Saddlebag Lake

8/15/08
The next day I added another superlative to my collection: a flat little hike around Saddlebag Lake - if it weren't for the rough broken cobble comprising the trail anyone could do it - leads to a spectacular meadow and the beginning of an area known as the Twenty-Lake Basin. Granite! Lakes! The best meltwater stream I'd yet seen in the Sierra. North Peak (12,242’) looms dramatically above. A ridiculously easy backpack, and I counted at least seven tents huddled together.

North Peak

On Wednesday morning I hiked the short but very steep trail up to Gardisky Lake. I was pleased with how easily I ascended this elevation; I was getting into decent shape. An even steeper footpath leads to the top of Tioga Peak (11,513'), a new high for me. I was a bit short of breath and did feel something in my head, but generally I was fine. The top is broad and allows a lot of wandering. Remarkable view: Mono Lake to Cathedral Peak. Mount Dana has a glacier with crevasses. According to my book I could get assaulted by bighorn sheep at any time. But I'm most drawn to nearer landscape to the northeast, where a cross-country trek that would get me into the middle of a lot of things. I decided I would forsake Mount Dana and explore this area more.

From Tioga Peak

The best part of the day was walking around the lake after I scrambled down from the peak. It was still full summer here at 11,000'. Mosquitoes even. Flowers, lovely flowers. I was on my knees to them and thinking if I stayed here much longer I'd turn into Tiny Tim.

It was yet another spectacular evening back at the campground, one in an ongoing run of spectacular evenings. The lack of clouds, though, does preclude dramatic sunsets. Sierran summer beauty thus far had included very few fireworks.

I woke up early the next morning and just knew I could not hike. Sometimes the enthusiasm I feel on a mountain hike doesn't withstand the gravity of the early morning tent. Often I just go anyway and am glad I did, but I also have to give my body some due. The two hikes here weren't really that rough, so maybe it was just the elevation. But I was weary and so I packed up and drove down down down to the green of the county park at Mono Lake, reading about... Yosemite. 


Suddenly the guy I met on the hike to Mono Pass appeared at my isolated picnic table. He had apparently recognized my car. He had a reliable report of a bear clobbering a car the night before at Tuolumne Meadows. The lure inside the car: a can of nuts. This time I met his wife and they gave me the lay of the land. Mammoth Lakes had a grocery store so I didn't have to pay tourist prices for food. Fresno might look close on the map but “you can’t get there from here.” Bishop was the veritable metropolis of the east Sierra. They also gave me some hiking tips.