Foggy Dew Creek, Cooney Lake — Friday, Jul. 8, 2022

We hiked up Foggy Dew trail the day before a 50k trail run and benefited from them clearing it up. Thank you! 😊 We camped in stunning Merchant’s Basin 2 nights, exploring snow levels on the middle day.

Sunrise lake is snow free but the trail up to and all around it are mostly snow covered.  We contoured around the top of Merchant’s Basin instead. A couple snow fields made it a bit tricky keeping to trail and have long /dangerous slides so we recommend traction and poles to get across.  
Trail up to Deadman’s Pass is steep with lots of snow. We hoped to make a loop back down Navarro trail 424, but heard that a trail runner had been unable to find the junction with the Navarro Crest trail using maps and gps. (Hey “Lost Trails” this would be an excellent loop! The bottom junction with Foggy Dew is wide, well maintained and signed.)

We looped the other direction instead. The steep north slope between Merchant’s Basin and Cooney lake is full of at least hip deep snow. Glissading down was slow but possible. Cooney lake is 90% iced over with lots of snow around it , although bare spots could be camp sites in a pinch. Trail around the lake is mostly under snow. Once below the outlet the trail is mostly clear and easy to follow.

Seems like June hiking this July! 😉