Today we hiked the Crystal Lake Trail in The Eastern Sierra,

with a brave friend who led the way and cut in front on high altitude precipices!

We climbed 1,000 vertical feet starting at a base of 8900 ft,

passing many pristine alpine lakes,

and making a few nice friends en-route!

Tomorrow we go higher starting at a base of 9,900 ft and heading up into Tioga Pass, land of no wifi, so I will hopefully be back in touch the day after tomorrow.
Cheers to you from the high Sierras~
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Such gorgeous vistas. Have a wonderful and safe hike tomorrow!
Thank much and hoping we do! Cheers to you~
Magnificent!
The Sierras truly are!
Yep. That’s a great hike. I love Tuolumne Meadows too.
Yep, I do too and we are heading there as well~
The colors are so vibrant I feel I could step into this gorgeous scenery. Cindy, thank you for sharing this trip and starting my evening dreaming, just before my eyes close. <3
Sweet dreams and sleep well dear Robin~
Thank you and hope you have a peaceful, restful sleep, Cindy.
😴
Wao!!! Amazing pics!!!
Thank you so much & cheers to you~
Fantastic
Ah, thank you very much~
Some hike!!!
Wonderful photos – 😉
It starts getting pristine and beautiful as you get higher~
Oh wish I was there – but u give us a nice taste
I am so happy you are traveling with me~
It’s so clean and gorgeous out there, wow! I can just about smell the fresh air from viewing these images. And your brave guide seems to be doing a great job of showing you around. Enjoy yourself Cindy! Cheers! <3
This Australian Cattle dog clearly doubles as a Himalayan sherpa dog-assistant, or at least I am sure he could! He was amazing! 🐶
Fantastic scenery, Cindy. It seems your dog friend is getting in touch with his ancient wolf blood. Great post. 🙂 — Suzanne
He was sooooo happy! I think he was being protective getting in front on steep drops. So sweet~
Lovely! Enjoy. X
Much appreciated. Thank you!
How lovely of you! Thank you~
Wow!
Thank you and LOVE that word!
Muchas gracias!
Take care of yourself up there! 🙂 It looks wonderful, Cindy. Can I ‘pinch’ it for my Monday walks?
Come on over! Next we are going to the old ghost town of Bodie!
oh always very beautiful
Have a nice day Cindy
Thank you for your lovely comment and be well my friend~
oh you’re very welcome
Kisses
Wow! That is all 🙂
That is more then enough! Thank you~
Have fun Cindy. 🙂
Thank you Ranu! We are leaving in about an hour~
What a great colours… what a beautiful blue… Thank you, have a nice day, Love, nia
Visa versa 2 U X 2! <3
WOW, WOW, WOW – BREATHTAKING, Cindy – Joy to the world this one 🙂
All the joy possible to you my dear friend~ 😂
<3
Incredible! Wow for sure!
Love your words! Thank you~
Beautiful landscape Cindy.
Thanks so much Bob and take good care~
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Wow.. absolutely stunning.. Cindy Knoke with a canine guide to spectacular views.. please head over and see all the post and comment there.. thanks Sally
I am so grateful for a lovely friend like you Sally! <3 <3
The feeling is mutual Cindy.. xxx
What gorgeous photos. I love hiking the Sierras. On one hike, I met a chipmunk who managed to wheedle all the nuts out of my trail mix 🙂
Laughing……that’s why they are so chubby! 🐿🐿
I pray no one in your party gets altitude sickness. My husband got it when we went to Mineral King at 10,000 feet. That was early in our marriage.
Your pictures are stunning.. Have a great time off the grid!♡♡♡
That is no fun at all. I didn’t feel too well at Independence Pass on the Contintenal Divide at 14,4 but we drove up there with no acclimation. We have been acclimating, doing day hikes to avoid this.
Reblogged this on Art, animals, and the earth.
Grateful to you Sharon and for your love of our precious planet! 🌍
Quite spectacular!
I am honored. Thank you~
The pictures are stunningly beautiful Cindy.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
I am honored. Thank you David & cheers my friend~
Breathtaking photos!
So very pleased you enjoyed them!
our brave friend wouldn’t get me on that edge 🙂
He seemed to get in front to protect silly humans from their silly selves~
Superb photos, Cindy!
Humbled, thank you Margaret!
Beautiful photos. Is that a chipmunk near the bottom? Those guys are hard to capture, they move so fast.
Exactly! Except when they rarely sit still and stare at you!🐿
Que ‘Sierra Sierra’…… (*⌒▽⌒*)θ~♪
🗻(*⌒▽⌒*)θ~♪🗻
Such a beautiful place. That blue of the water is incredible.
Yes these eastern high Sierra lakes are cerulean blue. Gorgeous!
What an amazing trail Cindy! That was a friendly chipmunk. May you keep meeting more friends along the way 😎
I love my furry friends! 🐶
Beautiful country. Great photos depicting the exuberant feeling one would get in such a place. Thanks, once more, for sharing.
Thank you more for appreciating my friend. I know you love the wild spaces as I do!
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. We have spent so little time in our own high country, I’m envious. Love the dog. Our Westie is one week out of ACL surgery, the result of over-exuberance in a 10-yr-old dog.
Healing hopes for your four-legged family member! It is so sad when they hurt. I hope he is jumping again soon. <3
What a hiking adventure! That’s a lot of climbing! The view is breathtaking.
Good to have a brave friend leading the way. 🙂
He was adogable! <3
remarkable Pictures, in great Detail. Have you seen in the first picture, when you enlarge maximum at the left side behind a slightly slanted fir tree at he rim of the lake somone has lost a pair of pink slippers?
You have amazing powers of perception. I looked but could not find. Incredible that you could!
if you take the unenlarged Picture, 1.5 cm from bottom of pic, 3.5 from the left rim. Now zoom into this spot…
have a nice day
Well done Cindy. You were armed with an excellent guide and your magic camera. Fortunately for us, you like to share. 🙂
Awww, fortunately for me I have friends like you!
Wow, what gorgrous country! Please scratch your friend under the chin for me–I miss my dog(s) terribly when I’m hiking in the woods.
They are the best hiking partners in the world! I am sorry for your loss.
It’s nice to see clean, clear water anywhere. What a gorgeous view.
Yes, it is, especially in California where lower altitude lakes are drying up!
Lakes are drying up everywhere. Fish are dying in our lakes because the water is so low and polluted. 🙁
It is so incredibly irresponsible of us to have allowed this to happen. We are destroying our only home.
The world is a wondrous enchanted place. Thank you for reminding us all of that.
Awww, your comment makes me happy!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous…
Mille grazie!
Amazing!
And so worth protecting! 🌎
Yes. Absolutely. “There is still a lot left worth fighting for. – Jane Goodall”
Thank you for sharing this beauty with us! Wow!
Thank you much more for appreciating our natural world!
The lakes look so blue and calm like. Is there any fishing there? What are those lakes stocked with if one fishes there?
I know they are full of all sorts of world class fish, rainbow and brown trout, etc., but I am not knowledgeable enough to answer your question. Sorry!
No problem. I bet the fishing is good though. 🙂 My little 8 yr. old grandson is already an experienced fly fisherman, so I have to pretend to ask the right questions, and tell good ‘fish stories,’ for him. 🙂
What a nice grandmother you are!
Oh my goodness…you had a great hike didn’t you! Such a beautiful vista! And I love that chipmunk shot. 😉
He was a chipper little munk!
hehehe
I want to jump on one of those cool lakes!
I think maybe I will tomorrow! I accidentally stepped in enough creeks today hiking and it felt quite refreshing!
What gorgeous scenery! Thanks for sharing it with us, Cindy. Be careful and enjoy your travels!
Cheers to you Debbie and we made it back down the mountain. More to come!
I hope you had a great hike.
The pictures are breathtakingly beautiful. I am not sure, but I think I would have turned around and the dogs and we would have jumped in the lake instead?
Two labs and their owner did just that. Lab owners are so smart and labs are all around perfect, especially in alpine lakes!
Looking at the mountains there, Cindy, tells me that has to be a very old mountain range. They are so rounded. Lovely views from there too.
Leslie
You know your mountains. Many were volcanoes and there is a lot of lava flows, pumice mountains, and red rock here. You can’t see this as much in winter with all the snow.
Beautiful! Hope you enjoy being disconnected for a day or so!
I do enjoy especially in nature’s embrace~