Long Lake and Mt. Elles, May 20, 2012

It's been a while since I posted, and I didn't realize how long it had been.  When I last posted I was still in Portola visiting Jeremy.  

The weather was perfect and I wanted to get a little more hiking in, so I headed back to the Gold Lakes Basin to tackle a short hike to Mt. Elles. It's a short hike (about 7 1/2 miles round trip) with a lot of elevation gain and the beautiful trail  skirts Long Lake.  The first part of the hike was was clear of snow but heavy with snow melt run off and the initial views of Long Lake were beautiful.  

 The phlox were just starting to bloom.

As I traversed the lake I ran into several snow fields but was able to find the trail with little problem.  The views from the summit were spectacular! 

Long Lake from the ridge to the Mt. Elles summit.  You can see one of the snow fields on the lower right in the picture.  

 Sierra Buttes

 Overview of the sierras to the south west

I had planned to continue on the trail with loops around the mountain, but ran into huge snow fields in the shade and no trace of a trail, so I ended up making my hike an "out and back".  

I was able to check out the roof damage on my rental and repairs will wait until I return in the fall.  The damage is not that bad and the area is approaching the dry season.   I headed back to Oregon and Tuesday, May 21.  Of course, as soon as I crossed the Oregon border it started to rain.  Stay tune for updates.