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6 triplogs
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Oct 10 2015
avatar

 Guides 77
 Routes 106
 Photos 2,987
 Triplogs 57

63 male
 Joined Jan 27 2007
 Thousand Oaks, C
Valentine Lake TrailSierra Nevada, CA
Valentine Lake Trail
Sierra Nevada, CA
Hiking avatar Oct 10 2015
slegal • Triplogs 57
Hiking10.40 Miles 2,300 AEG
Hiking10.40 Miles   3 Hrs   53 Mns   2.88 mph
2,300 ft AEG      16 Mns Break
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
After my Deer Lakes Loop hike yesterday, I was pretty tired and not very motivated to do anything. My brother-in-law Joe was up and asked if I wanted to hike. I asked him to give me an hour or two to decide. It didn’t take long to get bored laying around the condo, so I called him and asked him if he wanted to head up to Valentine Lake. He and my sister-in-law Debbie had tried to hike to Valentine Lake last spring, but their dogs were not very cooperative and they turned around well short of the lake.

We did the long version off of the Sherwin Lakes trailhead. It turned out that Valentine Lake had the best Autumn Leave in the Mammoth lakes area. Joe is pretty fit, so we set a pretty fast pace. We still managed to stop for a bunch of photos. At one point Joe said that he was surprised at how fast we were going. I asked him if he want me to slow down. He said, “No”, so on we went.

Unlike how warm and windless yesterday’s hike was, it was pretty windy today. When we got to Valentine Lake, we had a snack and Joe said he was too cold. So we made it a quick stop and headed back down.

Glad I decided to hike. It was a great way to end my trip to Mammoth – well that and Dinner at Toomey’s after the hike.
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
_____________________
 
Aug 05 2015
avatar

 Guides 77
 Routes 106
 Photos 2,987
 Triplogs 57

63 male
 Joined Jan 27 2007
 Thousand Oaks, C
Valentine Lake TrailSierra Nevada, CA
Valentine Lake Trail
Sierra Nevada, CA
Hiking avatar Aug 05 2015
slegal • Triplogs 57
Hiking8.44 Miles 2,300 AEG
Hiking8.44 Miles
2,300 ft AEG
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
My son came up for just a couple days and wanted to head home today. So I took him to lunch at his favorite restaurant in Mammoth, Grumpy’s. I had a bacon cheeseburger and felt stuffed. No one want to go hiking today, so after saying goodbye to my son, I headed back to our condo to get mike hiking gear and headed off to hike to Valentine Lake.

Along the way I spotted a large group of bucks resting under some tree. We had seen bucks under the same trees a week and a half earlies, but at the time, all I had in the way of a camera was my phone. Today I had my Nikon and my 200mm lens and got some great shots.

On to Valentine Lake. This is probably my favorite hike in the Mammoth Lakes area. I decided to hike out of the Sherwin Lakes Trail rather than hike the whole distance on the Valentine Lake Trail. It turns out that the Valentine Lake Trail is closed below the junction with the Sherwin Lakes Trail.

Unlike a week and a half earlier while hiking to Sherwin Lakes along with an entire cross country team, the trail was relatively uncrowded. I only saw about 6 people coming down and one heading up. Once I passed the Velentine Lake Trail junction, I never saw another person the entire hike.

I took a lot of photos along the way. Valentine Lake was not particularly photogenic today, but the unnamed lake below Valentine Lake looked good. On my way down, just past the bubbling spring, I spotted Lost Lake for the first time.

When I got back to the trailhead, my 4Runner was the only vehicle there. I made great time today, finishing the 10 mile trek in 4 hours. I had the trail completely to myself for over ¾ of the hike.
 Fauna
 Fauna [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Mule Deer
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Lost Lake
_____________________
 
Jan 23 2015
avatar

 Guides 77
 Routes 106
 Photos 2,987
 Triplogs 57

63 male
 Joined Jan 27 2007
 Thousand Oaks, C
Valentine Lake TrailSierra Nevada, CA
Valentine Lake Trail
Sierra Nevada, CA
Hiking avatar Jan 23 2015
slegal • Triplogs 57
Hiking4.25 Miles 1,200 AEG
Hiking4.25 Miles   2 Hrs   45 Mns   1.55 mph
1,200 ft AEG
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
We got up to Mammoth late last night. So when we got up this morning no one was motivated to go skiing. There is very little snow on mammoth Mountain so only the groomed runs with snow making are worth skiing. Since my wife and daughter didn’t want to go skiing (my son stayed home this trip) I got the green light to go hiking.

I went to the Valentine Lake trailhead for the simple reason that the trailhead is a couple hundred feet lower than the Sherwin Lakes trailhead (meaning less snow). Also, since it gets less traffic than the Sherwin Lakes Trail, the Valentine Lake Trail is less likely to be icy. Despite the fact that it hasn’t snowed since Christmas Eve, there was more snow than I bargained for. Also, since the snow is a month old, it was crusty on top and soft underneath, requiring a lot more effort every time your feet sink through the crust.

Snowshoes would be good if not for the fact that there are long stretches of bare earth making for awkward walking on dirt and rock. So hiking boots had to do.

I made it to the top of the initial climb. The initial climb is the hardest part of this trail, regardless of the season. I was averaging less than 2 miles per hour, so I was using a lot of energy for so little forward progress.

After climbing about 1,200 feet, the snow was deeper and there were fewer bare spots. I never expected to make it all of the way to Valentine Lake and it was clear to me that there was a good reason that I was leaving the only tracks on this virgin snow. The hike was too hard for others. I turned around and made my way back down. No disappointment in the shorter distance of this hike. I got a great workout out of the hike.
_____________________
 
Oct 10 2014
avatar

 Guides 77
 Routes 106
 Photos 2,987
 Triplogs 57

63 male
 Joined Jan 27 2007
 Thousand Oaks, C
Valentine Lake TrailSierra Nevada, CA
Valentine Lake Trail
Sierra Nevada, CA
Hiking avatar Oct 10 2014
slegal • Triplogs 57
Hiking10.20 Miles 2,100 AEG
Hiking10.20 Miles
2,100 ft AEG
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
I chose the longer route to Valentine Lake via Sherwin Lakes because I knew I would see autumn leaves at Sherwin Lakes. I knew would see leaves if I took the Valentine Lake trail all of the way, but I really wanted to see the Sherwin Lakes. It was a good decision.

Despite the fact that the water level at the main Sherwin Lake was the lowest I’ve ever seen it, the autumn leaves were spectacular. What surprised me though was how many aspens were up in the canyon to Valentine Lake. With such a dense pine forest, it’s easy to overlook the aspens when everything is green. When the leaves turn, the aspens stick out like a sore thumb. I knew they were there, but didn’t realize how abundant they actually were.

I took a lot of photos, but not as many as I took on my Lakes Canyon hike. Where I did shoot an overabundance of photos was at Valentine Lake. I shot a whole bunch of photos when I got there and then ate lunch. The wind completely died down and within a short while the entire lake was glassy smooth. So I shot some more photos of the lake.

This was a great hike. I had never hiked to Valentine Lake via Sherwin Lakes before. My son and I tried it 5 years ago on the day that the Sherwin Fire started. When we saw the smoke we turned around and headed back down the trail. It was a 10.2 mile hike, but it didn’t feel too strenuous.
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Sherwin Lakes  Valentine Lake
foliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observationfoliage observation
Autumn Foliage Observation Substantial
_____________________
  1 archive
Jan 03 2014
avatar

 Guides 77
 Routes 106
 Photos 2,987
 Triplogs 57

63 male
 Joined Jan 27 2007
 Thousand Oaks, C
Valentine Lake TrailSierra Nevada, CA
Valentine Lake Trail
Sierra Nevada, CA
Hiking avatar Jan 03 2014
slegal • Triplogs 57
Hiking5.00 Miles 2,300 AEG
Hiking5.00 Miles
2,300 ft AEG
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
As I was slipping and sliding down the Sherwin Lake Trail yesterday I ran into a local that was having no trouble at all. I didn’t see crampons, so I asked her how she was having so much success not slipping. She told me that she had spikes on her boots. She then told me that she had heard that there was less snow on the Valentine Lake Trail. I thought that sounded very unlikely, but I also figured that it was likely that only a handful of people had made tracks on the trail which meant that I likely would not have as much trouble with traction. I was correct on both counts.

When I arrived at the trailhead, my GPS was DOA. I changed batteries and it appears that my GPS is truly dead. I guess I’m in the market for a new GPS. Any recommendations? My dead GPS meant that the track log of my hike up this trail was of no use to me. There may not be much snow in Mammoth now, but there is still enough to cover up most of the trail. So I altered my plan from checking my GPS periodically to keep me on course, to following footprints both ways. While I’m very familiar with the area, straying off tracks would be slow going and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck on the mountain after sunset.

There were lots of tracks to follow up the initial climb. By the time I was nearing the top of the initial climb only two sets of tracks remained. I figured that I would either follow the tracks until they ended or until it was 2:30 PM, which ever occurred first. As it turned out, the tracks didn’t actually end, they just did a roughly half mile loop and my predetermined turnaround time coincided with the end of the loop. Perfect!

While the downhill proved harder than the uphill on my Sherwin Lakes Hike, the downhill was considerably easier on the Valentine Lake Trail because I didn’t have any traction problems today. Despite the hike not going quite as I hoped, it turned out to be a lot of fun.
 Flora
 Flora [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Jeffrey Pine  White Fir
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  White Mountain
_____________________
 
Jul 21 2013
avatar

 Guides 77
 Routes 106
 Photos 2,987
 Triplogs 57

63 male
 Joined Jan 27 2007
 Thousand Oaks, C
Valentine Lake TrailSierra Nevada, CA
Valentine Lake Trail
Sierra Nevada, CA
Hiking avatar Jul 21 2013
slegal • Triplogs 57
Hiking8.44 Miles 2,300 AEG
Hiking8.44 Miles   4 Hrs   30 Mns   1.88 mph
2,300 ft AEG
 
Linked   none no linked trail guides
Partners none no partners
This hike really kicked my butt. It was the last day of my trip to Mammoth Lakes and I really wanted to get another hike in. I had planned to get out early, but wasn't feeling that great in the morning. I guess all of the other hikes from the trip had collectively worn me out. I also had no takers to hike with me. My daughter was good for two or three miles tops. My son didn't want a hike longer than 6 miles. My wife had too many blisters and was done for the trip.

I made it out at 1:00 PM - a very doable time, but thunderstorms were in the forecast. About the only smart thought I had about doing the hike was that I was in a canyon, not a ridgetop. It still wasn't very smart, but I pushed on. The sound of thunder never got that close, so I was never in that great of danger, even when it started raining.

I made it up the initial big climb in good time and push on quickly through the flatter middle section. The final switchbacks to Valentine Lake were pretty hard on me. I had to stop and rest a number of times - something I don't usually do when I'm hiking alone.

The hike back down was harder than I expected. That was probably because I was so tired before I even started the hike. I made it back at my car 4.5 hours after I started, so despite how hard the hike was on me, I made pretty good time. Nevertheless, I was wiped out for the rest of the evening and the next day, when we needed to clean up our condo. Oh well, the memories (and photos) were worth it.
 Flora
 Flora [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  Indian Paintbrush  Woodland Pinedrops
 Named place
 Named place [ checklist ]
[ checklist ]  John Muir Wilderness  Valentine Lake
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average hiking speed 2.1 mph

WARNING! Hiking and outdoor related sports can be dangerous. Be responsible and prepare for the trip. Study the area you are entering and plan accordingly. Dress for the current and unexpected weather changes. Take plenty of water. Never go alone. Make an itinerary with your plan(s), route(s), destination(s) and expected return time. Give your itinerary to trusted family and/or friends.

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