The Lake level was full, and on the descent from the ridge, you could still hear one of the feeder streams coming down along with us. Must be artesian spring-fed as obviously there was no more snowmelt coming down from Avalanche Meadow.

Plenty of “noisy company” along the last part of the hike and at the Lake itself in the form of the grazing cattle and their cow-bells We camped on the West side of the lake, keeping clear of the spot designated as no camping due to site restoration.

Saw some great meteors from the Perseid shower, but the most startling thing at the lake was the three different BIG crashes heard throughout the night as some big trees came down. Quite surprising since there was no breeze at night…wonder if that’s a normal occurrence or if the trees are suffering from some kind of stress?

Saw some cowboys from Angels checking on the cattle Sat night. One got bucked off his horse right into the muck at the side of the lake. Ouch!

There was only one other group camping overnight at the lake that we heard. They were on the south/southeast side. On the way out this morning, we saw many day hikers coming in that made us really feel like slow-pokes with our gear.

What a great trip! Thanks “Sierra” Joe for inspiring us to take this one with the Trail Tales overview and video. It was a great experience for the entire family which included 60-something grandpa and 10 and 15 year old kids!

Does anyone know if the trail is clear/passable yet for this season?

We are looking at planning an overnight backpack version of this hike from Woodchuck Basin to Wheeler Lake toward the end of July.

Has anyone else camped there and willing to share any details?

On the way down I passed only 2 groups of women hiking. Thanks for publishing your hike. It inspired me to take it! I look forward to hearing about more hikes in the area. So far, this has been my favorite, although I really like Bull Run Lake, too… from Stanislaus Meadow.