Bottomless Pit, Dragon's Back, and Seven Lakes Point Trail - Mammoth Lakes, CA

The guide books describe this hike as having "a view to die for" and "not so slippery as greased ball bearings", so my wife and son sent me off on my own after checking that I had paid the premium on the life insurance.

The trail head can be found in the Twin Lakes Campground near site 31.

This trail doesn't mess around.  After a quick bit of flat behind campsites 31 and 34, it starts up a series of switchbacks.  In less than 10 minutes, you're looking down on Twin Lakes.

The trail is fairly well marked, but, without my wife to navigate, I'm lucky that I made it back alive.  I did OK at the first turn, clearly marked by a post.

As the trail nears the Bottomless Pit, the view improves.

The Bottomless Pit is a sheer ravine with a hole in the bottom.  In the summer, it looks like this.

I had to stop by it on the return journey for another look under different light.

In the winter, skiers and boarders see it more like this.  http://www.mountainyahoos.com/SkiResorts/MammothMountain_Hole-In-The-Wall.html

Now, this is where the journey gets fun.  Amazed and enthralled by the terrain around the Bottomless Pit, I naturally assume the trail continues around it to give views from all angles.  Of course, I do not see the much easier trail that is right behind me and clearly marked until the return journey.

So, instead of taking the "Easy Trail", or the "More Demanding" trail, I take the "Wrong Trail".

After a quick scramble around the Pit, and a second scramble up the side of the mountain above, I fortunately rejoin the main trail just before the section described as having "views to die for" and "not so slippery as greased ball bearings".   From the bottom, this short section of trail looks fairly benign.

Just past the midpoint, I was glad that I wasn't walking the crest of a ridge.  The mountainside full of large, loose rock hanging above me was comforting compared to the slide to my right.

I was happy to begin climbing up the switchbacks to the Dragon's Back overlook.  Looking back, the entire section of trail through the scree looks like this.

From here, it is a short, sharp climb up to fantastic views that stretch as far as Boundary Peak in the White Mountains of Nevada.

Turning your back on this view, one last scramble up the dragon's spine, and you arrive at Seven Lakes Point.  The name comes from the fact that you can see lakes George, Mary Jane, Mamie, Horseshoe, the pair of Twin Lakes, and TJ.

Leaving the magnificent views behind, the trail continues to its peak where Mammoth Mountain and its ski slopes and bike trails can be seen.

After a quick look over the resort and a moment to appreciate the fact that there are still snow drifts up here on September 1st, it's back into the woods for a leisurely walk down the "Easy Trail".  Once again, the trail is clearly signposted, so I avoided the wrong turn that would have taken me up Mammoth Mountain instead of down to Twin Lakes.

The easy trail is just that - a nice walk down through the woods.

It is also clearly sign-posted for my benefit.

We'll end this post with a puzzle.  In the next picture, who is going to win - the boulder or the pine tree?   You might need to double-click it to see the tree, but it looks very healthy considering its position.  Truly an example of making the most of the hand that life deals you.

If you need a closer look, here it is: