The trail, Bloody Canyon, was named in memory of an Indian massacre in which the Mono Indians killed many Awahnee, after the Awahnee stole many horses, blankets, and supplies. Also, according to Journal of Ramblings Through the High Sierra, a diary of a camping trip in 1870 taken on horseback by Prof. LeConte of UC Berkeley and 9 undergraduate students (where they met up with John Muir who happened to be there and accompanied them over Mono Pass, through Bloody Canyon and down to Mono Lake), LeConte writes that the canyon got its name from the sharp rocks inflicted on the ankles of the unfortunate horses that traversed the canyon with miners and others. His own horse didn't fare so well in the canyon either. Whatever the reason, the canyon deserves its name; it was the most brutal backpack trip yet. Bloody Canyon is located south of Lee Vining Canyon and north of June Lakes Loop. The trailhead is located after a 600ft climb down to Walker Lake at 7224ft (2202m) elevation. The trail runs along the Parker creek through dense aspen trees. The trail is the most beautiful with most striking terrain. The gradual climb to Inyo/Ansel Adam border is easy. Once crossing the border, the pain begins, all 2676ft of climbing to upper Sardine Lake. It is straight up with few switchbacks. Beau won the cup in the endurance challenge. He climbed up while staying on the trail with fewer stops (except when he had to wait for us to catch up to him). Surprisingly the altitude did not get to him considering we left sea level 5:00am in the morning and got up to 9900ft by late afternoon without acclimatization.

The jaw-dropping views and the serenity of the place were worth the effort. We had the whole lake to ourselves during our entire stay (except Saturday night). The only problem we ran into on this trip was the surprise thunderstorm of hail and rain for 5 hours straight on Monday, which had us scrambling for makeshift shelter - Bristlecone tree - and later a sprint down the scree trail back to the campsite for better shelter.

Pics from our previous hikes, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003