Trail description of Crystal Lake hike from the AllTrails website: The Crystal Lake Trail is one of the most popular trails in Inyo National Forest. Enjoy the panoramic views of the Mammoth Lakes Basin. From the lake, you have the option to continue hiking up to Mammoth Crest that has even more beautiful views. It is a shorter hike, and a great choice for anyone visiting this side of the Sierra..
We slept in today. Didn't get to the trailhead until 10 AM. But it was a short hike, so a late start meant we would be up at Crystal Lake at about lunch time.
The Crystal Lake is a series of tight switchbacks quickly that take you higher. Off to the left side are views of Lake George, so we stopped frequently to admire the view. As we kept climbing higher, we could see further, and Lake Mary eventually came into view. Near the top, we could see even more of the Mammoth Lakes.
Just beautiful weather today. No sign of wildfire smoke. It was sunny but not hot. No bugs. Fantastic conditions for a leisurely hike up to Crystal Lake.
We reached Crystal Lake at about noon. We went down to the southern end of the lake, and found a spot to enjoy lunch. Hiking back down was easy - we were back at the van by 1:30 PM.
Since we had so much of the afternoon free, we drove up to June Lake. There didn't seem to be any good trails or viewpoints for June Lake, so we ended up not stopping. When we got back to Mammoth Lakes, the ground was wet - a sudden cloudburst had just passed through, despite a forecast of zero percent chance of rain. I guess we picked the right day for a short hike.
This night Ramone cooked up a huge batch of ribs and we feasted. Our fifth consecutive night of BBQ magic.
