Weeklong ~50 mile backpacking loop from Leavitt Meadows

Leavitt Meadows to Roosavelt/ Lane Lake (4 miles)

After camping at Leavitt Meadows campground for acclimation, we headed to Roosavet and Lane Lakes. From the Trailhead, instead of hiking up the valley, we went up the ridge to the east. From there the trail climbs steadily and follows the top of the ridge, with excellent views. On the way, we passed the beutiful Seceret Lake. After that, we descended to Roosavelt and Lane lake, and camped there for the night. The hike was quite enjoyable and easy, for me at least.
These 2 lakes are nice, but there are many Chipmunks, and there are probably many people camping here on weekends.

Lane Lake to Long Lakes (7 miles)

Todays hike was a bit longer and hotter than our hike before. We followed the trail up the Walker river, and then took the Junction heading towards Fremont Lake. At Fremont Lake, we dropped off our base camp crew (mainly the youngsters and some adult leaders) where they would stay untill we returned on our way back. From this point on, we were pretty glad to not hear any more complaining. After Fremont lake, it was mostly gradual climbing to Upper Long Lake. At Long Lakes, the bugs were pretty bad, and the lake was a bit swampy. From this point on, expect to see much fewer people. The best campsite is along the southwest shore of the lake.

Long Lakes to Snow Lake (8 miles)

This was probably my favorite leg of the hike. From Long lake, we headed down the Pacific Crest trail to Dorothy Lake. Out of long lake the climbing was gradual, and begins climbing moderately to Dorothy Lake Pass. The Lakes just before Dorothy Lake pass are very beutiful (Lake Harriet, Bonnie, and Stella Lakes). At Dorothy Lake, you reach the northernmost part of Yosemite National Park. We stopped and had lunch at this beutiful lake, and watched a Bald Eagle hunt for fish. From here, we finished the day by climbing over Bond Pass, which was more of a climb than expected. From the Pass to Snow lake there are some beautiful meadows.

Exploration of Snow Lake and Snow Lake to High Emigrant Lake (3.5 miles)

Snow Lake was a ncie resting point. Snow lake is the site of an abondoned mine, called Montezuma Mine. There is evidence of old cabins and equipment. Exploring the lake was a lot of fun and highly recommended. From Snow lake we did an early evening hike to High Emigrant Lake. It was quite a short hike over more nice terrain. High Emigrant lake was quite barren, and surrounded by a meadow, although the mosquitows were absent. We ended up haging our bear bags off a nearby rock formation. We decided to get our water supply from the stream flowing into the lake. After a chilly night, we woke up early to tackle our next task.

High Emigrant Lake to Long Lake (10 miles)

This day made for our longest strech of the trip. From High Emigrant lake, we were able to make out the zigzaging trail that topped out at ~10,800 feet. After huffing and puffing up the mountain, the views at the top were amazing. This might be considered one of my favorite views ive had. After enjoying the top, we headed down the long and windy trail down to the very scenic Kennedy Canyon. Due to a recent landslide, the trail followed the south side of the river. After leaving Kennedy Canyon, we were unsure of what trail we had taken, but both southbound trails lead to Long Lake. At long lake we camped at our origional hiking spot.

Long Lake to Fremont Lake (3 miles)

From this point, we began re-tracing our steps. After a short hike we rutuned to Fremont lake and we were glad to see our base camp crew alive and well, and vice versa. Fremont lake was nice to camp at, but popular. Although we were a bit annoyed that our neighboring campers had their stuff brought in by mule, when they invited us for a campfire, some popcorn, and songs with a quitar, we quickly changed our minds.

Fremont lake to Leavitt Meadows (8.5 miles)

We retraced our steps back to the trailhead (except this time we followed the river to the trailhead), and headed home with an all-you-can-eat buffet on the way.