After getting shut out on my attempt to make a visit to this lake realtively easy from the adjacent canyon, I returned a few days later to make the long, hot 7.5 mile hike up from the bottom, via Devil’s Postpile National Monument. This time I camped in the monument ot be able to drive my own vehicle in, which greatly simplified logistics (and enabled me to use a bear box to safely store food away form my vehicle, an option which was lacking on the prior week’s trip when the ranger station advised me to park at Mammoth Mountian and take the shuttle in).

It would be a 15 mile round trip, so I budgeted two nights in case I might want a layover day to go explore nearby lakes.

In the end however I decided that I wanted to make sure tha I got to Yosemite and Cathedral Lakes more, so I hiked back out the daya after arriving, and headed back to the Tioga Pass/Saddlebag Lake area to catch sunrise and get ina hike to the old mining camp of Bennettville before making the Cathedral Lake hike in time for sunset.

Jeff Sullivan

Jeff Sullivan leads landscape photography workshops in national parks and public lands throughout California and the American West.

Recent Posts

Photographic Composition: Conception and Fine Tuning

This was one of those "stop the car" moments. Snowy Telescope Peak had nice side…

4 months ago

Geminid Meteor Shower 2023

The Geminids are the most active meteor shower of the year, and in recent years…

6 months ago

When Is The Best Time To Visit Bodie State Historic Park?

I was asked this question earlier today, and the more I thought of it, the…

8 months ago

Death Valley Wildflowers, Rainfall and Super Blooms

So called "super bloom" years make it easy to find wildflowers in Death Valley, but…

1 year ago

Night and Landscape Photography Workshops 2022-2023

We've reached a major milestone on our workshop program: we celebrated completing ten years of…

2 years ago

Death Valley “Adventure Series” Trip March/April 2022

Spring 2022 is shaping up to be a very busy year in Death Valley, like…

2 years ago

This website uses cookies.