but had some areas of thaw. Upper lakes still fully frozen. I would say complete snow coverage starts between 8500 and 9000 feet. Temps were generally pleasant, but wind gusts were forecast to be 50 mph Thursday night and Friday and I would say they reached that. Full sun and warmer days made snow conditions very slippery by early afternoon. I would estimate at least 4 to 6 feet of snow in most areas above 10000 feet.
Beautiful area for nice short trip. There was one set of ski tracks that looked to be a few days old, but otherwise that was the only sign of people we saw.
- Climbing out of Rock Creek.
- Looking over to the East Fork
- First few of Davis Lake and Mt Morgan
- My wife on slope as we cut the angle over to Lake 3
- Frozen Lake 3
- Looking over Lake 3, lower Rock Creek and the White Mountains in the distance
- Frozen Lake 5 (depending on how you number them!)
- Owens River Valley, Davis Lake, Lake 2 and 3 and the White Mountains
- Mt Huntington
- Lake 4 and Mt Huntington
- Camp above Lake 3