Thomas, Blue and Tombstone Lakes — Friday, Aug. 26, 2022

This report is for a hike that started at the Thomas Lake trailhead and ended at Bear Lake. WTA doesn't list this route (but AllTrails does), so I'm using the closest listing. Four of us arrived at the trailhead about 8:30 on a Friday. There were still some parking spots in the lot, and the toilet was in good shape. We hiked to the junction with the Blue Lake Trail, encountering some mosquitoes when we would stop. At the intersection, we took the decommissioned trail to Bear Lake. The trail alternated between meadows and forest. The forest sections were quite brushy. There was one place we took a wrong turn but it wasn't long before we realized we should have stayed left. The worst part of the trail was going up the ridge before the lake. There were many downed trees that we had to go around or over. Once we reached the top, we found a nice  campsite that was plenty big for our four tents and was just a short walk to the lake. We set up camp, then went swimming! With the wind, the mosquitoes weren't bad. We found it difficult to find a tree for hanging a bear bag because most of the branches were short and slanted down or were too high. We found one eventually, but it wasn't very far out from the trunk. After dinner, I hiked to Elk Lake over quite a few downed trees, but they weren't too hard to get over. I liked the rocky shore, but Bear Lake was prettier. There was a nice campsite there a little above the lake. Mist started blowing in on the way back, and once we settled in for the night, the wind was gusting and it started raining. In the morning, the group decided to pack up while it wasn't raining and hike out. We took the PCT to Junction Lake, then a trail that cut across to Rock Lake and back to the Thomas Lake Trail. It was a little tricky crossing the wobbly rocks in Rock Lake, but we all made it without falling. When we returned, the lot was full, and there were many vehicles parked on the road. And it hadn't rained there! I found it extremely difficult to find an accurate weather report for Indian Heaven. Only one of the many I consulted said it would rain.