We didn't see 20 lakes in the basin but enjoying nine peaceful mountain lakes during a single day…read morehike was darn fabulous. Located outside the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park, 2.5 miles of dirt road is crossed to reach the trailhead at the closed Saddlebag Lake Resort at 10087 Saddlebag Lake Road. As a former resort, the location has lots of parking but since the closed buildings meant no running water and an outhouse toilet. The often-closed Tioga Road (aka Hwy 120) must be open to get to Saddlebag. For a longer and harder hike, the basin loop can be reached by going up Lundy Canyon located north of Lee Vining and might be an alternative starting point if Tioga is closed. The loop can begin by heading left across the dam, but we went right around eastern side of Saddlebag Lake - the largest and only man-made lake of the hike. The western side is rocky talus while the eastern trail around Saddlebag Lake is longer but has a more comfortable walking surface that was preferred by people fishing in the lake. The remaining lakes appear at regular half-mile intervals with each having their own flavor. The first set of lakes were small and serene Hummingbird Lake, deep and eerie Odell Lake, and classically graceful Lake Helen. We then took a worthwhile and brief side trip down to Lundy Canyon to the cascading Lundy Canyon Falls. We resumed on the loop to see our favorite Shamrock Lake with multiple little peninsulas poking into the lake which was followed by narrow inlet-like Excelsior Lake, cliff-sided Steelhead Lake below the Sphinx-ish Shepherd Crest, unremarkable Wasco Lake, and meadowy Greenstone Lake before returning along the opposite side of Saddlebag Lake. Maps showed two trails between Steelhead and Wasco Lakes. The western trail is incomplete but also led to the best geology with bold green layered rocks. Our hike was 9.3 miles to circle around nine lakes and one waterfall. The elevation varied from 9,900' to 10,400'. Never steep, the terrain rolled up and down which felt like a 1000' elevation change hike. The paths were mostly exposed with few trees. Located in a true basin, the lakes were surrounded by peaks and ridges. Icy snow pockets that survived the summer ensured water flow through the creeks and lakes.

Hiked this as an overnight backpacking trip with 2 friends in late July, it was the most beautiful…read moreamazing hike I've done and seen in a very long time. Drove up from San Diego the night before and tried to get a camping spot at ~7K feet altitude to get adjusted but all the campsites were full, so ended up camping overnight at disbursed camping down the road (still up at altitude, just no facilities and no fires allowed). Woke up in the morning and made a quick stop at Whoa Nellie Deli to use the bathroom, fill up on water etc. And then drove the very rocky road up to the trailhead. I have a Subaru Impreza, all wheel drive but not a lot of lift, so it was doable, but would have definitely felt better in an SUV, although I also saw a Prius in the parking lot so any car can make it I guess. Parked in the parking lot, there are bear boxes there to leave everything from your car that you're not bringing with you on your backs (also bring a bear canister if you're doing overnight!). Then we headed out. We hiked around the north side of Saddlebag lake, which was beautiful, and a little more crowded as a lot of day hikers just hike that lake. We then took the turn off to the right to head up to the rest of the lakes. On day 1 we did about 6 1/2 miles. We kept passing beautiful lake after beautiful lake. There was a point where we were hiking down a pretty steep climb and it started hailing on us! I was relieved we were hiking down at that point and not up with our packs on. I'd recommend having alltrails map downloaded as there are literally no trail markers, there would have been really know what to know which way to go without it. So we kept hiking and climbing, up and down, around more and more lakes. And then we setup camp for the night around Greenstone Lake. Night 1 was Friday night and was very quiet, no other over-nighters around. Night 2 was a Saturday, and it got a bit more crowded. Nothing too crazy, but there were definitely others in sight and ear-shot. We setup for 2 nights, and then did a day hike the next morning up to Conness Lake which was actually possibly the most beautiful lake I've ever seen in my entire life. I even went swimming in the freezing water! On our last day we woke up in the morning, packed up, and hiked out the remaining 3ish miles back around the bottom of Saddlebag Lake.

One of my favorite "hikes" in the Sierras and the most impactful. This is what I call a parking…read morelot hike as it isnt really a hike at all. Maybe 1/2mile to the loop. 3 beautiful little lakes on this small loop but what made this impactful and different than the rest was the education I got. Small flat interpretive trail with no elevation gain at the top of Tioga Pass just before heading down into Yosemite. This explained so much to me about the area around and the valley coming up and the existence of Mono Lake. Exceptionally informative the way the signs were placed highlighting the specific mountains, animals and nature you see in front of you. If you're traveling up here it is more than worth it. For me, I drove all the way here just for this small trail. The drive is as beautiful as it gets.

This really is an easy trail going up to some gorgeous views. It doesn't have switchbacks, but it…read morealso doesn't go straight up the hill (contrary to the other review). Instead, it gradually goes up at a cross slope. It was windy when we went here, so we nearly got blown away. A hint it to park by the Old Mammoth Lakes Rd, walk up the road for the water tower to where the trail veers off to the left. Nice little hike.

My family loved this short hike. There appears to be two trails; one for hikers and the other for…read morebikes. The trail is shady and easy to hike. Great views once you get to the top. We saw deer along the way up! The trailhead is located near the road and there isn't much parking near the trailhead. We parked at twin lakes and walked to the trailhead. Great for kids and photo ops !

Oct 2015, I hiked up to Mt.Conness from Young Lake side. It is the easiest route to the top. From…read morethe trailhead in Tuolumne to Young lake is about 6-7 miles. No official trail from there to the top, but there is a used trail basically all the way to summit. Some portion is not clear, though. Some portion is scree and some scrambling but not so difficult. We started 2:30 pm and summited 5, then back to Young lake (camped) around 6:30 p.m. The view was stunning. Just beautiful. It is worth climbing.

The vast majority of people that visit Saddlebag Lake never get more than a mile or two beyond its…read moreshores, but if you're willing to put in some extra effort you can reach the summit of 12,590 ft Mt Conness. The summit can be reached by a number of technical and non-technical routes, from the Class 2 S Slopes (from the E) to the classic 10c Harding Route (SW Face). The N Ridge/W Ridge (5.6) link-up is highly recommended and along with Matthes Crest, is one of my favorite early season climbs. The S Slopes approach technically starts/ends from Sawmill Campground, but if you've parked at the lake to access the N Ridge you can cross-country to save yourself the pavement trek. Note that the road generally opens after Tioga Pass, so call ahead or expect some extra miles. Details on routes can be found here: http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150473/mount-conness.html

The best mountain I have ever climbed was Mt.Whitney. However, I remember Mt.Dana more often. I…read moreclimbed Mt.Dana to acclimatize two days before I climbed Mt.Whitney. Because the purpose of our trip was Mt.Whitney, I was not very excited about climbing Mt.Dana. I know that responsible hikers should always prepare for the trails they plan to hike, but I had been too lazy to print out the trail map of Mt.Dana. Another reason I thought I didn't need to do such preparation was that our leader had done the same trip six years in a row with exactly the same itinerary. So I was planning to follow him and actually I did follow him. It was quite an interesting trail. During the first half, we were able to see a lot of plants and flowers that were specific for high altitudes. On the last half of the trail were only rocks because plants couldn't survive in the higher altitude. There were no obvious trails through the rocks although there were some cairns and flags to show hikers a good path to the summit. I really like this primitive kind of trail. It was stereotypic Eastern Sierra summer scenery; bone dry, brown, and quiet, with strong sunlight. The higher we climbed, the thinner the air became. That made it harder for us to breathe and we stopped talking. I knew that it was only six miles to the crest, but I couldn't see the top. I felt like it would take forever to reach the top. That made me psychologically exhausted. At the same time, I got more time to think by myself. It was hard but I really like this solitude for some reason. When I finally reached the summit, I forgot all the pain. Surprisingly, I was able to see the whole Mono Lake from the top. I had been to Mono Lake but never saw all the lake at one time. It was the most beautiful lake I had ever seen. Because I had not looked up any photos from the summit of Mt.Dana, I was able to be surprised by the scenery. Nature rewards me with great scenery and several kinds of emotion that I never have in daily life. This is the reason I can't stop climbing mountains. Some people believe that mountains have some spiritual power and some places such as Mt.Shasta are known as power spots. I still don't really understand or feel that kind of power, but I got a sense of mountain's strength a little.

You won't find the Mt. Dana Summit Trail on your National Park Service map and you're unlikely to…read morefind it in your hiking guidebook either. What you will find on this trail however, is a challenging trip up the second highest peak in Yosemite National Park which rewards with some of the best panoramic views you'll experience anywhere.

Mostly paved path except in winter where the western portion was covered in snow so had to trek…read morethrough the snow in the woods. The southern portion is super scenic and great for running/biking.

The town loop was great! Very convenient, safe and lots of options for distance. We enjoyed taking…read morea day off from skiing and still wanted to be active and found the town loop to be a great option!

Rainbow Falls may be the more popular waterfall in Mammoth Lakes. However, Twin Falls is just as…read moreimpressive, and you see it without paying for the shuttle to ride into the park to see it during the summer months. It's very scenic and drains into one of the Twin Lakes. I had difficulty finding a convenient place to see it up close in the lake campground area during my recent visit there (unlike my prior trip there in 2005 from what I recall). However, one good place to see it is at a small parking lot off Lake Mary Road west of the tunnel. One can look straight at the waterfall with the nice lake in the foreground. Also, there's a point further uphill on Lake Mary Road where it passes the top of Twin Falls and one can look down it.

Whoa! Chidago Canyon…read moreis famous for petroglyphs so we were adventurously searching for petroglyphs. No lucks this time for genuine Indian petroglyphs; but we found one wall with a carved petroglyph of a miner. There were many beautiful rocks with different shapes and colors, wild flowers and some nice mining ruins. The views of the surrounding mountain peaks were spectacular and the natural landscape was amazing. Gorgeous place for serenity, peace, adventure, and nature! The canyon can be hiked and also be driven through although there were several narrow spots which could be tough for big trucks. Highly recommended!