Located right by the Big Pine Lakes trailhead, the Big Pine Creek campground was our first stop on this trip. Most of the spots by the stream were taken, so we set up camp on the first part of the loop, where deers would sometimes pass through.
We took what we had left of the afternoon to explore the trailhead area, and found out a parallel trail to the one we'd be doing, except it was shaded and crossed a waterfall. Took note of this path for the next day's hike.
We headed out in the morning around 8am, and started with the same trails from the day before. The hike wasn't very steep, but we could feel the elevation (~8000 feet) and the backpack (~25 lbs). The trail was easy to follow, and well marked with signs.
After a couple hours, we reached Lon Chaney's cabin, which was right by the creek. It was locked so we couldn't see inside, but it made for a refreshing snack break. Because we were still early in the season, we encountered patches of snow on the trail not long after.
As the path crossed small streams several times, it was quite easy to replenish our water. A couple runners flew by us with just a small bottle in their hands, contrasting with our heavier backpacks and slower pace.
About 5.5 miles in, and 10k feet, we saw the first lake! It was large, with bright turquoise water. The trail didn't go very close to it, so we took pictures and kept going.
Not far from there, was the most popular of the Big Pine Lakes, the creatively named Second Lake. We stopped there for lunch and refill our water from a nearby stream.
We reached the third lake around 2pm. It wasn't as colorful as the previous two and seemed more shallow. We took pictures and kept on going.
Between the third and fourth/fifth lake, is a path to the Sam Mack Meadows, which goes on to the Palisade Glaciers. Since there was already quite a bit of snow, we weren't sure if we could make it; we decided to give it a go and see how far we could get.
Pretty quickly, the trail became covered in snow, and AllTrails saved the day here. It would have been much harder without it. Even so, the hill was steep and boots would often dig deep into the snow.
After an hour or so walking up, we made it. The meadows were still frozen and the landscape was mostly covered in snow. We could only imagine how beautiful it would be during the warmer season.
Seeing as how the path to the meadows were covered in snow, and how late we'd get to the Palisade Glaciers, we decided to get back to the main trail and head to the fifth lake. We arrived around 6pm, and what a sight it was. A large frozen lake, surrounded by mountains, with a slight reflection of the setting sun. We knew we had to set up camp there. We walked around a bit and found the perfect spot, right by the lake, protected from the wind with nearby trees.
Camping next to the frozen lake was one of the highlight of this trip. Quiet, remote, secluded, with the iced lake to our feet, we felt lucky to be there. The night was also an amazing sight.
We slowly woke up the next day, and headed out to the upper lakes. Going there was definitely tricky with more and more snow covering the trail. The trickiest part was walking through the snow, which was slippery, and not seeing the path. Again AllTrails helped a lot, and a couple fellow hikers we saw on the way. It took us about 1.5 hours to reach the sixth lake, and lake seven was just twenty minutes away. Both were pretty much frozen.
On the way back from the upper lakes, is a small 0.5 miles side trail to the Summit Lake, which was one of the smaller ones, about the size of the seventh lake. We didn't stay long, and chose to keep going to the next and final lake, the Black Lake, for our lunch break. As it was also mostly iced, it was actually a white lake. We took a lunch break, and the time to dry our feet.
Heading back and completing the trail took another four hours. We saw the first lake from a distance, and crossed by several streams. Overall, it was a really nice backpacking trip. As we went early in the season (mid may), many lakes were frozen, and the trail was often covered. Hiking during this time came with a few advantages: there were no mosquitoes, which we heard were very common. There were very few hikers past the third lake, it seemed as we were alone most of the time. Getting the backpacking permit, and the first night's camping reservation, was easier than during the busy season. And camping by a frozen lake, was a new and lovely experience.
