[singlepic id=104 w=320 h=240 float=left]

Duck path trail is a beautiful trail with many lakes. It starts from the cold water camp ground close to lake Marry. Last year we only walk a part of it, where i got many gorgeous water fall photos.
It’s 8 miles and a half hike, around 2000 feet elevation gain. On the way, there are lakes called Arrowhead, skeleton lake, Barney and Reds lake. At the end of the trail is the duck lake, very huge and the view is breath-taking. Barney lake is different from the others because of its color, not deep blue but green. At the higher part of the trail where close to the duck lake, you can see 3 lakes down there. Barney lake’s color reminds me sea with reef on the bottom at Hawaii.

[singlepic id=103 w=320 h=240 float=left]

For 45 minutes drive from Mammoth and there we came to the Yosemite national park east entrance. A small parking next to the gate was the trail head to the Gaylor lakes and Granite lakes. It starts at 9900 feet.
The beginning of the trail was steep. After getting up to the ridge, around 10600 feet ,  the beautiful view of the Gaylor lake shows up when looking down in the valley. The view of  snow mountains in the far back are amazing too.
Passing Gaylor lake, it’s a easy walk to the upper Gaylor lake then to the miner’s shack, except a part on a snow field and attack of hundreds of mosquitos. I tried to use hood and hat to protect my face but still got a few bites. They even bit through my long sleeve jacket on my shoulder. This year the snow melt later than usual and it seems the mosquito season is delayed too. It’s wise to have some bug nets and bug spray with you. On the way back, i took some nice photos of some wild flower and the granite lake.
The hike was totally 5 miles. Came back to the trail head, we decided to drive a little bit more into the Yosemite. Olmstedt point was 8 miles away. From there view of Half dome is pretty clear. It’s obviously a popular spot of photo shooting.
Tenaya lake is a huge lake on the way to the Olmstede point. It is very beautiful but just not so quiet because of the popularity.
Dinner was at the lodge, including sauteed chicken, boiled corn and veg soup. It was delicious.

[singlepic id=100 w=320 h=240 float=left]

Left LA 6am on Friday and arrived Mammoth around noon as planed.
Drove up lake George,  there is a short hike to Barrett lake and T.J. Lake, just good for the first day warm up hike.
Altitude is one important thing can’t be ignored hiking in high sierra mountains. The Mammoth town where we stayed is 8000 feet high, and lake George is above 9000 feet elevation already. As soon as walking up little bit, my heart started beating much faster. I was glad I did some hiking in Baldy last weekend.
This was only a small hike for the body to get adjusted to the  altitude, but I’ve got a few nice photos of the lakes and some wild flowers next to a creek.
Dinner at the lodge,  had fried rice and chicken Veg soup.

[singlepic id=99 w=320 h=240 float=left]This was the first time hiking at Mt. Baldy in the mid summer. At the ski hub, i was surprised to see wild flowers were blooming like in the spring.
The ski hub trail is a pretty steep one. It’s about 7 miles round trip with 3800 feet elevation gain. Even it is short, it took us 4 hours to go up and 3 hours to come down.