SABRINA LAKE TO DINGLEBERRY LAKE

 I spent four days in Bishop during the fourth of July weekend. I wanted to do some hiigher elevation hikes since I am training for Whitney in September.. On day two, the plan was to start at Sabrina basin and hike all the way to Midnight Lake, which I hear is spectacular. I invited my friend to go with me and after having breakfast we got a late start and arrived at the trailhead around 8am. I had been here before on a portion of the trail but never made it as far as i did today. 

The entire trail was very lush and green. There were still plenty of wildflowers and quite a few that i have never seen. Anyways, I did some reasearch before hiking this path and read that this was one of the loveliest trails in Bishop. True, True, True! 

After a short distance fron the start, the trail veers off to the left and goes to Lake George. We continued straight. As we continuted our trek we spotted a huge waterfall in the distance and we were covered in shade most of the way. Switchbacks along the steeper portions of the trail helped along with the countless sections of stairs that made it a bit tiresome. 

My favorite part of the trail was a section just before Blue lake which i called rock pass. It reminded me of the Army pass on the way to Mt. Langley, It had these cool short switchbacks just before getting to the top of the ridge. 

Sabrina Lakes

Piute Crags

Blue Lake

After hiking a few more miles we passed by Emerald Lakes and a few small ponds. Once we reached the section where the trail splits we headed to the right. The trail continued to climb but and there were sections of the hike were the path was unclear. However, someone placed these huge boulders that were easy to follow towards the our next destination

Emeral Lake

First glympse of Dingleberry lake a short distance around the bend. 

I decided to have lunch here at Dingleberry lake. It was so beautiful view and we could see Mt. Darwin above us. We spent about an hour admiring the views. By this time the clouds were starting to form above Mt. Darwin. We felt some light raindrops and decided to head back. We still had 1.2 miles and another 1000 ft of elevation gain to Midnight lake. I made the decision to turn back for safety reasons of course, so I will have to return to Midnight Lake antoher time and obviously start earlier. 

Dingleberry Lake 10,500 ft

On the return, the light rain never stopped. By the time we reached Blue lake it started to lightly pour, but not too heavy. We heard very loud thunder that was pretty scary. I can only imagine if we had made it to Midnight lake. As we continued our descent a group of backpakcers were making there way up. I spoke to a few of them asking how far they were going and was concerned. Most were camping at Blue Lake. 

Overall, it was definitely a breathtaking hike. Being surrounded the enitre time by gorgeous views. I just wished we had made it towards our planned destination.