A seriously over ambitious plan was quickly reconciled with reality and morphed into a nice 5 day trip to Nine Lakes Basin and back. Nights 2 and 3 were fabulous examples of being in the right place at the right time. The original plan would have seen me in the forest both these nights. I'm felling pretty lucky about that. The lesson learned on this trip was that I need to lighten my load if I'm going to keep doing these trips.
FALL COLOR IN ASPEN NEAR CONWAY SUMMIT
FALL COLOR NEAR MT MORRISON JUST SOUTH OF MAMMOTH LAKES
SOUTH LAKE DAM - FINALLY FULL
FALL COLOR BELOW SOUTH LAKE
MORNING LIGHT AT COLORADO NAT MONUMENT
NEW SNOW NEAR PARACHUTE COLORADO
ANOTHER VIEW OF NEW SNOW NEAR PARACHUTE COLORADO
FALL COLOR AND A BIT OF NEW SNOW WEST OF GLENWOOD SPRINGS
EARLY MORNING DRIVE UP FROM POTWASHI CG
HIGH SIERRA TRAIL AND THE GREAT WESTERN DIVIDE
ITS A LONG WALK
AN AFTERNOON VIEW OF ANGEL WINGS AND THE HAMILTON LAKES SECTION OF THE TRAIL
HIKERS ON THE HIGH SIERRA TRAIL BETWEEN BEARPAW AND PINE CREEK BRIDGE
THE BRIDGE OVER THE PINE CREEK GORGE
EVENING VIEW OF THE KAWEAH RIVER VALLEY FROM PINE CREEK DRAINAGE
CAMPSITE NEAR THE FORMER LOCATION OF THE PINE CREEK CROSSING
MORNING DAY 2, LEAVING PINE CREEK AND HEADING TO PRECIPICE LAKE
DAY 2: HEADED UP THE SWITCHBACKS ON THE WAY TO HAMILTON LAKES
LOOKING BACK AT PINE CREEK AND THE ZIG ZAGS OF THE TRAIL TO ELIZABETH PASS
WILDFLOWERS ALONGSIDE THE TRAIL
FIRST GOOD VIEW OF ANGEL WINGS
FULL VIEW OF ANGEL WINGS
THE SLIGHTLY HIGHER AND SEPARATE MAIN SUMMIT OF ANGEL WINGS
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE SLIGHTLY HIGHER AND SEPARATE MAIN SUMMIT OF ANGEL WINGS
WESTERN OR SIERRA JUNIPER ON THE HIGH SIERRA TRAIL
LOOKING UP AT KAWEAH GAP ON THE WAY TO LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
WESTERN OR SIERRA JUNIPER AND HAMILTON LAKE
THE LAST BIT OF TRAIL BEFORE THE FIRST OR LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
LOOKING BACK AT UPPER HAMILTON LAKE AND ANGEL WINGS
ANOTHER VIEW OF UPPER HAMILTON LAKE AND ANGEL WINGS
THREATENING SKIES AT LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
CAMPSITE AT LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
CLEARING SKIES AT LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
CLEARING SKIES AT LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
EVENING LIGHT ON SOUTHERN ASPECTS OF MT STEWART
EVENING LIGHT ON EAGLE SCOUT PEAK
EVENING LIGHT ON PEAK OVER BY LONELY LAKE AND ELIZABETH PASS
EVENING LIGHT ON THE ENTIRE VALHALLA REGION
THE LAST OF THE EVENING SUN AND EAGLE SCOUT PEAK
SUNSET OVER THE VAHALLA REGION IN SEQUOIA NAT PARK
SUNSET OVER CAMPSITE AT LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
MORNING DAY 3, CAMPSITE AT LOWER PRECIPICE LAKE
BETWEEN LOWER AND UPPER PRECIPICE LAKES
DAY THREE - THE TRAIL ABOVE PRECIPICE LAKE
ENTERING THE SUBLIME UPPER SECTION OF THE TRAIL - THE LAST HALF MILE TO KAWEAH GAP
LOOKING BACK AT EAGLE SCOUT PEAK
LOOKING SOUTH TO THE BIG ARROYO FROM NINE LAKES BASIN
THE MAIN DRAINAGE COMING OUT OF NINE LAKES BASIN
NINE LAKES BASIN FROM THE TRAIL NEAR KAWEAH GAP
MELLOW SWITCHBACKS ON THE TRAIL JUST BELOW KAWEAH GAP