So appealing was the loneliness of wild Green Lake. Falling asleep with a calm, still surface and a great depth of water. On July 2nd, we set out for a backpacking trip to Green Lake in the Hoover Wilderness. It was a spontaneous trip since our Mono Lake plan fell through. We backpacked in Yosemite the night before so we felt like staying in Eastern Sierras one more day. After a breathtaking scenic drive along Highway 120 through Tuolumne Meadows to Mono Lake we made our way north and stopped at the Bridgeport Ranger Station to get our permits. To get to the trailhead we had to drive up an eight mile dirt road. Green Creek and the lower canyon looked really beautiful, so we were eager to see how it was even higher up.
Green Lake is easily overlooked by fishermen working the streams and lakes along the Eastern Sierra. Tucked up a canyon near Bridgeport in Mono County, Green Lake has wonderful fishing for brook and rainbow trout. The trail began with only a gradual incline for the first mile and then grew steeper with switchbacks. Green Lake is almost at 9,000 feet in elevation, so we took it slow on the trail, pausing often to catch breath and take pictures. A few places along Green Creek look tantalizing. Overall it is a fairly moderate hike. Once at the lake you'll find use trails that provide access to most areas along both shores. Fishing was especially good at the upper end of the lake. A number of good backpacking sites are located along either side of Green Lake.
A great side trip from Green Lake is to continue up the trail to East Lake, only a mile up the trail. East Lake rivals Green Lake for beauty and quality fishing. Another option is West Lake less than a mile beyond Green Lake in another direction.
The lake and the mountains had became our landscape for day and night. Hiking up there was fun. There was so much water from the snow melt that even the trail had running water through it on some sections. By the time we got there we were exhausted but at the same time we still wanted to explore more. Even though it was the beginning of July there was still a lot of snow up at Green Lake. We tried to make it to the east side of the lake but the stream coming out of it was so full there was no where to cross. We decided to do some cross country to the west side of the lake to find a campsite and we even had to cross a big shelf of snow. We finally found a perfect campsite. On one side we had a vertical wall of rock and the other a wall of snow so we had nice protection on either side. We gathered firewood and made a fire to get warm and dry our shoes. After we ate, it was time for some night photography. Unfortunately the milky way was in the opposite direction that we were shooting but we had the moon in our shot to get a nice dramatic photo with the moonlight shadows of trees bouncing off the glowing snow patches all over the mountains towering on either side of the lake. It was a very magical scene. The next morning we got a few more shots of the lake and made our way back down the mountain. The Eastern Sierras are pack with such a unique beauty and feel we can’t wait to come back and explore some more.