I got up early and climbed a little hill next to our camp to check out the views and take some photos.  The sun was just coming up and had not broken over the mountains yet so I went back down to camp to tell Brian that it would be a good place to haul his camera equipment up for some sunrise photos.  We spent a good while enjoying the morning up there before going back to camp for breakfast.  From our vantage point up on the hill, we decided to move our camp closer to the outlet of Evolution Lake.

We packed up our backpacks again for the short walk around to the outlet of the lake.  Brian had his fishing pole ready so he took two casts into the lake where a little stream flowed in and caught a golden trout on the second cast.  It would be a good day of fishing too!!!!

We set up camp again on a little peninsula that jutted out into the lake.  I was anxious to check out the waterfall that was at the lake’s outlet.  It was only a short walk from camp.  There was a nice spot to relax on a boulder at the edge of the waterfall / water slide.  The view down into Evolution Valley was incredible.  Brian and I spent quite a bit of time just relaxing, taking photos, and checking out the route of our next day’s hike through the valley below.

Evolution Lake is the most scenic lake that we passed on the South Lake/North Lake Loop so we decided to spend a layover day here.  We spent the whole day fishing for golden trout, taking photos, and exploring the area around the lake.   We found several places to hike up for tremendous views up and down Evolution Valley.  This is such a pretty lake that I could easily have spent a week here.  Maybe some day I will.

The rest of the day was spent fishing, hiking, and relaxing.  Brian took a lot of photos at the Lake and he said that Evolution Lake could possibly break the record of his most photographed Sierra Lake.  We both agreed that we should come back some day.

We heard from other hikers that a climber was hurt above the upper end of the lake and one of her partners had hiked out for help.  She was supposed to be injured seriously but could not walk.  Too bad I could not get a cell phone signal here.

The sunset that evening was incredible and Brian was trying to record the event with the perfect shot.  There was no moon at night on this trip and the stars were blazing at this altitude.   It seems like every time I hike the Rockies, there is a full moon washing out the stars.  This was a refreshing change.

This was a great day to relax and the perfect spot to do it.  We explored the lake area considerably, hiking up to numerous high vantage points.  I estimate that we probably day hiked 147 miles and gained 21000’ in elevation today.

I love this spot !!!

DAY 5