Hike From South Lake to Marie Louise Lakes
For the second year in a row I went on a four day Sierra Club trip to the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. Once again I was treated to views of towering mountains and valleys with beautiful lakes and streams. This year with the above average snow pack there were also lush meadows and patches of snow even in late August when the trip took place.
The first hike was out of Bishop, California where we traveled west up into the mountains to the trailhead for the hike which was near South Lake. At one of the parking areas we saw this distant view of Hurd Peak.
The trail went for a ways along the shore of South Lake which is a beautiful high-country lake at an elevation of 9,768 feet.
It is a man made lake created in 1962 which empties into the south fork of Bishop Creek.
We continue with more views of South Lake and at some point crossed into the John Muir Wilderness.
There were more mountain views including Hurd Peak.
We crossed a meadow with Chocolate Peak in the background.
There were some scattered wildflowers but there were also lots of mosquitoes so we passed through the meadow quickly.
Shortly before reaching our destination lake there was this view of some impressively rugged mountain peaks.
We reached the Marie Louise Lakes which are at an elevation of 10,650 feet.
The lakes were named after the wife of W.C. Parcher who founded Parcher’s Camp in 1920. This is Lower Marie Louise Lake. We did not visit the smaller Upper Marie Louise Lake.
Hurd Peak is behind the trees on the right and has an elevation of 12237 feet. To the left of it is Mount Goode with an elevation of 13,085 feet.
We returned the way we came and I took some more pictures. These are more of the mountains seen along the trail.
A closer view of Chocolate Peak.
Some nice powder puff flowers which are in the onion (Allium) family.
The trees in the foreground are aspens. Parts of this trail are known for its fall color.
We get back to South Lake in the afternoon.
These pretty red wildflowers are Penstemon newberryi commonly called mountain pride or Newberry’s penstemon.
Some yellow sulphurflower buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) wildflowers.
Another yellow wildflower, Slender Cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis). The single colorful pink-red wildflower on the right is fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) and grows in many parts of the U.S. and Canada. The name fireweed stems from its ability to colonize areas burned by fire rapidly.
The late afternoon sun shines on the lake.
Below the South Lake the water from the dam outlet was rushing down the valley.
Another great hike and this picture sums it up nicely. There were majestic mountains, lovely lakes, and a scattering of snow, greenery and wildflowers.
Be sure to check out the South Lake to Marie Louise Lakes gallery for this post as the galleries usually contain pictures not in the post.
Blog posts on other hikes on this trip:
More Information:
Forest Service information for South Lake
Information on visiting South Lake
A blog post by someone who did a fall hike to Marie Louise Lakes and other nearby lakes
