For the next couple of nights, we splurged on a hotel in Mammoth, and explored the area a little bit. We enjoyed a quick afternoon hike at the Little Lakes Valley, and some time in a local hot spring.

Bear Creek Spire standing tall at the end of the Little Lakes Valley. The weather had deteriorated again today, but we didn’t see any indication of thunderstorms.

The afternoon’s clouds made for a fantastic sunset from Minaret Vista.

And an awesome sunrise the next morning, here’s Mammoth Mountain.

And the full Ritter Range bathed in morning light. With that splendid send off, we headed back over Tioga Pass, bound for home.

Our route for this trip was intentionally vague, leaving room for flexibility. I think this worked out well for what we wanted out of this trip, which was something a bit more relaxed than some of our previous trips, with time to explore and enjoy the scenery. I was very pleased that we managed to climb Mount Tyndall, as this was our second attempt (we had previously managed Williamson but abandoned Tyndall due to weather). And the Painted Lady made for a fun side-outing. I’ll comment specifically on six areas below.

We spent a half day hiking from Rae Lakes out to the Sixty Lakes Basin. It was certainly fun, but the scenery wasn’t as spectacular as I hoped. If you’re seeking solitude on a short detour from the JMT, this is a good option. But beyond that, I’m not sure how much it has to offer. Of course, that’s all subjective and some people enjoy nothing more than a lightly forested alpine lakes basin.

Climbing the Painted Lady made for a fun side-trip for our flexible schedule. The rock through the steepest section was a bit loose, but not quite to the point of being frightening. The awesome views north from the summit more than made up for a bit of adventure on the ascent.

I had heard lots about Lake Reflection, largely in the context of the Circle of Solitude route. In my opinion, this lake lived up to the hype. The incredible vertical relief of the surrounding mountains complements the gorgeous alpine lake nicely, and the deep bowl offered some shelter from the elements. The trail from East Lake to Lake Reflection was a little bit harder than I expected, but not terribly difficult.

We didn’t find this pass too technically difficult, probably fairly rated at class 3. We actually found it quite fun, as the rock was solid through the tricky section. The bottom 2,000 feet of talus were a bit of a slog.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this area. The views of the massive Great Western Divide were only made better by the small lakes and stands of trees dotting the area. We decided to cut a day a few hours short just to take in the sunset and sunrise over this basin.

We climbed the North Rib route of Mount Tyndall, about which RJ Secor says “This is a good climb.” He’s right, it was a lot of fun scrambling up steep, but quite solid rock to the summit. We made a slight routefinding error that I discuss above, but basically boils down to not paying attention and following the largest part of the rib, so keep an eye out for that if you attempt this route.

That’s all I have for this trip, I hope you enjoyed reading!