Heading up Long Canyon through big trees |
Slowly breaking out from the trees in Long Canyon on Day 1 |
Views of the snowcapped peaks above, we were planning to do 3 nights from Long Canyon, but were unsure about snow conditions and how far we would be able to go |
Climbing toward Bee Tree Pass |
Looking back down the canyon |
Gibson Peak and a rocky ridgeline above |
Into the snow, this was the unknown factor on this trip and we ended up having more snow and icier snow than anticipated |
Looking back down the canyon, the snow piled up quickly above 7000 feet and was pretty icy |
The view from Bee Tree Pass, no trail in sight |
Mom and Dad on Bee Tree Pass |
Descending Bee Tree Pass to get back down below the snow |
On the way down from Bee Tree Pass |
California pitcher plant - a carnivorous plant |
Mid-morning ice along the creek |
The remnants of an old bridge which washed out in 1986 and was not rebuilt. |
Foster cabin and this old structure were located part way up Swift Creek Canyon. Foster cabin is used as a shelter for snow survey crews in the winter. |
Frosty meadows and snowy peaks on the morning of day 3 |
Lots of large, open meadows along Swift Creek |
Ice in the trail - this was common above 6500 feet |
Frozen creeks |
More ice |
Ice formations along the creek |
Frosty ice on the trail |
Frozen ponds by Horseshoe Lake |
Mom looking out over Horseshoe Lake |
Mom and Dad overlooking Horseshoe Lake |
Horseshoe Lake - a layer of ice covered the entire lake |
The pond next to the lake was frozen solid |
Big trees at high elevation |
Same tree |
Snowslide Peak, we climbed up this peak later in the day |
Another frozen pond |
Ward Lake - the surface is entirely frozen |
We concluded that the band in the ice is the point at which the lake froze to initially. Once the rest of the lake froze, the band was formed between the old ice and the new ice. |
Hiking above Ward Lake |
On the saddle near Snowslide Peak |
Snowslide Peak |
Looking over the Swift Creek drainage from Snowslide Peak |
Mumford Basin is the high grassy valley on the far left side of the photo |
Descending back to Ward Lake |
Icy trails |
Hiking out on Day 4 |
Ice formation along the creek |