Tom Kotynski of Great Falls, Montana, retired newsman and active author of the Out There With Tom blog, dropped me a note asking for recommendations for hikes and climbs around Shaver and Huntington Lakes.

I haven’t visited these lakes but I’m guessing some of you have — if so, leave a comment.

This page suggests intriguing possibilities:

• College Rock: A steep 5-mile hike that offers a view of the Huntington Lake Basin. The trailhead is at Huntington Lake.
• Kaiser Peak: A 10-mile and 3,000 foot climb with a spectacular view from the Minarets Range to Kings Canyon National Park. The trailhead is at Huntington Lake.
• Twin Lakes: A steep 6-mile trail offering views of the high sierras and Huntington Lake that passes fields of blue lupine. The trailhead is on Kaiser Pass Road, 1/4 mile from Badger Flat Campground.

I’m guessing the height of skeeter season will have passed by mid-August.

EDIT: I posted this inquiry to the North_CA Hikers group. Steve Sergeant adds the following:

The obvious and probably most spectacular hike/climb in that
immediate area is Kaiser Peak:

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=37.2943&lon=-119.18472

On any decent day you can see Mount Diablo, Mount Ritter and Banner,
Mammoth Mountaon, and Mount Whitney from the summit. You can also
see Lake Edison

Kaiser Peak is in the Kaiser Wilderness:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sierra/publications/pdfs/rogs/kaiserwilderness.pdf

The trailhead starts right in “downtown” Lakeshore, on Huntington Lake.