I spent Thursday night camping at Tuolumne Meadows, where the mosquitoes were generally not bad at all. Their numbers picked up dramatically around Elizabeth Lake...generally, above 9,500 ft. or so they're still pretty bad, below they're only bad in favored areas (e.g.: the small creek just west of the Tuolumne Meadows campground).
Elizabeth Lake:
By the time I got to Nelson Pass on Friday the clouds were building up over the Sierra Crest. Nonetheless, Friday was quite dry for me.
Echo Creek Valley:
I alluded to this in responses to other posts about water availability...while the large numbers of wildflowers one might normally expect aren't present, selected areas have quite impressive displays. I suspect the monsoon flow that the Sierra has seen for a while has helped here:
The bottom of the climb from Echo Creek to Matthes Lake (not counting the 15-foot scramble needed to get here):
The Nelson Lake basin from that climb:
Penstimmon and paintbrush on the climb:
Morning mist, Matthes Lake:
A more classic view of the lake:
The other time I went here I hiked around the ridge separating Matthes and Echo Lakes, this time I hiked over, and from the top hiked south to the "10040+" peaklet. I think this saves absolutely no time over hiking around, but the views are well worth it!
Echo Lake:
and the Clark Range:
A closer-in view of Echo Lake from the descent:
