Dayhiking out of Saddlebag Lake

One of our favorite day hikes is out of Saddlebag Lake, just east of Tioga Pass. An easy trail leads into a basin filled with lakes surrounded by impressive peaks and ridges. The first part of the hike around the side of Saddlebag Lake is not that interesting, but there is a water taxi if you are so inclined. The water taxi left the dock at the same time as we started walking from the trailhead, made its round-trip, and was back at the far end of the lake at about the same time as we arrived. So, it wouldn’t have saved us any time, but would have shaved 2.5 miles off our round-trip.

There is a nice loop hike that passes by several of the lakes and then at Lake Helen turns back up hill over Lundy Pass to return to Saddlebag. We’ve done that hike before, but only went as far as Steelhead Lake today, before returning as we came.

At Steelhead Lake we hiked cross-country a bit to get to Cascade Lake sitting at the base of North Peak in a sculpted glacial bowl. Glacial polish is evident on many of the granite surfaces and many 1″ to 2″ rectangular feldspar crystals are embedded in the rocks.

Our hike was just 4.5 miles long—about right for a quick hike on our way home.

Links
—20 Lakes Basin 2011 photo gallery