Lake Eleanor

I had been cooped-up and was looking to get out of the house after building a new backyard fence and preparing to embark on a 15-day geology field trip. Because the tremendous snow pack was keeping us out of our normal June hiking grounds we headed for the far western reaches of Yosemite to Lake Eleanor. Lake Eleanor sits at a relatively low elevation (~4700’) and this exposed hike is generally reserved for April and May because it can get very hot, very fast. Luckily for us the June swoon of temperatures kept our hike at a pleasant 70 degrees with a breeze. Kibbie, Eleanor and Frog creeks were all bringing exceptional flows into the lake and the trail was still lush with life from the run-off. Although kokanee and rainbow trout are abundant in the lake, my dad was the only one to catch a fish (14”, 1lb) in 40 minutes of fishing.