Twin Lakes - Monte Cristo — Saturday, Jul. 23, 2022

Great backpacking trip. ~9 miles to Twin Lakes via Monte Cristo trail. First four miles are flat to the townsite. Then five miles rugged terrain up to the pass and down to the lake. Intermittent snow slowed us down a little and made route finding a little difficult but not impossible. Poles were a must. Lake has at least two grassy areas for tents, each of which can fit 2 - 3 tents, and a rocky beach area that can also serve as a tent site. Only one other tent when we arrived at 9PM (Sorry to the folks who thought they had the whole basin to themselves until we arrived! Thanks for sharing with us). Twin Lakes were not frozen (went for a very very cold swim). Silver Lake still was frozen, but melting rapidly. There's a trail from the first lake going towards the second Twin Lake. We got to the waterfall stream that connects the two lakes at .75 miles but did not continue, not even sure if it does continue. Gnats were a slight nuisance but not biting. All-in-all a gorgeous one-night backpacking trip to an isolated uncrowded location!