Granite Park

Just got back from a couple nights at Pine Creek.
Did a little warm up hike to Bull Lake at Bishop.



My girlfriend had done a lot of day hikes, but this would be her first backpacking trip. I had wondered if 3000 foot elevation gain on the first day would be a bit much for a first trip. Pine Creek permit availability was good, and I had wanted to go to Granite Park for a while, so Pine creek it was. Heading up Pine Creek was as steep as I remembered from a day hike to Pine Lake several years ago.
This nice cascade crosses the trail about 1.5 miles in:



More views of Pine Creek on the way up:












3000 foot elevation gain was a bit much for her first day, so we camped at Upper Pine Lake, instead of Honeymoon Lake.



Headed towards Honeymoon Lake after re-hydrating some scrambled eggs. Mosquitoes were horrific above Upper Pine Lake, where three streams converge. The kind of mosquitoes where you look down at your pant legs, and see a hundred mosquitoes on them. Long sleeves, long pants, gloves and a head net were life savers. We headed up towards Granite Park. The trail was better than expected. You had to look for the trail every once in a while, but it was fairly easy to follow. No mosquitoes at Granite Park.
Heading to Granite Park:












Headed back to Honeymoon Lake, after exploring Granite Park for awhile.
Got up early the next morning for spectacular views of Honeymoon Lake:






Headed back down. Always great to get back to the car, and remember to appreciate the conveniences of civilization.
We stopped at the Eastern California Museum in Independence:
http://www.inyocounty.us/ecmsite/
Make sure to turn on the switch on the mountain goat diorama for a fun surprise.

Got the idea of stopping at the museum, after seeing a picture of the Norman Clyde exhibit on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Clyde