Eastern Sierra's Rush Creek Trail

I'm the Rock Hopper, and today I see waterfalls and a touch of fall color ahead on the Rush Creek Trail in the Eastern Sierra, so let's check it out! Alright, just getting started on the Rush Creek Trail. I'm maybe about a half mile in, so far. Getting some pretty good elevation gain. Maybe 700 feet. Getting a pretty good view of the lake down below, too. That's what I'm talking about. There's that waterfall I saw from the trailhead. I don't know what awaits, as I've never been on this trail before. I'm seeing something off in the distance there. If you look to the right, it looks like a railway line of some sort. A little tram car railway or something. The rose hips are ripe and ready. You can eat them. A lot of vitamin C in them. Yeah, you just take your little rose hip and eat around the edges. Watch out for the seeds inside. They're super hard. Here's a look at the lower part of that big waterfall I showed you earlier. A little offshoot branch. So I don't know if this thing is still in use, but it turns out it is a cable tramway. You've got your rails right over here. And it is pretty darn steep. More so than the camera shows. When the tramway crossed a switchback again, I decided I'll just take the tramway up. Probably be faster and shorter. Here's a look down from the tramway. We're probably a thousand feet above the lake now. Another nice little waterfall, this time beside the tram line. There's a little structure here. And on the side, dear sportsmen, these installations are furnishing vital electricity for industry and home. Damage may impair that service and endanger human life. Please be careful. Well, maybe one of these guys shot up the electrical lines today because Mammoth had a major power outage this morning. And it's probably still going. So there's a couple more structures along the tram line here. I'm guessing there might be a dam or something up ahead here. A little hydro scheme, possibly. A little touch of fall color. The fall color has been a bit late this year. Look at the shape of that tree. It's almost like a bonsai, except it's huge. So I think this is Agnew Lake. Not very natural and pretty looking with the dam there. And it looks like this is the end of the line for the tramway. Here's a look inside the building. That's the tramway terminus. A couple big wheels over to the right there where the cable wraps around. So maybe the purpose of this tramway is simply to haul workers up. You just toss them in a little bucket and haul them on up. So Agnew Lake looks to be anything but natural. And I don't think Gem Lake up above there is going to turn out to be much better. There's a nice long waterfall to the right that flows above Agnew Lake. Here's a shot of Agnew Lake from just below Gem Lake. We've reached Gem Lake. And it is a pretty setting to be sure. But as you can see, there is quite a dam down there. And here's a shot of the lake. This lake has been dammed! Dammed to hell! There is no salvation for this dammed lake! You will suffer eternal encasement in concrete! You shall never be free! I have to say, this is not quite what I was expecting. If I'm going to do a three mile hike and gain over a thousand feet in elevation then I guess I'm expecting something a little bit more natural and pristine. But nevertheless, nature does provide scenic beauty. So I could keep going on the trail. But it's getting late and it's time to turn around. And as soon as that sun starts getting low, it'll be getting really cold. That concludes our hike up the Rush Creek Trail ending at Gem Lake. In eastern Sierras of California. I hope you've enjoyed this little excursion. You keep on subscribing and I'll keep taking you on hikes like this. Until next time, this is The Rock Hopper. I'll see you again.