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| | Tamarack Lakes Trail to Francis Lake, CA | | | |
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Tamarack Lakes Trail to Francis Lake, CA
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| Hiking | 5.60 Miles |
1,337 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.60 Miles | 6 Hrs 19 Mns | | 0.89 mph |
| 1,337 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The trailhead for the Tamarack Lakes Trail is in a parking lot at the entrance to the Rock Creek Lake Campground which was a short distance up Rock Creek Road from where I was car camped at the Upper Pine Grove Campground. My plan was to follow the trail towards Tamarack Lakes as far as time permitted before turning around which meant with my late morning start that I wouldn't be making it to the lakes. The road into the Rock Creek CG from the main road follows the north shore of Rock Creek Lake and provides great views across the lake towards Little Lakes Valley. At the parking lot for hikers I couldn't find the trailhead so asked some hiker types where it was. It was about 50 feet away hidden behind a monstrous black SUV parked in front of the sign.
The trail starts out with a short steep climb up to an intersection with an old road bed where it makes a 90 deg turn to the left to follow the old road for about 0.7 miles. I would find out later that this old road was the original road into Little Lakes Valley before the John Muir Wilderness was established and continued all the way up that valley, over Morgan Pass and down the other side to access tungsten mines along Morgan Creek. That old road which starts in Sand Canyon and stays just outside the wilderness boundary is now the Sand Canyon Mountain Bike Trail. A local recommended bikers should ride it one way starting at its intersection with Rock Creek Road and ending in Sand Canyon due to the difficulty of riding a bike up hill in the sand in Sand Canyon.
I stopped at Kenneth Lake to take some photos and started talking to an older (my generation) hiker who had lived in the area since the early 1970s. During our conversation a small group of hikers came up the trail and joined us. I recognized them as my camping neighbors at the Upper Pine Grove Campground. One thing led to another and they invited me to join them at their campfire that evening. The local hiker recommended taking the side trail to Francis Lake which he thought was the most scenic of the lakes and was much closer than going to the Tamarack Lakes. Myself and two from the group of my camping neighbors took his advice and went to Francis Lake while the other 4 of their group went to Dorothy Lake. Francis Lake was a beauty with its emerald green crystal clear water. Back at camp that night I enjoyed a couple hours around the campfire with my neighbors drinking wine and swapping stories of our experiences in the outdoors. The end of another great day in the Eastern Sierras. |
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