🇺🇸 CA, Emigrant Wilderness Granite: Cherry Creek Canyons - Hyatt Lake - Big Lake

One of the best-kept secrets of the Western Sierra Nevada wonderland is the Emigrant Wilderness, with its impressive granite landscape that rivals Yosemite National Park, but sees no tourists. The rounded domes and glacier-polished granite creates stark contrasts, often making it seem high above tree line even though we barely climbed above 7900 feet (2400m) and camped below 6000 ft.
At these elevations the summer temperatures are comfortable deep into the night, for star-gazing and campfire chats. For this 4-day loop we chose an even less-traveled area without any trails. The occasional bushwhacking was worth it for the solitude and wilderness, rewarded by pristine alpine lakes and rivers for several baths throughout each day.