We started from Palo Alto at about 5:30 am. The trip went smoothly until we reached the slow, poorly paved, one lane road over Kaiser Pass and beyond, all the way to Lake Thomas A. Edison. We stopped at the High Sierra Ranger Station, several miles downhill from the pass, and obtained our wilderness permits (plenty of walk-in permits were available). Alternatively, you can pick up your permit at Prather. Our plan was to camp at Devils Bathtub Lake, and do Graveyard Peak from the lake. The trailhead for Devils Bathtub is near the western tip of Edison Lake (7643 feet), just beyond Vermilion Valley Resort buildings. We parked at the trailhead at about noon, started from Edison Lake at about 1 pm, and reached Devils Bathtub about 4 pm. Distance from Edison to Bathtub lakes is about 4.5 miles, mostly through forest and meadows. A section with a significant elevation gain waits for you in the last mile and a half, when you ascent a natural end-moraine dam that holds Devils Bathtub Lake (9167 feet) on its south side. From east and west, the lake is surrounded by two low lateral moraine walls, and to the north a beautiful glacial valley leads to a rarely visited upper part of the watershed that feeds Bathtub Lake.
It's hard to imagine that a lake with such a vicious name would be so charming. There are several good camping sites at the south end of the lake. We crossed the outlet, and pitched our tents at the southeast corner of the lake. Days are long in July, and there was still plenty of time to do Graveyard Peak. We started our ascent of the peak at 5 pm...
(More pictures from this hike, with no descriptions).
