Dates: July 3-4, 2026
This trip is, in a way, a continuation of the last trip I had at Cathedral Lakes. When picking up the permits at the Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness Center, the ranger had asked other backpackers where they had been before in Yosemite, and one mentioned Chain Lakes. I noted this down to look up later when I got back home. Turns out these lakes were tucked away in the southeast most corner of the park, a part of the park I never looked at in detail before. In fact, I’ve never really been in any part of the southern half of Yosemite. I always drove in through 120 or 140 into the valley or Tuolumne Meadows.
The out and back trail from the Chiquito Trailhead to Chain Lakes was perfect to run on the long July 4th weekend: the permits were freely available from the Sierra National Forest outside of the park, avoiding all the main traffic through the valley. I didn’t need the long weekend and could have easily done this any other weekend, but decided I just wanted a one nighter and Sunday to relax. I invited Arthur to join me on this trip, and we headed out Friday morning at 6AM. We stopped in Oakhurst to get some food and pick up the permit, and got to the trailhead around 11:30 AM. We took a little longer than expected because the Google Maps location for the Oakhurst Sierra NF office was wrong; you actually need to go to the welcome center that has the National Forest sign on it. For others looking to get to this trailhead: the last two miles along the gravel road were easy to drive in my sedan, and when the ranger called me before about the permits they said the road to Quartz Mountain is unmaintained and requires a high clearance 4x4 vehicle. They were also able to move my permit from the North Fork office to the Oakhurst office so I didn’t need to detour out of the way.
Day 1: Chiquito Trailhead to Upper Chain Lake and Gale Peak (8.5 miles, +2.3k ft; +2 miles, +1k ft for Gale Peak)
The weather was perfect for the weekend; just a little hot at the start of the trail but we knew it would only get cooler from here on out as we climbed. The first few miles were rather uneventful, just hiking in a forest without any major viewpoints but with a decent number of trees fallen over the trail. Afterwards the trail is easy to follow and clear. After we got to the Upper Chain Lake, we set up camp and then started on our off-trail climb up Gale Peak. Going around the lake was relatively easy, and then there was a pretty clear chute up to the ridge. We had incredible views of Chain Lakes and Breeze Lake as we ascended. After going up ~90% of the way up, we decided to turn around due to the approaching sunset and increasing Class 2-3 scrambling that I was not confident in. We should have started earlier, and we will return to get to the top another day.
Mosquitoes were strong near the backside of Lower Chain Lakes, at sunset in our campsite at Upper Chain Lakes and along the gully to Gale Peak.
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| Breeze Lake from the ascent up Gale Peak |
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| Panorama of Chain and Breeze Lakes from near the summit |
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| Descending in sunset |
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| Sunset |
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| Stargazing |
As for the busyness of the trail, we saw one other person at trailhead, a family of four returning on the way out, a couple at Middle chain lakes, and one person leaving Upper Chain Lakes as we got there. Not busy at all, especially for a holiday weekend. As we passed the couple at Middle Chain Lakes, they offered us two canned beers that we gladly accepted to take. I don’t usually drink but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of having a cold one at camp. I think we were alone at night at Upper Chain Lakes.
Day 2: Upper Chain Lake to Chiquito Trailhead (8.5 miles)
The next morning we had a slow start to the day, taking a dip into the lake before booking it back to the trailhead. We had lunch and then decided to visit the Mariposa grove for the first time (as far as I can remember) and did a quick trail run to look at all the trees before driving home. I’d like to come back to this area and do some longer routes; maybe a one-way from Chain Lakes out to Wawona past Buena Vista Lake if I could make the car situation work.
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| The sunrise warming up the day |
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| Perfect turquoise water |
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| Cracking a cold one |
