Trip Report

Three of us made the 11 hour drive through Reno and south of Lake Tahoe to Trumbull Campground in the Virginia Lakes area of the E Sierras. Trumbull Campground was on a bit of a hill, but we were able to find level spots to set up our tents/trailer for the next 6 days. We lucked out with the weather all week with clear blue skies and mild temps during the day, however, Trumbull Campground sits at 10,000' elevation and most evenings the wind tended to pick up, blowing over the ridges and down into the canyons. It got a bit chilly at camp so we were snuggled in bed by 8pm. We had been informed to acclimate before doing a big hike at high elevation. Our first hike was exploring nearby Lundy Canyon which was quite beautiful. We stopped when we arrived at the end of the canyon where the trail begins to make a steep incline up to the ridge. There was still water running down from the ridges and we had our lunch sitting beside a waterfall pool. Lundy Resort was not much to speak of so we don't recommend staying there. We couldn't resist doing a big hike on our second day so we went up to Saddlebag Lake located a few miles off Tioga Road, but just outside the east entrance of Yosemite Park. We did the stunning 9 mile loop hike called 20 Lakes Basin. We had very little elevation gain on this hike because the trail started at 10,000' elevation. Our third day, some of us ventured over to Twin Lakes Resort and did the Barney Lake Hike. Like many hikes in the canyons, it starts out with mild elevation gain, and then as you reach the end of the canyon, the elevation gain increases more significantly as you approach the alpine lakes and the steep walls of the ridges in the distance. Others chose to visit Mono Lake Visitor Center this day. On our fourth day, we decided it was time to explore the lakes on the Virginia Lakes Trail which was accessible from our camp. This was a shorter hike because we were not interested in hiking beyond the alpine lakes and up the steep ridges. We filled our afternoon with a drive to nearby Bodie, a famous abandoned mining town, now a Cal. State Historic Park. Bodie grew rapidly after a major gold find in 1876. The gold ran out over the next few decades and it became a ghost town by 1915. We only had one day left to hike, so we decided to finish with a bang and enter Yosemite Park. We got an early start in case there was a wait to enter the park, but there were only about 10 cars in line ahead of us at the east entrance. We drove up to Tuolumne Meadows and after a short visit to the Visitor Center, decided to hike the Cathedral Lakes Trail. We did encounter more hikers on this trail because it is a through trail that many backpackers use to hike deeper into the park. We also encountered a pack train of mules carrying gear back down to the valley. Though Cathedral Lakes Trail was described as being about 7.6 miles on paper, the trail signs (and our bodies) told us that it was closer to 10 miles. It was another stunning hike with gorgeous weather. The lakes were so clear and clean looking, a part of me wished it was hotter so that I could jump in and take a swim (and a needed shower). Though it was a very long drive from Eugene down to the "northern" E Sierras near Bridgeport, we all had an amazing adventure and look forward to returning to explore even further south.