Went off of this link to get beta for Russian Peak (via Bingham Lake)
https://www.summitpost.org/russian-peak-via-bingham-lake/166206
Bingham Lake is a pretty easy hike in... good for first time backpackers? The last section is steep, so poles would help.
Strava:
Day 1 - to Statue Lake https://www.strava.com/activities/11746704578
Day 2 - up Russian Peak - https://www.strava.com/activities/11746705865
Can't go wrong in the Sierra. Another amazing trip in the books. Spent a few nights out in the Range of Light with Sam, Ollie, and Josh. Started from N. Lake TH which sent us into the goods right away. Started out on the Lamarck Lakes trail to Paiute Pass. We cut out after Matthes Peak as we prioritized Mt Humphries for day 3.
We had to run out of there to get to the Mountain Rambler Brewery before they closed to get out well deserved burger. Soooo worth it.
Last time I was in this area was when Lou-Doo, Sharkin and I did the mini-Evolution's loop in 2013!
Strava
LINKS
NOTES
Quick Trip out to Sky Lakes with Josh. Was supposed to meet up with Torsten as well, but he bailed a day early, we saw him on his way out.
Sky Lakes and Mtn Lakes Wilderness are pretty close by an gorgeous, but the season is short. We tried to go in to the Sky Lakes in May thinking maybe we could beat the mosquitos, but we did not. There was snow on the ground and we were swarmed by mosquitos the entire hike, so we bailed to Lake of the Woods (do they spray there? how come no skeeters?)
You have to go in the fall after the skeeters have died down. And fall for me is quite busy. Being a soccer dad, coaching NICA, and school... so it's hard to get out. But I got to do a quick S24O with Josh on a Thurs, back by Fri, then back past the trailhead I was just at to drive Kai up to Bend for a NICA race...
Ran into a guy who said he caught a 14" big mouth at deep lake. Other than that guy, we didn't really see anyone.
Next time, I'd like to go a bit deeper into the lakes basin. Cliff Lake sounds good.
The boys and I did a quick overnighter backpacking trip in the Russian Wilderness. This campsite was epic, as we were perched overlooking a lake basin set due west so we had an amazing sunset. Big Blue Lake was a great campsite. Albert lake was full of fish! Kai caught his first trout on the tenkara rod! Such a fun 2 day adventure.
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| Check out this cool bridge on the way to the trailhead |
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| This hike was all uphill... |
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| Yellow Avalanche Lilies (Yellow Fawn Lily) |
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| Kimbo was stoked on her Rose |
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| Kai and I took a walk around Paradise Lake |
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| I caught lots and lots of fishes here... |
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| The next day, I woke up. Caught more fishies... was thinking about going on a run, but there was a bit too much snow for any reasonable options. |
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| The boys wanted to warm up. |
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| And check on their jello |
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| Snow fleas - spring tails - they have an antifreeze protein and they feed on decaying organic matter, so they play an important role in natural decomposition. |
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| What kind of poo is that??? |
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| Western Anemone? |
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| King's Castle |
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| Our day hike destination - Bear Lake |
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| Desert miracle for the win |
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| It was time to swim as soon as we got to Bear Lake. |
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| I spotted some massive trout here, and caught a few smaller ones, but after a while they stopped biting. There were lots of salamanders mating though... |
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| Back on the PCT. |
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| Lupine |
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| On the way back, I grabbed Kai and we decided to go tag Kings Castle. |
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| Summit bugs! |
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| Definitely worth the hike |
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| The next morning, I woke up to a nice sunrise alpenglow |
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| And caught more fishies |
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| These cinnamon buns didn't do too well... some sites make it look easy... but it's not. Get a cast iron and do it car camping. |
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| All smiles |
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| mmm this worked well. Just do it on the last day so you don't have to clean it. Or bring tin foil. |
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| Leave no trace! |
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| Kai ready to hike down! |
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| It was hot down low and back home. On our way out, we stopped here to take a dip. |
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| My triple decker Awesome burger/veggie burger. |
More pics here
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| At Pat's... the kids loved the treehouse. |
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| So many lizards in So Cal |
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| Ha! Snow play? Or so we thought while waiting for the tram in 108 deg heat... |
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| The tram rotates as it goes up 5000 ft. Pretty awesome. The Cactus to Clouds trail is right below... and it takes you up 10,000 ft! I'd like to do that someday. |
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| as soon as we got off the tram it was a totally different environment. In the alpine, cool air, snow plants! |
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| It's an interesting set up here, and all the sites are quite far. Lotus was quite the spot... |
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| The first day we just hiked 3 mi to the campground. Lots of day hikers abound. |
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| the 5000 ft elevation gain will do this for ya... |
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| Sweet views. Cali! Keeps delivering. |
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| This was peak training for Tahoe 100, so every morning I'd get up a few hrs early and go on a run. Which was lovely. |
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| Density below |
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| So nice up here... |
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| back at camp, Kai was helping out filtering water. |
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| The boys loved this sausage... |
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| Summit pano |
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| out camp came with some drums. Good thing we didn't see any other campers... |
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| back at the patch of snow. The boys loved playing here... and they did for over an hour. |
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| Summit shot! This was our second summit, FYI... |
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| had another nice sunrise run |
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| my favorite pic of the trip |
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| We had service here and got to watch the women's world cup! |
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| Once at camp, I decided to go tag that peak behind the ladies in this pic. |
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| Finally got up early enough to get a sunrise shot from the summit. There were some folks camping here... |
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| That's Tahquiz... maybe you can squint and see some climbers? |
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| I like how the guys on break were watching home improvement. |
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| back down to the heat! |
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| We went out looking for our post hike meal! And this place hit the spot! |
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| The shake here came with a cupcake! In case it wasn't sweet enough? |
