In the afternoon, we hiked up to Chapel, Midway, and Cathedral Lakes underneath the watchful gaze of Finger Peak. This little lake with the gnarled tree is Chapel Lake.
A better view of Chapel Lake with Finger Peak in the background. The little dark notch is where we would have come over had we been able to get over the first pass on Finger Peak.
Looking down toward Midway lake. I suspect it might have been named for Midway Island. Many of the features in this part of the Sierras were named for people, places, and things from WWII by returning GIs.
A long-dead tree retains its beauty. I have a photo somewhere of my mom and me sitting below this tree from around 2004, the last time I visited this place.
Looking up toward the notch. It would have been a difficult proposition to come down that icy, snowy slope with backpacks but no crampons or ice axes. Probably it was for the best that we couldn’t get around Finger Peak.
Down by Chapel Lake, we saw a mother marmot and her babies. She stayed up on the rock until we were within ten feet of her to give her babies time to make it into the rocks.
The rock cairn that marks the cross-country route down to Pearl Lake. Once horses came up this way. You would need to have an extremely sure-footed horse to make it up here these days.
Oh, what a find! I ache to get back to those mountains. I’ve done 10 trips up there over the decades. The last one was 12 years ago when we were married in a beautiful meadow by a single established camp called Snag Camp. My memory (I need to consult the topo) is that Pearl Lake was to the NW of us and Cathedral was to the SW. The later trips were in September although the penultimate one was in October when Ted proposed. We got snow the night before we were scheduled to head out. We climbed to that notch on the wedding trip! My husband died 2 years ago. I’m 64 but still have high hopes of getting back up there to scatter his ashes. Thanks for the beautiful photos. Many happy trails to you.
Those are wonderful memories! I’ve spent several nights over the years at Snag Camp. My mother and father used to patrol the whole region when they were wilderness rangers in the 1970s.
If you’re looking to get up there without carrying a backpack, you might try giving Clyde a call to see what his rates are for horse packing you in/out. http://dinkeystables.com/ We’ve bumped into Clyde many, many times over the years on the trail. He brought my grandparents in when my grandfather was still alive so that they could enjoy the back country even though their knees weren’t up for the hike.
See you out there!