Five miles from the trailhead by Glacier Lodge, the path along Big Pine Creek reaches the largest and perhaps the prettiest of the dozen or so lakes that feed the upper tributaries of the stream. Second Lake sits in a wide basin beneath the scree-covered slopes of Temple Crag and Mt Alice, filled with turquoise water characteristic of glacial snowmelt, and enclosed on most sides by smooth granite cliffs. To the north and east the land is more undulating, covered by a mixture of boulders and patches of pine woodland.
