Big Five / Little Five Lakes Loop

Up ahead was the beautiful Cliff Creek Falls. Beyond the center peak is the Pinto Lake camps. To the left of the peak is where the trail goes to find those camps and Blackrock Pass. Now this was more like it!

Below Pinto Lake

Big 5, Little 5 Lakes Loop and Sawtooth Pass, August 4th to 7th, 2000.

As I strolled upward, sometimes forcing my way through undergrowth or skirting wet areas, I passed two possible sites, one near water. I forged on and soon it became apparent why there were no camps below Pinto Lake. A few years back there was a great flood around New Years that made headlines due to the flood in Yosemite Valley. I have often seen evidence of this Sierra wide flood in my travels, and this area was not spared. A huge flood had ripped through this area taking all of the topsoil with it exposing the clutter of a vast stone garden. Conditions got worse as I climbed higher to the point the trail began to pick its way through the worst of the jumble of rocks, and it was obvious I would not be finding even a small level site among that mess of rocks. Well, actually, I did find one small level spot, but it was right next to the trail (practically on it), and it was far from water. After a while the terrain became one huge rock garden studded with the trunks of huge trees, most standing, some fallen. I began to run out of options as I neared the end of this section of level canyon. The trail was a track on a huge expanse of mostly fist sized to basketball sized rocks, and when I ran out of trees and saw the waterfall at the end of the canyon, I knew I had few choices.