Hike to Camp Lake and Bear Lake in the Emigrant Wilderness

Justin and I celebrated the 4th of July with a hike. Gotta love that in America, we have such scenic beauty!! And we are free to hike around in it without fear of crazy people hiding in the mountains. A few wild animals, perhaps, but that comes with the territory.

We took 108 past Strawberry because I wanted to do a hike to Waterhouse Lake. That's hike is less than 4 miles out and back, and is supposed to be pretty secluded with a good swimming area. Alas, when we turned on Herring Creek Road, the gate was locked. It's July 4th but there must still be too much snow. We'll come back later because it sounds like a winner.

I didn't want to hike to Cleo's Bath or Powell Lake again, (though Justin hasn't been) so we did the next closet hike in the guidebook that I had brought with me- a hike to Camp and Bear Lakes. The trailhead is very near the Burst Rock/Powell Lake trailhead, so getting there was a bit familiar. What stinks about this area is that horses go out on the trails, so you have to dodge horse droppings every once in a while. On our hike, we didn't actually see any horses, though we did notice a few droppings. (EWWW!)

 Bridge just beyond trailhead

 View of stream from bridge

The Crabtree Trailhead splits off and takes you to Chewing Gum Lake and a few other destinations, but I can't remember them right now.  Our trail to Camp and Bear Lakes was 6 miles round trip. The trail to Camp Lake is pretty easy and mostly level, though it does have a short section with a steeper grade that got us huffing. We were a little faked out by this marshy pond-looking area before Camp Lake, but since we thought we had another lake anyways, we kept going on the trail. I'm sure that this area dries up later in the season. Speaking of the seasons, we had to cross over snow several times (more on that later). We made it to Camp Lake without much trouble. It's a small but pretty lake with a few shaded areas to sit. However, we continued on when another hiker told us this was actually Camp Lake, and Bear Lake was "much nicer."

Swampy-looking wet area we thought might be a Camp Lake... (above)
The real Camp Lake (below

Taking the trail at the far end of the lake, we began the real adventure. Since it was early in the season for this hike, we had snow to go through, though the temperature of the air wasn't cold. Also, as it was melting away it made the trail into a small stream. In some areas though, you just hiked over where the trail seemed to be heading and hoped to find a sign for it later on. It was a bit difficult, as the area before Bear Lake was a little marshy and we had to do some jumps to clear the creek beds several times. Then there was a section of granite and open area where the trail was hard to follow. Again, later in the season this would be a much nicer hike!! After getting a little off trail a few times, we found our way back and up to Bear Lake. It was bigger and prettier than Camp Lake, and just one other group was there. We spread out on the rocks and rested before heading back. I even jumped in, though it was freezing!!! It felt good since the sun was still good and hot today.

Snow on the trail (above)

A cool mini-waterfall splashing from the rocks near the marshy area. I'm glad we saw it but am pretty sure it dries up later on. Below, Bear Lake!

All in all, two pretty lakes, some nice streams, and of course the usual Sierra Nevada scenery made for a good  6-mile hike. I was disappointed that I didn't see any wildflowers, but  the season might be off. If anyone else ever goes, I hope they go a little later in summer or the fall so that they can find the trail easier than us.