On our most recent visit to the cabin we put up the deck railing. For over 15 years we had a fixed railing but after we had a new metal roof installed the winter snow removed it. Now we take the railing down each fall and replace it in the spring.
Once that chore was done we could go hiking, the first real hike of the season.
After wandering through the woods, the trail crosses a scree slope above Blue Lake. Often you can hear a
pika call and if you are really lucky you might see one. They look so soft and sweet you wish you could pet them.
The first stream crossing is this little seasonal stream. It flows through a meadow that will soon fill with the blooms of wild onion, lupin, larkspur and Columbine. The bloom will be brief and then the meadow will dry with the stream.
The trail then passes this old cabin. The forest service keeps trying to prop it up but I suspect it will eventually collapse as many such cabins have in the past.
This meadow will have some tiger lily. I'll need to be there at just the right time, they don't last long.
On this day the most prolific blooms were on the dagger pod (
Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides). 
Here the trail comes around a bend to Cooney Lake. I call this spot "hurricane bend". It is one of the loveliest spots on the trail but there is often a strong wind blowing here making it too cold to linger. You can see that this day was no exception by the chop on the water.
Here the trail crosses the creek, right into the snowbank. We'll turn around, we've come 2 1/2 miles and climbed 600 feet. Today we will settle for the 5 mile round trip.
That's my world in the summer months.
Once that chore was done we could go hiking, the first real hike of the season.
After wandering through the woods, the trail crosses a scree slope above Blue Lake. Often you can hear a pika call and if you are really lucky you might see one. They look so soft and sweet you wish you could pet them.
The first stream crossing is this little seasonal stream. It flows through a meadow that will soon fill with the blooms of wild onion, lupin, larkspur and Columbine. The bloom will be brief and then the meadow will dry with the stream.
The trail then passes this old cabin. The forest service keeps trying to prop it up but I suspect it will eventually collapse as many such cabins have in the past.
This meadow will have some tiger lily. I'll need to be there at just the right time, they don't last long.
On this day the most prolific blooms were on the dagger pod (Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides). 
Here the trail comes around a bend to Cooney Lake. I call this spot "hurricane bend". It is one of the loveliest spots on the trail but there is often a strong wind blowing here making it too cold to linger. You can see that this day was no exception by the chop on the water.
Here the trail crosses the creek, right into the snowbank. We'll turn around, we've come 2 1/2 miles and climbed 600 feet. Today we will settle for the 5 mile round trip. 
20 comments:
looks like a wonderful walk to me. so enjoyed perusing your photos.
have a lovely evening martha.
That's a gorgeous part of the world. I am overwhelmed by the sheer size of it all. And the beauty.
these are so beautiful, what I would do to go for a hike there.
Have a fantastic week
Guy
Regina In Pictures
That looks like a wonderful hike. Great pictures.
Hi Martha,
I loved hiking with you! Your trail looks pretty strenuous. Funny that you got stopped by snow - that is happening to us here in CO, too.
It's lovely, though it's hard for me to imagine snow in June!
I am so jealous. Thanks for sharing your hike with us. I love that cabin.
When I think of California I always think of warmth and beaches. Easy to forget California also has numerous mountain ranges.
Your photos are gorgeous; what a beautiful place to hike. Old cabin, pika and dagger pod look interesting.
Spectacular scenery and a great place for a hike. Too bad about the colapsing old cabin. Wouldn't it be nice if the FS could renovate it? I see summer comes very late to your mountains. Excellent captures.
I come to your blog from following your comment on ONE STILL FRAME. Your post is so inviting into such a beautiful place, with snow in June. It is absolutely gorgeous. I would be so there for a 5 mile hike, clean crisp air. I will be back for a visit!
I'm trying to picture about where you are. We came over Tioga Pass to Mono Lake some years ago, after stopping a Yosemite. That drive over the pass was amazing. Am I in the right area?
Amazing pictures especially that one with mountains and blue lake...you are blessed to spend time in such a beautiful nature. Thank you for your visit and greetings from Croatia...
You certainly have your cabin in a lovely spot with magical summer hiking possibilities as well as snow capped views and lakes to fish in.
Thank you for that amazing hike, Martha. The weather looked perfect as well. And the pictures are beautiful!
Beautiful hike and healthy - snow in June? Wonderful photos.
Martha: This is truly a beautiful place to visit.
Hi Martha, I think any time of the year it is beautiful up there. We will include this as part of our Fall Trip. Thanks for your majestic views.
Wow, I'd love to do that hike, with the walking poles as well.
The cabin's a lot like the one my grandparents took my father to when he was only six months old. My grandfather was a ranger at the old Tunnel station, in the Sierras above Lone Pine, for several seasons. The Forest Service maintained these stations for fire lookouts and to help lost and injured hikers, even as early as the '20s. When my Dad and I hiked up there in the '70s, the cabin was still there--but I haven't been back to check on it since. I can't imagine a better place to spend a summer for a kid or an adult--and the Mammoth area's every bit as lovely.
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