The Eastern Sierras have become my de-facto home whenever I get a weekend away and want to do something outdoors within driving distance. There are so many incredible spots along the 395, with a ton of diverse scenery, especially in the Inyo National Forest and Mammoth Lakes basin. For this trip myself, Corey, David, Jeff and Aaron setup camp at Convict Lake, with a day hike destination of Lake Dorothy, as our weekend goal.

Fall colors were peaking in the Eastern Sierras that weekend, and we were treated to some seriously chilly Fall weather when the sun dropped behind the ridge. We woke up on Saturday for our hike to Lake Dorothy with all of our water frozen at camp. We warmed up by the fire, layered up and got ready for the journey ahead.

The hike to Lake Dorothy is about 14 miles and 3,000 feet of elevation gain. We added to that difficulty by unknowingly losing the trail for about two hours. After a river crossing, we couldn’t find where to pickup the trail, so instead we just followed the rocky shores of Convict Creek. It was easy at first, but became increasingly difficult. After a couple more sketchy river crossings, we reached a point where the rocks were too icy to pass. We headed up a ridge for a better view, and discovered the official trail had been above us the entire time.

Boots back off. Across the river one more time. Up a very steep ridge and we were finally back on the official trail. Another hour or so passed and we descended in to a valley and got our first look at the tranquil Mildred Lake. We headed up one more set of ball breaking switchbacks and we reached the rocky shores of Dorothy Lake. Beers were cracked (canned wine for Aaron), David and Aaron took a dip in the freezing water and I took a quick nap, dreaming of never hiking up a switchback again.