Tyee Lakes

We drove up towards South Lake in the John Muir Wilderness to the Tree Lakes Wilderness. We hiked up to 11,000 ft before turning around to a steep exposed snowy slope, enjoying 3 of the Tree Lakes along the trail. Overall we hiked 6.3 miles round trip with 1,950 ft of gain.

The trail starts by crossing a bridge over the South Fork Bishop Creek.

view of the creek from the bridge

The trail begins steeply up hill past flowering current bushes and

into the John Muir Wilderness.

We saw a variety of wildflowers along the trail, including these paintbrush.

The lower section of the trail went through a mixed forest of aspen and conifers.

About 0.25 mile from the trailhead is a footpath to see a waterfall, here the lower section,

and the upper section.

The trail goes along and through large rocky boulders and cliffs,

with some mountain views.

We enjoyed walking through this forest.

View of the first Tyee Lake at 10,330 ft

view of the first lake from further along the trail

a waterfall between the first and second lakes

some lovely views as we hike up the trail

The second Tyee Lake at 10,630 ft

Continuing up the trail to the third lake,

with an occasional patch of snow on the trail.

View looking at Table Mountain and the second lake down below

There were a couple of small lakes towards the southeast as we continued hiking up the trail. (zoom)

One small end of the third Tyee Lake at 10,900 ft

Past the third lake, we would cross several snow fields, some of them on scree fields.

Around 11,000 ft, we saw this steep, snowy slope with lots of exposure below the bushes. We decided it was wisest to turn back, although we were close to seeing the fourth Tyee Lake.

Hiking back through a small snow field, where I had stomped down a flat path in the snow.

We found a nice spot to take a lunch break at 11,000 ft overlooking the third Tyee Lake by Table Mountain.

some of the wildflowers and flora seen along the trail today