Backpacking The Little Lakes Valley

We awoke at the Mosquito Flats trailhead. It had been a long drive from Yakima the previous day and we were excited to begin our trip. Ten years had passed since I'd been in the Sierras and I was eager to return and share the experience with Sam. On this trip, we would explore the beautiful Little Lakes Valley. This would be a pretty easy backpacking trip compared to other hikes in the Eastern Sierras as we already gained much of our elevation on the drive up to the trailhead. Our itenerary was to spend our first night at Chickenfoot Lake, then hike up past Gem Lake and spend our final night at Treasure Lakes.

The trailhead was bustling as we headed out. Immediately we arrived at Mack Lake, a small marshy lake which would be the first of many on this hike. From here the views opened up, revealing the striking triangular shaped peaks at the far West end of the valley. We continued for a short while until we came across the smaller Marsh Lake. Here we took s small break and enjoyed the stunning view. It felt great to finally be back in the Sierras. The beautiful scenery and magnitude of this range is hard to put into words and sticks with you long after you leave.

We continued along the busy trail quickly reaching Heart Lake, Box Lake and then Long Lake. Each lake seemed to be prettier than the last. We were almost at our destination. Soon after passing the Western shore of Long Lake, we took a side trail up to the aptly named Chickenfoot Lake. The views were phenomenal from this oddly shaped lake and the crowds thinned out dramatically. We quickly found a camp spot near the lakes's Eastern shore and settled in.

Our hike had been very short and leisurely and we still had plenty of day left. After lounging around camp and taking in the views we headed back to the trail for a day hike up to nearby Gem Lakes. The trail immediately took us to a serene alpine meadow near Chickfoot Lake's Western Shore. The golden light of the afternoon lit up the grass and added to the magical feel of the place. We followed the gently graded trail uphill. Shortly we reached more alpine meadows and the first of the Gem Lakes. The area was extemely beautiful and almost seemed like a landscaped park of sorts. We made it to the largest of the Gem Lakes which was at the base of a large granite cliff.

After admiring the small lake we sauntered on back towards our camp at Chickenfoot Lake. The valley had cleared of people as most of the day hikers had gone. We reached our camp shortly before the afternoon sun disappeared over the mountains above the valley. I took some pictures from an elevated spot above our camp of the fading light in the valley. After my photos I returned to camp with Sam and we had dinner while reflecting on our beautiful day of hiking.

I was up early to greet the dawn and take some pictures of the valley from my rocky perch above camp. The morning's golden light kissed the granite peaks first and slowly illuminated the valley. It took a while for the mornings light to reach our camp. We enjoyed a slow morning, taking in the gorgeous valley views.

We had another short hike to our destination at Treasure Lakes which was just a scramble above the Gem Lakes basin we had seen the previous day. After boating around Chickenfoot Lake in our packraft, we packed up and headed for Treasure Lakes. We hiked back up the beautiful trail to Gem Lakes. From there we left the trail behind and embarked on an off trail scramble to the laked filled bench above. The scramble didn't take long and soon we were at the top and rewarded with an awesome view of Gem Lakes and the Little Lakes Valley behind us.

We got our first views of Treasure Lakes in the rocky granite scree of the bench. They were comprised of four lakes. We were heading to the upper lakes which featured more vegetation and looked to have more ideal camping. We traversed the boulder fields past the lower lakes and made the short climb up to the larger of the upper lakes. This lake lay at the base of massive granite mountains that shot strait up. There was a small scenic alpine meadow at the lakes Eastern end. Immediately we found a nice protected site in the trees near the Southern shore of the lake. We set up our camp and spent much of the afternoon lounging in our hammocks drinking wine.

As the afternoon grew later, I set out on a short stroll back to the cliff above Gem Lakes and took a picture of the serene valley below. I returned as the sun went behind the mountains. We enjoyed dinner and more wine while watching the fading suns rays on the mountains above Chickenfoot Lake.

Up early once again, I got some shots of the morning rays on the mountains above Treasure Lakes. I began to scramble the granite cliffs above and found a great vantage point for a panorama. I took a very large panoramic shot of Treasure Lakes in the morning light. It was a beautiful and surreal scene.

After many photos I returned to camp and had breakfast and coffee with Sam. This was our last day in the Little Lakes Valley. We took our time packing up and headed back over the scree field and made the offtrail descent to Gem Lakes. Since the trailhead was so close we really took our time and enjoyed the beauty of the Gem Lakes basin which was adorned with gorgeous alpine meadows. I took lots of pictures as we slowly made our way back. We returned past the shores of the trail side lakes while passing many day hikers until we reached our car at the trailhead.

This hike offers a lot of bang for your buck. The mileage is low, the trail is well graded and it takes you into a lake filled alpine paradise. Though the trail is busy early in the day, it really thins out in the late afternoon and it isn't hard to find some solitude by venturing off the main trail. It was the perfect warm up before our main trek on the Thousand Island Lake Loop which we would do next. Thanks for reading and happy trails!