Monday dawned cold and crisp.  Although it would be quite warm by mid-day, at 10,000 feet the thin atmosphere surrenders much of its heat overnight.

M tried unsuccessfully to catch our breakfast:

We set out fairly early and hiked East from our tent at Lower Young Lake to Middle Young Lake:

We then hiked up a steep draw and looked back at Middle Young Lake:

We then made our way higher up to Upper Young Lake:

Upper Young lake is at 10,400 feet, and is above treeline.  Its surrounding ridge is stark and steep:

From Upper Young Lake, we worked our way Northeast into an alpine valley:

At 10,200 feet, we hiked South out of the valley towards the ridge. Trish and the kids stopped when the climb became steep enough to demand using handholds, at about 10,800 feet.  I summited the ridge at about 11,100 feet.  Here’s the view from the ridge to the South.  I believe that’s Lembert Dome at the right side of the frame:

Looking along the ridge:

The views back towards the valley from which we climbed were spectacular:

Family photo on the way down:

We stopped in the valley to fill our water bottles in the alpine stream.  We used a filtration pump to get rid of any nasties in the water:

We did a bit of fishing at Upper Young Lake on the way back to camp:

Once the fish started biting, it was a frenzy.  Our son pulled in a fish on every 6th cast or so.  We caught and kept four fish, which made a wonderful addition to our dinner:

As we descended towards Middle Young Lake, the smoke from the Rim Fire settled in:

Middle Young Lake reflection with fire haze:

The smoke did make sunset quite spectacular:

Our son took it all in stride:

Hike stats, at least until our device ran out of batteries, are here: