Chicken Spring Lake

Figure 1. Chicken Spring Lake, Inyo National Forest.

Since moving to San Diego, it is easier for me to go to Eastern Sierras than living in the Bay Area. While most scenic areas belong to Inyo National Forest, many people consider them even better than national parks if you'd rather hike than drive.

In addition to scenic landscape, there are other reasons for me to come here. One of them is to see rare foxtail pines. There are two separate areas where these trees live. One is in northern California in Klamath Mountains. The other is in southern Sierra Nevada. While you can see them on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, it is easier from Eastern Sierras as the road helps you to achieve around 10,000 feet.

Foxtail pines are high elevation trees and dominate the tree line in this area. Chicken Spring Lake is one of many places accessed by trail to see them. Actually you can see them before arriving the lake, but you may need to tell them apart from other trees such as lodgepole pines.

The clouds are forming and moving when I am at the lake. I take advantage of it before it becomes cloudy. Chicken Spring Lake is a typical cirque lake in the Sierra Nevada. Although the backdrop is not as impressive as other lakes, foxtail pines peppered along the lake shore compensate for it. The 9 mile round trip hike over 11,000 feet is worth the effort.