Marble Mountain Wilderness - PCT

In the summer of 2007, I went with my good friend Luke and my dad on a three-night backpack along the Pacific Crest Trail in the Marble Mountain Wilderness.  One great thing about the route from Etna Summit to Lovers Camp is that you don't have to earn your elevation and accompanying views.  The trail starts high and stays between 6,000' and 6,600' for most of the next twenty miles.

I'm writing this five years after doing the hike, so I will keep details to a minimum and let the photos and map below speak for themselves.  We stayed the first night st Shelly Lake, the second night above Summit Lake (with a trip down to swim briefly in its frigid waters), and the third night at Lower Sky High Lake.  We'd intended to day-hike up to the summit of Black Marble Mountain but opted instead to relax at the lake before taking our time heading down the Sky High Valley to our car.

The coolest part about this hike for me (besides the swimming, hehe get it?) was seeing newts!  I think they were California Newts appropriately enough and it was awesome watching them swim lazily down to nibble plants on the pond bottom and then up to the surface for air exposing their bright orange bellies.

Pops making sure we are still on track

Newt!

Chipmunk and that moss that never comes out in photos but looks awesome

More Newts!

Crazed Deer Ate Something Wrong

Ok, the trail wasn't entirely easy going

Newt close-up!

Even back then I couldn't grow a real beard.

There was still some elevation change 

Who wants to climb Black Marble Mountain?

View Marble Mountain Wilderness - PCT in a larger map

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