Ted's Hiking World Enchanted Pools Loop
Desolation Wilderness

June 29, 2024

Thanks a lot for today's company.  The lower-than-expected water levels provided plenty of interest anyway.

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Magically securing the last available parking spot

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Even in death, it still enhances our day

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Wonderful geology

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At Lower Enchanted Pool

For some reason, I didn't even photograph the pool itself.

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Perhaps there is some gold in the quartz

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The trail is flower-laden today

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Mountain Pride *
Woolly Sunflower

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A special attraction, at Middle Enchanted Pool:

[Play me]

That scene-cluttering log showed up last year.

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Bird's-eye Gilia *
Leichtlin's Mariposa Lily

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The Obstacle

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Overlooking Upper Enchanted Pool

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Northern Checkerspot

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Ted's Slab awaits us

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Perhaps my favorite spot in the Northern Sierra

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They don't mind wet feet

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Detouring around the cliff

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Dike Rock

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Mountain Prettyface *
Jewel Flower

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Meadow Sweet  -aka-  Rose Spirea

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Getting up the courage to jump the creek

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Made it!

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Umpa Lake is directly in the center, just below the dark overhang

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Wandering Daisy  -aka-  Subalpine Fleabane

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Shortcutting the Tyler-Gertrude Trali

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The Umpa Lake drainage can be so much nicer when some water is flowing

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Bracket Polypores fungi *
Rhizocarpaceae fungi

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The 'secret' passage beside the dried-up falls

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Obsessed with dead trees today

Finally, the principal objective appears:

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The falls at Upper Enchanted Pool

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It looks so inviting

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Allen, Ted, and Walter

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The photographer's tent

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The 'big picture' shows Ted's Slab above the falls

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Giant Red Indian Paintbrush *
Irisleaf Rush

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Finding a new way back across the creek

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A seemingly injured Sheep Moth

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Spearleaf Stonecrop *
Twolobe Larkspur

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On the last lap

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Smith Lake Drainage

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Entering Mosquito Alley

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This Alpine Lily shot cost me three mosquito bites

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Finishing up at Chappell Bridge; one railing was broken by snow for two years

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