Bishop Pass Trail--My World

This is the last of my summer Sierra hikes to share with you. We hiked the Bishop Pass trail in September while camping on Bishop Creek
It was our favorite trail when we lived in the area and the trail head is a popular site for this group of local plein air painters.

The trail begins at South Lake and soon enters the John Muir Wilderness.

One of the great things about hiking in the eastern Sierra is the wilderness.

A string of wilderness areas stretches up the Sierra crest for 150 miles, crossed only by the Tioga Road in Yosemite. You can hike for over two hundred miles on the John Muir Trail and not cross a road.

From 9800' the trail climbs steadily up to Bishop pass at 12,000'. We would often, in our younger days, hike up to the pass but today we only planned to go as far as Long Lake.

Just before Long Lake the trail forks. You can make a loop to Bull Lake and Chocolate lake, rejoining the main trail at the far end of Long.

I asked a hiker who was on his way down what he thought of Long Lake. "Like walking through a calendar" he said. I wondered what he would have thought had he seen it in July with thunder clouds building and wildflowers everywhere

It was pretty, though.

Hubby stopped at Long Lake but I went a little further, up to Spearhead Lake. The flowers were gone but the willows were turning yellow and gave some color to the scene.

The rocks and Chocolate peak had plenty of color as well.

A good day hike, over six miles round trip and 1,000' gain. Maybe next year I'll go all the way to the pass and step into Sequoia.

To see more parts of this wonderful world, click here.