The air was chillier on the short walks I took at Olmsted Point and Tioga Pass than it had been since around New Years Day.
There were still significant patches of snow in the forests from Dana Meadows to the pass, and Mt. Dana had a fresh dusting of snow.
The next morning I met up with the late advance party (they blame their tardiness on the motel's breakfast buffet) at Silver Lake, where we staged a car for the out day. After driving to the Mammoth ski area and purchasing our tickets, we were on the shuttle to Agnew Meadow, where we were soon heading up the River Trail to Thousand Island Lake.
Despite the recent fire restrictions, someone felt it would be a good idea to carry extra wood.
The views improved as the trail climbed higher, although for a significant portion it avoided being anywhere near the river.
Past the unsigned spur trail to Garnet Lake were some nice waterfalls and pools.
Eventually the trail leveled out and we got our first peeks at Banner Peak.
Not long thereafter we were at the eastern shore of Thousand Island Lake, where several hikers were stopping to enjoy the view--much like our JMT group had done last year--except no one was swimming due to a rather chilly breeze.
We hurried around the north shore of the lake and eventually found a somewhat private, wind-protected campsite, where we quickly pitched our tent. The forecast had been for only slight chances of precipitation, but the dark clouds building above us didn't seem to have read the same forecast.
It sprinkled on us a few times throughout the afternoon and evening, but it never really rained. Unfortunately, the chilly breeze made boating the lake a rather unappealing option. It was nice to just hang out and watch the clouds.
The Great Chick-on Spirit?
The forecast for Sunday had been clear, but the clouds we saw that morning were not cooperating.
There was still a bit of a breeze, so we took it easy and had a leisurely pancake breakfast. After packing, we decided to walk to the head of the lake and take advantage of the wind to float us towards the outlet.
Just as we got the inflantry sea-worthy, the clouds cleared above us, and we were on the water.
As an experiment I tried to rig a primitive sail with my trekking poles and pack cover--the jury is still out if it was a net benefit.
"Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world."
The water was choppy in places, but our boats were stable, even with full packs. On the other hand, Thousand Island Lake has many (but far fewer than a thousand) islands, which meant that we often found ourselves paddling around ones that the wind was pushing us directly towards. Also, the reason the lake has so many islands is that it's not very deep, and in a few places it was hard to find a deep enough passage between islands. Towards the end, I bottomed out in one such channel, and a sharp rock punctured the floor of my boat--something I realized after noticing I was sitting in a puddle of water. Fortunately, the inflatable "tube" portion of the boat was intact, allowing me to paddle briskly to a take-out point, leaving the others far behind. (I tried to indicate that I'd had a "flat" by holding up my boat and poking my finger through the hole, but having boats that were not taking on water, they were relaxing a bit and were too far away to notice...) Even with the damage, we succeeded in floating most of the length of the lake.
After deflating the boats, enjoying lunch, and repacking everything, we decided to head to Silver Lake via Island Pass, which offered great views of the lake we had just crossed and the opportunity to chat with a seemingly endless stream of JMT hikers.
We were soon at the top of the pass; from here, it would be downhill all the way to Silver Lake--at least in theory.
Okay, I promise, this is the last picture of Banner Peak...
There were a few nice patches of wildflowers along the trail to Rush Creek.
The hike around Waugh Lake involved a lot of ups and downs. Despite it still being early in the season, this artificial lake was already being drained into Gem Lake.
Right before we arrived at Gem Lake, we passed a nice meadow before the steep climb past Billy Lake...
...in which a family of ducks was having fun in the water.
At Gem Lake we checked out some of the old infrastructure from the dam's early days.
We also walked though where we believe "Little Hollywood" had once been--all that remained were a few flattened spots where cabins were once located. As we continued around Gem Lake, the trail treated us to several more up-and-down segments--I think AT hikers refer to these as "PUDs" (pointless up-and-downs...).
Soon we crested above the Gem Lake Dam and could see our final drop down to Alger Lake and beyond.
The trail closely followed some of the infrastructure for the Gem Lake power generation--the large pipe from the lake itself...
...then later the steep cable car that was used to haul equipment up to the various dams.
Looking back we could see the impressive falls of Rush Creek below Agnew Lake.
And finally, in the shadows of the setting sun, we could see the Silver Lake trailhead.
We had taken longer hiking out than we'd expected, and we didn't arrive home until early morning, but we had no regrets.
More Pictures
* Okay, I took one weekend off to pack for a camping trip while JKW and the gang checked out Benson Lake. The other weekend was spent glamping--does that still count as a weekend off?
