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Yesterday while we were getting lunch, someone there had mentioned that Parker Lake was open
(i.e., the hike was clear of snow). We hadn't gone there yesterday, but after running into
snow on the Rush Creek Trail, we decided to hike to Parker Lake today.
We had hiked to Parker Lake 12 years ago, when Nathan was less than a year old. I reminded him that
I carried him on that trip, but he's not returning the favor. In any case, I did remember a
few things from that hike.
There was the same view of Mono Lake from the parking lot. And I remembered that the trail
starts climbing gently through the bushes immediately. This time, we could see snow-covered
mountains in the area.
View of Mono Lake from the trailhead
Heading up the parking lot to the start of the trail
Looking back at Mono Lake
View to the north
The trail starts to climb more steeply, but the entire hike only has about 600 feet of climbing, so the climbing is never too much. Soon enough we reached a flatter section and hiked alongside Parker Creek.
Mountains above Parker Lake
Snowy mountain view
We now entered the forest and hiked toward the mountains; I knew the lake was situated at the base of those mountains. Soon enough we reached the lake. It was mostly how I remembered it. We crossed the
outlet stream over some logs to the opposite shore. We found a nice spot in the forest to sit down for lunch. While we ate we had great views of the lake and the snow-covered mountain behind it. Ducks swam in the lake. There were only a couple other people at the lake while we were there.
Crossing the Parker Lake outlet stream
Parker Lake
Ducks in Parker Lake (visible in center)
Parker Lake
Parker Lake reflections
After lunch I walked along a use trail along the shore of the lake. The views aren't much different. Eventually the trail peters out and I returned to our lunch spot. Then we packed up and headed back.
Northwestern shore of Parker Lake
Parker Lake
Ducks in Parker Lake
Crossing the outlet stream again
Parker Lake
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