Trip Report: Backpacking Big Pine Lakes, Inyo National Forest — CA
Trip Date: June 10–12, 2021
Trip Details
The Big Pine Lakes via North Fork Trail route takes you through a whopping seven emerald alpine lakes, colored and sourced by the jagged peaks that surround them. For this trip, we ended up hiking up to second lake, camping overnight for one night, and leaving the next day. Which only means we’ll have to come back one day to finish up the loop!
Permit: Required for overnight stays and can be reserved up to six months in advance through recreation.gov. Search “Inyo National Forest — Wilderness Permits” and select Pine Big Creek North Fork (JM23). The cost was $5.00 per person plus a $6.00 processing fee. We printed a copy of the permit and took it with us on the trail (you can obtain them via email 2–14 days in advance of your trip or pick them up at a ranger station).
Getting There: Thankfully, Tioga pass opened by the time our trip rolled around. That cut our drive time by an hour for a total of 5.5 hrs from Oakland to Bishop where we stayed overnight. From Bishop, it’s a short, scenic 40 minute drive to the trailhead. Google Maps directions to the overnight parking area led us directly there with no issues.
Parking: The overnight parking area is a separate lot from the day-use area and adds a tad bit more mileage to the total hike. When we arrived Friday morning, there were several spots available at around 9:00AM and parking was a breeze. By Saturday, it was all filled up with cars parked along the sides of the lot.
Bathroom and dumpster available in the lot.
Trailhead access next to the bathroom.
Trail Length:
Trail length: 15.2 miles (North Fork Big Pine Creek Trail)
Elevation Change: 3,982 ft
*Maps and elevation chart from highsierratrails.com
Weather: First day mid-60s/high 30s with wind gusts up to 18mph that died down in the evening before bedtime. Second day mid-70s/low 40s.
Other Things To Note: A gentle reminder to please practice LNT principles! Read the restrictions on the FS.USDA.Gov website for Big Pine Lakes and any additional requirements on your permit reservation email.
As far as wildlife goes, we ran encountered some pesky little chipmunks around camp. They will chew through anything to get to your food if you leave it unattended! I placed my food and scented items into my bear canister, but missed one packaged gummy. A couple minutes later, I saw the chewed up and empty gummy wrapper tossed hastily next to my pack. *shakes fist*
Day 0: Thursday, June 10, 2021
Our group met up around 10:00AM to start the grueling drive to Bishop. We stopped in Groveland for some lunch consisting of: fresh sandwiches from Kevin and Randi’s Old Fashioned Meat Market and drinks from Mountain Sage. We enjoyed them in the peaceful garden and nursery of Mountain Sage Coffee. The barista there marketed her latest drink to us: a house-made ginger syrup, jasmine green tea, and bubbly water concoction. We were hyped by her enthusiasm and each bought a cup. The drink was B-O-M-B! We all craved it the rest of the trip and tried to get it again on the way back, but they had already closed for the day. Noted to make it a forever pitstop on our next trips!
In order to gain entry into Yosemite during this time, reservations are required. However, if you’re just driving through, you can request a “timed permit” at the entrance that allots 2 hours to drive through the park with no stops. We paid the $35.00 entrance fee and made it out of the park with time to spare.
Our last pit stop was an attempt to go to a nearby hot springs. There ended up being too many people soaking for comfort, so we turned around and continued on our way.
As we approached our lodging in Bishop, I was a little worried to see that it was right next to El Pollo Loco (note: I have nothing against this establishment lol) on a busy street. However, once we arrived and turned into the parking lot, the front house of the lodging came into view and it was ADORABLE! We pulled into the parking lot in front of a luscious green lawn adorned by string lights and an open community space/kitchen. Our room was next to a cute little pond complete with lounge chairs and picnic tables. The room itself had a bed with bunk beds squeezed in next to it. A very tight fit, but it was clean and nice.
We had dinner, prepared our packs, and went to sleep full of excitement for the next day!
Day 1: Friday, June 11, 2021
Before heading out to the trailhead, we stopped by Great Basin Bakery to procure a quick breakfast, lunch sandwiches, and a cinnamon roll for dessert. Such a great idea by our dear trekking friend, Angela! Anything to avoid eating another tuna packet with hot sauce on the trail.
Once we arrived at the parking lot, we quickly ate our breakfast, tried to take our last bathroom break on a real toilet, and started our journey.
The incline started immediately and there was no shade in sight until about two miles in. Even in the morning, the sun blistered down on us with no mercy! The path was clear and well-marked, mostly gravel, great for the navigationally challenged (me, sigh). North Fork Big Pine Creek came in and out of view as we made our way up the trail providing plenty of opportunities to break and fill up on water.
We peeped two waterfalls along the way!
At about 2.5 miles in, we reached Lon Chaney’s cabin, the famous “man with a thousand faces” who had the cabin designed by Paul Revere Williams under a special government permit. He was only able to enjoy it for a mere 6 months before his death, but the cabin is now forest service property and visitors can relax on and enjoy the views from the porch!
As we continued on, intermittent shade from pines and aspen trees provided a nice reprieve from the heat.
At about 4 miles in, we reached a junction for Black Lake and veered left to continue onto Big Pine Lakes (starting with First Lake). As we left the forested area and climbed up some granite rock steps, First Lake came into view and its crystal waters sparkled under the sun. Such a beautiful sight to behold! We saw some people had already set up camp at First Lake and decided to carried on to find our own little sanctuary at Second Lake.
A short walk later, we arrived at Second Lake to find that no one had set up camp yet in the area. We scoped out a cliff-side outcropping overlooking the lake with a full view of Temple Crag, looming over in its majesty! This was it. We unclipped our packs and whipped out our sandwiches to eat lunch.
There was full exposure to the sun here but we were in close proximity to the forested area, which allowed Angela and Carne to set up their hammocks close by. We really sprawled out our campsite, hehe.
Someone left a folded up camp chair leaned against a rock that we thought they would come back for…but after some time realized they literally just left it. On the one hand, not cool. On the other, since it was there, we decided to use it.
After our campsite was settled, we changed into our swim clothes and made our way to the shore of the lake a short walk away. We ran towards the water, stopped about two steps in, and turned right back around because the water was FREEZING! It felt like an ice bath. Plunging in certainly helped soothe our tired muscles! We slinked our damp bodies onto nearby rock slabs to dry off under the sun, like lizards.
Carne and I brought our new Platypus Quickdraw Microfilters on this trip and were very excited to field test them! Carne took hers down to the beach for us to filter water from the lake. First impression: extremely underwhelmed! It took a about twenty minutes and a couple of sore thumbs to filter a couple liters of water. We’d later find out after testing mine that Carne received a defective filter and the QuickDraw flow rate was just fine. Post trip- Carne’s filter magically started working (lol). In hindsight, testing the filter before leaving would have been a good idea.
Dinnertime was hotly anticipated by all, as the main course of the night would be none other than SHIN ramen, bone broth edition!
By this time, more backpackers made their way in to set up camp and Second Lake was “full” by the end of the night.
After slurping up our noodz, we moved onto our post-dinner tea ritual and sipped on soothing chamomile while watching the sunset (and also taking a million photos, hehe).
We retreated back into our tents after sunset to escape the bugs and regenerate our mana bars so we could stargaze later in the evening. As I peeled back my tent door to come out, I was welcomed by a blanket of twinkling stars. The new moon provided such a perfect backdrop for each star to shine! I also saw a shooting star! Fweee~
That night, despite what I would consider great sleeping conditions (no wind, no unsuspecting animal sounds, etc.), I slept terribly. I think I’ve come to accept that my quality of sleep will be subpar in the wilderness, sigh. A mega win for me was not needing to get out of the tent in the middle of the night to pee, that was a first!
Day 2: Saturday, June 12, 2021
Around 4:45am, we heard muffled conversations and shuffling by fellow campers nearby. After signaling to each other that we were all awake, we begrudgingly emerged from our tents at the prospect of witnessing a nice sunrise. We sipped on hot bevvies and watched the morning light lazily make it’s way over to Temple Crag, slowly draping it in a warm, golden glow. It was sublime.
After the sun rose directly overhead and the morning show was over, we retreated to our tents and hammocks to nap before making the trip back to the car.
The original plan was to day hike the other lakes and stay one more night. Instead, we decided to head back one day early to mentally recharge for the workweek. This worked out because it was supposed to be even hotter the second day and I was already burnt to a crisp despite copious applications of sun block. Anyways, *back to scene* we found that going to the bathroom was harder now that day hikers were strolling in and campers were out and about in closer proximity. There were also people flying drones and I imagine they caught a few people unawares trying to relieve themselves. Not only are drones disruptive to wildlife, they’re also hard to navigate around for that reason…and also quite loud when you’re trying to nap! >:[
Rangers stopped by and were patrolling the area to check for permits and picking up leftover trash and refuse from previous tenants. They were educating visitors on the restrictions in the area and super friendly! Turns out, because the place is so popular, they head up and down the trail pretty often to keep it tidy and in order. We told them about the leftover chair and they scooped it up to take off-trail! Bless their souls.
We took our time eating breakfast and packing up, looking over our shoulders to admire the lake and jagged peaks at every opportunity.
On our way out, the trail was bustling with backpackers and day-hikers, all coming to enjoy the many sights Big Pine Lakes had to offer. Doggos were everywhere! The trail was diverse, everyone seemed happy to be there, and I fed off that energy as we made our way back down the trail the way we came.
When the crowds thinned out and there was no one left to pass by, the heat made even the downhill feel like a slog. When we finally arrived back at the parking lot, I stripped off my damp, sweaty clothes and changed into my fresh, clean car clothes from the trunk. I’m so glad we started doing this! It certainly helps feeling less gross during the long drive home.
We made a pit stop at M|M in town for some life rejuvenating tacos before the drive home. A perfect meal to end the trip!
…Another successful trip in the books!
Hope this was helpful. Happy trekking! — ❤ Em
