Through the watersheds

Golden Stars

I had a great six day trip through the Granite Chief Wilderness, plus some additional country to the north. I went in at Alpine Meadows Trailhead, and out at Squaw Valley Trailhead, with at least 67 miles in between.

Since some people read this blog for trail conditions: Five Lakes Creek cannot be crossed anywhere downstream of the PCT trail crossing, except on logs. The Middle Fork of the American River cannot be crossed at the Picayune Valley trail crossing, but can on a log downstream. The Five Lakes Creek Trail is mostly clear of snow. Upper Grayhorse Trail, upper Picayune Valley Trail, and upper Granite Chief Trail are largely under snow, but the trails can be followed with attention.

Down in the Rubicon

Had another wonderful five day backpack in the Granite Chief last week. A lot of the trip was just re-visiting places I’d been before, some of them not in several years though.

the divide south of Little Needle

As a new trip I went to Little Needle Lake which I’d heard other people mention but not been to. It is a shallow, alder and willow bordered lake in the volcanic rock below Little Needle Peak. It is a pretty setting, with soggy wet meadows surrounding the lake and a spectacular cliff above. The route is is a vague trail, and there are some seldom used campsites at the lake. To avoid the thick mosquitos at the lake, I camped to the north on a granite bench, where there were some really cool trees and a great view of the end of the day down the Middle Fork American River canyon. The next day I headed up onto the ridge and south, following the divide between Picayune Valley and Five Lake Creek, eventually reconnecting to the Picayune Valley trail a little east of where it climbs out of Picayune Valley. The ridge does not have a trail, but the going was pretty easy, with great views and a different perspective than I’ve gotten elsewhere.

Along the PCT

Powderhorn Canyon from crest ridgeline

I had a wonderful five day trip, one of my non-driving trips on which I took the Amtrak to and from Truckee. I walked from Truckee up to and along the Donner Lake Rim Trail, then headed south on the PCT past Donner Pass, Mt. Anderson, the North Fork of the American River (which becomes the Royal Gorge downstream), and into the Granite Chief.

I did some brushing work on the PCT, particularly the section between Five Lakes Creek and Twin Peaks that was completely brushed in four years ago and got me into doing maintenance on the PCT. So the trail is now reasonably clear again, though it needs brushing every year.

Finally back in the wilderness

Middle Fork American River at Picayune Trail crossing

I finally got back into the Granite Chief Wilderness this last week, doing a four day trip out from the Barker Pass Trailhead. The remarkable thing is how much snow there still is in the dense forests and north facing slopes. I spent a lot of time kicking steps in grungy snow, varying from sloppy to rock hard, and got tired of it!

I headed north from Barker Pass to the saddle at Granite Chief Peak, the northern boundary of the wilderness, doing a trail condition survey. There are some trees down here and there, but nothing that can’t be gone over or around. There is light to moderate winter debris. In several places the trail cannot be followed across the snow, though the general trend is clear and it isn’t that hard to pick it up again if you are paying close attention.

I walked out the Tevis Trail to the boundary and past to where the trail meets a primitive dirt road. I took a side trip to the saddle to the north which divides the Middle Fork American River watershed from the North Fork watershed. I then headed down the dirt road to Talbot Campground. This road is now used mostly by quad vehicles, and some parts are so brushed in a regular 4WD would be squeezed. The road is long and not very interesting, but at least it connects together the Tevis and Picayune trails. I then headed back in the Picayune Valley Trail (as I call it, it has differing names on differing maps). The Middle Fork of the American was in flood, and I had to cross it on a log well downstream and then fight the brush back to the trail. It is amazing to see this river, which was a very small creek the last time I saw it in 2008, roaring down the canyon and filling all the channels.

I camped up on the glacially carved rock bench where Picayune Creek comes down through a series of pools and waterfalls. It was also in flood, so I picked a place way up metamorphic rocks to the east to sleep, so I could get some sleep. That day and the next I spent a lot of time looking at flowers, ferns and rocks. This is one of my favorite places in the Granite Chief, and I’ll keep coming back.

Next day I went over the saddle and down to Whiskey Creek camp, then south along the PCT again and camped up on the ridge. And then the fourth day, out to Barker Pass.

Photos are on Flickr.

Ed Hopkins trip in September

Ed Hopkins of Baltimore provided me a link to photos of a five day trip in September. The photos have captions that tell much of the story of his trip. He camped two nights at Little Needle Lake, which I’ve not been to yet, and explored that northern area. Thanks, Ed, for sharing.

Powderhorn 2009-09-23

Fireweed fall color

I finally got back into the Granite Chief this week for three days, going in at Powderhorn Trailhead which is just west of Barker Pass. Fall colors are coming, but the aspen trees which are often the brightest are just starting, and the vine maple seems subdued this year, as likely to be pale white or pale yellow as bright yellow. I don’t think there have been any freezes since August, and though the calendar says fall, the days were still summer, quite warm. And the mornings refreshingly cool. I did quite a bit of exploring, checking out Little Powderhorn and Laddie’s Cove, the lower end of the Five Lakes Creek gorge, and the mesa between Powderhorn and Little Powderhorn canyons.

map in Topo! Explorer

I’ve finally transferred the information in a National Geographic Topo! file to Topo! Explorer online. I was waiting for National Geographic to update the Topo! Explorer desktop software to solve a number of usability and accuracy problems, but this has not happened in many months, and I suspect they have abandoned software development. Nevertheless, the interactive online version may be of some use to you, so I’ve shared it through Topo! Explorer online, at http://www.topo.com/trips/2364-granitechief. The .tpo file for the traditional Topo! desktop software is still available.

trail maintenance

Dan Lutz, Assistant Recreation Officer for Trails and Wilderness for the Truckee Ranger District of Tahoe National Forest, sent this trail maintenance information on August 4:

Glad to hear you were out in the wilderness and noticed the hard work the crews have put in there so far. We have had a couple crews go in there – one was a fire crew we try to go in there together annually. They help us out logging out the trails as they work on some training exercises. We get alot of work completed with this 10-person crew for 4 days. They were in Big Springs area and working north-south and then also the Shanks Cove trail. Additionally, we had a volunteer group spiked at Diamond Crossing and they worked on the Hellhole trail for about 5-6 days. Lots of maintenance needed there. Then we had our regular trails crew on the northern portion of the PCT from Squaw to Five Lakes.

Off-trail explorations 2009-07-16

Washington Lily

On a four day backpack from Barker Pass, I did quite a bit of exploring off trail and on old trails. The snow has really disappeared since I was last in the wilderness in June, with just patches on or close to the trail now. And of course there are a lot more flowers now, except on the ridgelines where the flowers were already great.

I explored Grouse Creek from the PCT down to the Five Lakes Trail. In the upper part I stayed as close to the creek as possible, but in the lower canyon it becomes too difficult to do so, and the bear trail led me out onto the ridge to the northwest, with great views back up Grouse Creek and up and down Five Lakes Creek. Washington lilies were poking up through the manzanita thickets on the ridge, and down along the ridge a number of dry rocky plants were blooming.

PCT survey backpack

Snow on the trail at wilderness boundary

On two short backpack trips from June 11 to 16, I surveyed the PCT from Barker Pass to Tinkers Knob. About half the trail was snow covered at the time, so I can’t say too much about tread conditions, but I did record the downed trees, of which there are a moderate number, some from last year (or several years ago in one case), and some from this year. Since over a month has passed since these trips, I won’t post the details about snow and trail conditions because they have changed.

There is a sign at the junction of the PCT and what I call the Western States Trail that says Tevis Trail and points at an angle for the trail departing to the west. I don’t remember seeing this sign before, thought it is well weathered, so perhaps it was on the ground and only recently placed back on a post. I still think this trail should be called Western States Trail since it seems to be the most common route of that trail over the years. The course for both the horse and running races has changed many times over the years.

Since the road to Barker Pass was still closed by snow, I walked up the 4WD road and back down the paved road. Once was enough, for both.