Lake George to Crystal Lake - Mammoth Lakes, CA

 This was a beautiful hike, but hard. Either the trails app under sold the length and elevation, or we were tired and wimpy, or both. :\  But...it turned out to be worth it, despite the large amount of snow impeding trail access, and the dramatic changes in temperature. The scenery was truly lovely, and proved to be a worthy bit of the Sierra Nevada to visit and hike.

Eagle riding an eagle. We spotted this log, which was a near perfect likeness of Lora's animal friend eagle. 

A quick selfie at the objective. We still had to hike back, but we were happy to have made it.

Crazy trees. There's a stream flowing under the snow here.

This stream feeds under the snow and runs from Crystal Lake down to feed the lower Lake George area.

Yosemite, Day 1 - Lee Vining, CA

 

Fortune favored us on the way to Mammoth Lakes. We arrived a little later in the day, near 6pm, and hadn't really meant to take the road into Yosemite, but...it was open (and publicly proclaimed as closed still for the snow). Anyway, the east gate is 12 miles from Lee Vining, and surely we'd turn around after getting close, right? Not so much. :) We ended up driving a couple of miles past the main gate (and there was no ranger to turn us away). While none of this was hiking, it sure was beautiful to see.

One of the many, many lakes in the high mountains. Each one seems more lovely than the last.

Rose Knob Saddle - Incline Village, NV

 We started this hike at Tahoe Meadows, instead of parking by Incline Lake. Instead of hiking to either Incline Peak (which we have done previously) or Rose Knob, we hiked up to the area between the peaks. This still allows full view of Lake Tahoe, and it was a nice way to allow us to stay in hiking boots and spikes instead of needing our snowshoes.

Tahoe Treetops Zipline and Aerial Adventure - Kings Beach, NV