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| View of Owens Valley/Lone Pine area/ ~ 8500ft up |
We started out at 9am on a perfect cloudless day with temperatures in the high 70's. The walk starts out easy through the trees listening to the stream running from the heavy snow melt still coming out of the high country.
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| Waterfalls view from rest stop on New Army Pass Trail |
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| Yellow Marmot |
A fairly easy climb through the forest we almost lost the trail at the fork as the stream was running strong obscuring part of the trail. A tricky cross with the help of tree branches we stopped for a break surprising us with a great view of a double waterfall. A marmot sunny itself scurried away as we approached.
At 11:30 we reached the first lake getting above the tree line and into the dry rock geologic features.
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| Resting at stream approaching Long Lake |
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| Long Lake |
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| High Lake View |
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| High Lake |
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| High Lake |
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| What is it? Red stalk plant in shade. |
At Long Lake we stopped by the stream for another break and again missed the trail as the sign was damaged just where we stopped and the trail was again obscured by the heavy running streams. We ended up taking the long way around hopping boulders and picked up the trail on the other side. We reached High Lake at about 2:30 and time for lunch. The New Army Pass was the next stop, but the trail was covered in snow and we decided to return, expecting that it may be late and cool on the return trip. Tired we walked back taking our time and enjoying the views. Back at 6pm the gain in elevation was about 2000 ft and we had been walking since 9am. So disappointed at not getting to the pass, we were very satisfied with the experience and the gorgeous natural area and variety of views and geological features.
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