Tamanos Mountain, Deer Creek Falls to Owyhigh Lakes — Thursday, Jul. 17, 2025

Most importantly no siting of the beautiful mama bear whose home we visit when hiking the area around the lakes though evidence of her presence. The downed trees start well after the waterfall at Needle Creek just as you start up the switchbacks. Someone has graciously cut away alot of the branches to make it easy to climb over or under. I cleared away a lot of these cut branches for those who come after me. I only had to leave the trail 3 times. I counted 15 obstacles to contend with, but I count one even if 2 trees are together. I am a shorter person and still found it quite easy to get around all obstacles. Plenty of water still in the wooded sections and even as you climb up the meadows. 

The climb up Tamanos is steep and straight up only one switchback. One spot of shade to rest in as you near the saddle. It was brutually hot on this exposed trail. At the saddle I opted left instead of right which goes up to Tamanos Mt. I was running out of steam and figured the views could not be that much better from up there. The view did not disappoint - absolutely stunning! Very obvious goat/ human trail to the left that took me to a great rock outcropping to have lunch and rest before heading down. Tons of goat hair scattered about the saddle. A couple of snow banks still linger on the other side of the saddle but don't imagine they will last much longer. Saw only one guy heading out all day! Perfect!