Mt. Whitney From Cottonwood Lakes

Mt. Langley reflects off the waters of "Skinny Lake", as I called it. The sun skimmed the treetops here.

Morning Reflections

Mt. Whitney Trip from Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead. June 2000.

While we waited for a few things to dry, we took a short walk around the lake to capture a few images. The still air made for mirror-like reflections on the water, which reflected Mt. Langley and the surrounding Sierra Crest.

The talus fan was most interesting with its white granite blocks.

On the trail at last I made a mistake. I really wanted to take the left fork, but took the right fork instead. No matter. I ended up where I wanted to go anyway. The trail started off level and met the fork near the small round lake near "Skinny Lake" after passing through a grassy wet area. Then a large level talus fan was crossed before a use trail was met going left towards South Fork Lakes. Long Lake (not as long as "Skinny Lake") was just beyond the fork, but we did not visit it.

Here we began turning the western-most South Fork Lakes.

We passed through a small forest with camp sites and beyond into a green meadow. We then crossed the low talus of the south side of South Fork Lakes. Some of the terrain was a bit complex, but nothing too much difficult. I would not really recommend this route except to the curious or for those looking for interesting and sometimes complex walking. There is good trail that passes the eastern South Fork Lakes on its way to Cirque Lake (another lake I missed seeing).