Matlock Lake – June 7-8, 2025

My first real backpacking trip of the season was an easy one. The snow was still clinging to the peaks, the crowds mostly kept to greener pastures, and my lungs protested their re-introduction to sleeping about 10,000 ft.

This was actually my first time on the Kearsarge Pass trail, after putting off a trip to Matlock Lake several times last fall. I’ve been routinely doing day hikes this winter and spring with 3000-4000 ft of elevation gain albeit at the lower elevations of Yosemite Valley. The hike up to Matlock Lake is only about 1400 ft of elevation gain over 2.5 miles, but with my overly heavy pack (~32 lbs including all of my photography gear) I felt like I was moving through molasses.

At camp, I ogled University Peak and its jagged spires before scoping out some locations to shoot sunset. There was also the possibility of shooting the Milky Way since the core would be visible for a short period after the moonset at 3 AM. Unfortunately, things didn’t line up properly and when I poked my head out of my tent the Milky Way was nearly out of frame already.

The next morning, I woke up early to catch sunrise before hiking back down. I gave a lift to three PCT hikers who were spending some zero days in Bishop before continuing northbound to Canada.

—Justin