Backpack Dinky Lakes
In July 2021, I was interested in seeing a new part of the Sierra: The Dinky Lakes region. This is a pretty low-key trip all on trails… so this is more of a trip report than a route guide.
This is the map for the entire route discussed in this post. To Export GPX files, click on the three horizontal bars in the upper right hand corner of the map and select Export selected map data... To see full screen, click here (opens in new window)
Starting the Hike
Meadows were pretty dry for July. The Sierra this July reminds me of typical late August Sierra.
We found a few meadows. They were small (though Helm meadow which was on our original itinerary is big). Flowers were beautiful, but in far smaller numbers for July due to the drought.
Chris found one of these Tiger Lily flowers with straight petals. I’d never seen one like that before – but am posting the photo of the curled one instead.
This is Bullfrog lake. We took an almost-abandoned trail as a shortcut. It was pretty warm in the mountains, so we were happy to shorten and optimize from our original plan. More time to relax and swim!
Dogtooth peak is like a molar 🦷 four peaks with this little quartz filled flat patch in the middle.
Paul easily scaled dogtooth peak. He’s been to a number of other peaks in the Sierra – and even did a 5 day fasted backpacking trip a long time ago. Wow!!
Janet and Chris on the hangnail.
Yesterday, Janet and I swam out to that rock you see in the foreground. It is a big rock – really big. We were sitting there and I felt it moving. Janet said, “Hey! Are you shaking the rock?” This rock is way too big to be shaken by me or an army for that matter. It was sunk deep in the mud. Finally, Janet asked if maybe the wind waves were shaking it… except that after about 45 seconds, it never happened again – even with successive breezes of wind. It wasn’t until we got back to Brian W’s house when his first question was, “Did you feel it!?” that we realized there had been an earthquake of 6.0 near Markleeville!
