Agile Trekker: Gaylor Lakes, Yosemite

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/6/2022	3.7	2 hours 16 minutes	888'	1.6 mph	648.6

Parking:

Gaylor Lake Trailhead (you can park either just a few feet outside of the park entrance, or a few feet within the park entrance).

Maps:

Gaia GPS app

Directions:

I had time in the afternoon to do a shorter hike, so I chose a hike on the very eastern edge of the park. You could park just within the park, or just outside the park. I ended up parking just outside the park.

The hike to Gaylor Lakes is short, but there's a steep climb in the beginning. Oh, and now I was at 10,000 feet. I was wondering how I would do. I think moving from sea level to where I am now helps. I'm only at 2,500 feet or so now, but I regularly hike at 5,000 to 6,000 feet in the summer. I did okay! I mean, yes, I was huffing and puffing going uphill, but it was a short steep climb. I was passed on my way up by a large search and rescue crew :( I was hoping they were just doing a training exercise, but they weren't. I slowed my pace down and became more careful with my footing. After not too long, I got to the top of the climb. From there, it was a shorter steep descent to the first lake. At the bottom of the descent, the crew was working on loading a gentleman into a kitty. The crew was joking with him, which is so important to keep someone in good spirits.

I walked partway around the beautiful lake, and then continued on to hike to a second lake. I circled the second lake and wanted to continue along the trail to a mine. I went partway, but I was keeping an eye out on dark clouds forming. I decided to skip the mine. Around 5 minutes after I made that decision, it started thundering. I wasn't keen on hanging out in an exposed area during a storm (no trees), so I rushed back as quickly as I could until I got to tree cover. Have I mentioned how much I love alpine lakes?