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| Tyee Lakes from South Lake Rd, CA | | -
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| | Tyee Lakes from South Lake Rd, CA | | | |
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Tyee Lakes from South Lake Rd, CA
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| Hiking | 4.50 Miles |
1,313 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.50 Miles | 6 Hrs | | 1.01 mph |
| 1,313 ft AEG | 1 Hour 33 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | The trailhead for the Tyee lakes is located in a parking lot on the west side of the road near the entrance to Willow Campground on the other side of the road. It was only 0.3 miles from my campsite in Willow CG So I walked there from camp adding 0.6 miles roundtrip to my hiking distance. There are a string of 5 lakes give-or-take a couple of frog ponds that make up the Treasure Lakes strung out along the trail. I chose to only hike to the first one making this a short hike but with some good exercise due to the 1313ft AEG. This trail after leaving Tyee Lake #4 climbs up another 560 ft to cross Table Mountain and then descends into George Lake basin and continues on to connect with the Sabrina Lake Trail.
The easy to follow trail switch backs up a very steep hillside to reach the first lake. This section has good views of the South Fork Bishop Creek Canyon and the mountains to the east. I would discover that this trail is a favorite of many locals for their morning hike/run as several passed both going up and coming back down obviously contriving to make me feel like a real slug. One runner was carrying a fishing pole and said he always likes to stop at Tyee Lake #4 to make a few casts during his morning exercise run. After taking more than enough photos of the lake I found a boulder at the edge of the lake to have my noon time snack while enjoying views of the lake. There was a patch of grass by the boulder convenient for a post snack nap. I had just dozed off when hikers started passing on the trail about 10 yds away. Why is it that some people seem to find it necessary to keep a constant stream of chit-chat going while they hike? Perhaps the quiet of the forest only broken by the gentle sighing of the trees in the breeze and the occasional song of a bird makes them uneasy after becoming accustom to a constantly noisy urban environment. Despite the noisy hikers I still managed to doze off for about 30 minutes.
I was crossing a stream on my hike back down the trail when two labs, one black and one gold, joyously jumped in the water near my feet seemingly oblivious to my presence as they splashed water on me. Their master, a young women, soon appeared coming up the trail from behind them and joined me in laughing at her dogs' antics, so typical of labs. We ended up having a long conversation about labs and places to hike in the area. She lived in Mammoth and was backpacking up to Lake #4 to meet up with some friends. She had hiked there with them the day before but discovered she had brought the dogs' sleeping blanket and had forgotten her sleeping bag. So she had to return home to get her bag. Seemed strange to me, I know at least one HAZer who would have just crawled under the blanket with his dogs to sleep and been content without his sleeping bag.
When I got back to camp I discovered a bottle holding a bouquet of wild flowers sitting on my table. I had met a nice young couple with their 6 year old daughter camped next to me a couple days ago. We would share our hiking experiences for the day every evening back in camp. They were packing up to go home when I left camp in the morning so I stopped to say goodbye. When I returned that afternoon they were gone but had left the bouquet of wildflowers picked by their daughter. Made me miss my granddaughters who I hadn't seen for 3 weeks while on my camping trip through NV, OR and CA. I had one more day of hiking planned before heading back home. |
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