On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
UncleEbeneezer
On the last full day of our trip we started by driving up to Keough Hot Springs for a relaxing dip. After several days of camping it felt so good to get cleaned up. Afterwards we headed back to our campsite and I decided to do an afternoon hike, while Kelly chilled out at our site, since her knee was bothering her and she’d rather just hang out and bird-watch.
The North Fork Trail is one of the most well-known gems of the Eastern Sierra. It takes you past waterfalls, through groves of aspens, past historical cabins and eventually to several lakes and the only glacier in California. I was getting off to a fairly late start so I knew it was unlikely that I would have enough time to make it to the lakes, but I wanted to still get a taste of the trail.
The trail starts at the end of Glacier Lodge Rd., which starts down in Big Pine. Once you go past the trailhead gate, the trail follows the lovely creek for 0.25 miles to the first waterfall. It’s a lovely and relatively well shaded stroll.
The creek was running fairly well and looked awfully refreshing!
The First Falls is a lovely but modest little waterfall with a bridge that crosses over the creek. Walking past it, I got just a tiny bit of mist from the falls on my skin.
After the first waterfall, the trail climbs continually through the pines until you eventually hit a fork at an old dirt road which continues out of the woods into a clearing. At this point you can see the second falls up ahead (on the left-center) and it’s time to start the switchbacks up to the Second Falls. This part of the hike was tough in the 80+ degree heat. It’s very exposed but also has killer views.
But the climb is worth it because once you get to the top you are finally at the Second Falls which is gorgeous and has amazing views looking downward. This was the point where I decided to stop and have a snack for a bit more energy.
The picture doesn’t really do it justice but the Second Falls has a significant drop! After eating my snack I asked some passing hikers how far it was to the lakes and confirmed that I wouldn’t be able to reach them in the time that I had. I had promised Kelly I would turn around at 2:30 pm and head back, so it just wasn’t going to happen.
Above the Second Falls, the North Fork Trail continues beside the creek so there’s a lovely sound, smell and at times cool breeze coming off the glacial water.
Eventually the trail gets to some groves of aspens which provide some much-needed shade.
Just the day before Dave (Dmbeaster) had told us that this was one of the best hikes in the Sierra in the Fall. Walking through these aspen groves, I could definitely see that being the case. We will definitely have to try to come back during one of our Fall Color trips, though probably not this year since we already plan to go somewhere else.
OzarkHillbilly
Nice pics, good narration. Thanx UncleE.
HinTN
What @OzarkHillbilly: said! Very nice part of this beautiful world.
Baud
Thanks, UE.
p.a
Nice!
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
This trail looks familiar, very familiar. Yes, it is great for fall color and the lakes(I’ve only been as far at Third Lake) are amazing. One correction, North Palisade glacier is not the only one in California, you can see Middle Palisade and Norman Clyde glaciers from Glacier Lodge.
eclare
The photos are lovely, I would love to hear creek noise right now.
Tenar Arha
Lovely
Flanders Other Neighbor
The Sierra is my happy-place. Mostly on the west side since it’s closer, but I did a moto tour last year that was along 395 from Topaz Lake to Bishop (and a bunch of the nearby roads and towns.) Before that trip, I hadn’t given much thought to the eastern side (other than a few attempts to complete The Death Ride when I was younger), but heading north out of Bishop one morning, Wow! The snow-capped peaks and rising sun.. I didn’t even bother to make much of an effort to take pictures as they’d never capture what I saw.
Anyhow, thanks for sharing. I’ll be back up there in Bear Valley off Hwy 4 in a few weeks for a mountain biking trip with old friends, and this post is making me impatient.
UncleEbeneezer
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks for the correction. One of these days I really want to make it up to the lakes. Seen a bunch of YT videos and they look really stunning.
mvr
Thank you for this! Really need to get there one of these days. I’ve driven through but too quickly and it is far from where I live. I guess when I retire, as the big sabbatical trip we’re embarking on today is to Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier.
SatanicPanic
Eastern Sierra is one of the most beautiful places I know. Many years ago I went on a hiking trip on this very trail with my dad, my uncle and my dad’s friend when I was in high school. Best hiking trip I ever took. I think we stayed at second lake. I spent most of the days just reading a book and lounging around. The last night we walked down to just past Lon Cheney’s cabin and waited for a moonrise. It was a full moon and when it came over the ridge it was giant, bright silver. One of the most unforgettable sights I’ve ever seen.
Dmbeaster
@UncleEbeneezer: First and Second lake are beautiful, and now incredibly popular with day hikers. Both lakes were actually enlarged and deepened somewhat nearly a century ago by small dams at their outlets that are not visible from the trail. Both lakes show modest effects from glacial silt, which adds to their beauty (turquoise color). Both are backdropped by the incredible 3,000 foot cliffs of Temple Crag, with Second Lake being more scenic.
It’s 1,000 feet of gain to Second Falls (I ate lunch their too on my Fall hike with my daughter) and another 1,000 feet to First Lake and Second Lake, so not a stroll. It’s around 5 miles one way to Second Lake. Although a lot of gain, I have always found this trail to be the easiest 2,000 foot gain as its never a gut buster anywhere.
The higher lakes are not as pretty, with one exception. One of my favorite lakes up there is Sam Mack Lake, but it’s at 11,800. Second Lake is 10,200.
Getting overnight permits for that trail is tough. So it is instead swamped with day hikers. I probably saw 100+ on my last backpack. The trail continues to 12,300 to a mountaineers camp for access to the east side of the Palisades.
Fall colors are exceptional both because there are a lot of deciduous trees and a lot of variety. Low at the trailhead are lots of California poplar, also known as black cottonwood. These are the same genus as quaking aspen and look similar. They have a beautiful strong yellow color, but do not have the color variations of quaking aspen. Along the creek from First to Second Falls are plentiful water birch. These turn into a beautiful golden yellow, which is a striking contrast to their copper colored bark. The quaking aspen are all higher above Second Falls, and are richly concentrated in an area known as Cienega Mirth. This is a little above the Lon Chaney cabin. I have seen nice color variations, especially the red colors everyone hopes to see.
I have taken a ton of Fall color photos over the years on this trail.
The South Fork trail is also spectacular. It has stunning views of the Palisades. It is also a great flower hike in June, and gets less traffic. I have actually backpacked on that trail more than the North Fork (8 versus 6 trips). My first hike was 52 years ago in January to train with crampons and ice axes.
HinTN
@Dmbeaster:
Please send one or more sets to On The Road.
UncleEbeneezer
@Dmbeaster: Nice! Thanks for chiming in. Are the Cottonwoods up there the same species as the ones that are down in Owens Valley off the 395? I’ve definitely seen those in the Fall though I think they usually turn at different time (later) than the aspens.
Dmbeaster
@UncleEbeneezer: No, the ones lower down are Fremont cottonwoods. These are common throughout the Southwest. There is a solo gorgeous one that I love to photograph in Fall color a few miles east from Big Pine on the road to the Bristlecones. They look different fully grown, but the dead ringer to identify them is the leaf. They look nearly identical in shape, but the Fremont cottonwood leaf has small notches on the margin. The black cottonwood leaf is smooth, and I believe tends to be a little larger.
The leaves turn color based on adequate freezing temperatures, which tends to progress downward in elevation in the Fall. There is a rather large elevation difference from the highest aspens to the Owens Valley Fremonts – over 6,000 feet. On the North Fork, I got lucky two years ago, and they were all in color at the same time from the start to Second Lake (though some just starting and some nearly done), but they also fade and drop first at higher elevation. On other hikes in the past, only parts were in Fall color, and the rest still green or past peak.
I have also done Fall color trips for aspens in AZ (Boulder Mountain area) and Southwest CO (Telluride area). I love it.
Dmbeaster
@HinTN: OK