Hoover Wilderness

Location Description

145 photos

On Saturday July 21, Jasper, Elaine, Monica and I...
Home of the rugged Sawtooth Range, and premier Sierra...
The approach from the fishing and RV hamlet of Twin...
Crossing hot meadows and scrub-brush choked valleys on...
Jasper, taking the lead.
Views of the Incredible Hulk and Little Slide Canyon...
Passing by Barney Lake on our passage to the High Sierra.
Crown Point towering above Barney Lake
Monica, next to Barney Lake.
Cliffs falling straight into the lake.
Monica and meadows above Barney Lake.
Crew hiking toward Crown Point.
Crown Point was the dominating figure on the landscape...
The Hoover Wilderness is known for treacherous stream...
Garter snake on the trail, slithering away as soon as he saw me.
The Hoover Wilderness rock formations looked solid,...
100+ feet of vertical, diamond hard granite.
Other interesting formations along the way.
Jasper and Elaine, goofing around on the trail.
As well as craggy alpine peaks there were also familiar...
Monica, rounding a set of switchbacks.
Getting closer to level ground.
Hiking between cliffs.
Taking a breather.
Looks like fun climbing.
The group hiking along.
Jasper manages to salt-stain his shirt on every hike we...
Group photo next to a small pond.
Green lakes that Hoover Wilderness (and specifically...
Green alpine lakes. It looked so inviting for swimming....
Crown Point lakes.
Monica and John.
Jasper.
Crown Lakes, larger but not as inviting for swimming.
Starting to think about finding a place to camp.
Monica crossing the small inlet to Crown Lakes.
View to the northeast, after passing Crown Lakes.
Trail leading to the next set of lakes.
Almost at Crown Lake.
Hikers starting to get a bit weary, with Slide Mountain...
Monica on the shore of the lake we decided to camp near.
Jasper's found the best camping spot: some flat ledges...
Jasper goes swimming at 9,500 ft.
Looks like fun?
Watching from the opposite shore. I had gone around to...
Monica washing her swollen feet by the lake.
Clean toes.
Steep, cracked cliffs looming above the lake.
Deploying the counter-measures.
Elaine, Jasper, and the campsite they found.
Looks of celebration.
Time to cook dinner. Styrofoam box contains at least 4...
Post hike yoga-stretches.
Slide Mountain. Looks like quite a climb.
And Slide stays in the sun right up until sunset.
Monica is always attracting strange alien-looking insects.
Getting ready for an early bedtime.
Not a bad place to spend a night.
Getting ready for bed.
We slept like rocks. Gentle winds and a temperature that...
Packed up after breakfast and ready to hit the trail,...
Mandatory stream-jumping to get from our semi-island...
Elaine jumping the stream.
Jasper and Elaine and Monica headed up the next set of...
Hiking toward Snow Lake with the new dominating feature...
Slide Mountain.
Hiking toward Rock Island Pass.
Admiring the view.
Finally getting another view of the Sawtooths (from the...
Very rugged ridge, not hard to guess how it got its...
Slide Mountain.
Headed toward Snow Lake and the pass.
Strange berries or parasites that seemed to grow inside...
Tower on the side of Slide Mountain.
Monica nearing Snow Lake and the Sawtooths in the background.
Into alpine meadow territory. My favorite.
Not a bad place to spent a morning outdoors.
Leaving Slide behind us.
Matterhorn Peak somewhere in there. Maybe on the right.
Heading down to Snow Lake.
Sure enough, still a little bit of snow up here, even in...
Monica and John at Snow Lake, Hoover Wilderness.
Snow Lake. Slide Mountain at right.
Looking back to the east. Lots of cloud activity today.
Following the gentle grade up to Rock Island Pass.
At the pass, and entrance into Yosemite National Park.
Monica demonstrates the inefficacy of her altimeter....
Leaving the Hoover Wilderness behind.
Jasper tries to be the one who got to the highest point...
Try one.
And lift-off. Apparently there was some jumping theme on...
Headed into a wildflower-filled canyon in a remote...
Wildflowers were everywhere and smelled incredibly...
Monica strikes a pose.
Purple flowers.
Rows of reddish purple grass-like flowers with an...
Stopping to smell the flowers.
Easy hiking through Yosemite high country. The mountain...
Stopping to tie a shoe.
Yawning vertical cracks on Lego Mountain.
Boulder hopping in Kerrick Meadows in Yosemite.
This area on my map was marked as a swamp, so I was...
Peaceful Kerrick Meadows.
Look! Only 35 miles to Tuolumne Meadows.
Hiking northeast out of Kerrick Meadow towards Peeler Lake.
Walking through the tail end of Kerrick Meadows. Group...
Fat marmot frolicking in Kerrick Meadow.
Looking well-fed.
Jasper photographing the milepost.
Monica and John at the junction between the trails to...
Clouds starting to look like they might be serious.
Approaching Peeler Lake around lunchtime.
Underwater photo of the blue waters of Peeler Lake.
Jasper getting ready to swim in cobalt Peeler Lake. The...
Getting ready.
Pretty much committed at this point.
Jasper and Elaine at Peeler Lake.
Jasper going back for more. Elaine braces herself.
Peeler Lake with the Sawtooths in the distance.
Climbing back ashore.
Jasper and Elaine.
John, jumping into Peeler Lake while Elaine watches,...
Jasper, jump number 3.
Monica, trying the hard way to get into cold water.
Brrr....
Peeler Lake from the trail after lunch.
John, Monica, Jasper and Elaine with Peeler Lake / Crown...
Hiking along the shore.
Path blasted into the steep rocky shoreline of Peeler Lake.
Sandy cove along the lake.
Crown Point, above Peeler Lake.
An unusual passage through a cliff band.
At this point we had completed the sucker of our...
And this is when the mercifully dry weather started to...
Our view disappeared and granite quickly became...
Big log across the trail.
River crossing, with a tiny bit more flow than yesterday.
Crown Point which had been vibrant against a blue sky...
Monica passing the meadows above Barney Lake.
Jasper, gallivanting down the trail.
Weather starts to clear for a bit around Barney Lake.
Barney Lake. Stopping for a snack break.
Incredible Hulk on the walk out.
Stopping at the junction with the trail to Little Slide Canyon.
Hiking out through a forest of quaking aspen.