Finally, a trip without rain! The weather was perfect. Cool mornings, warm afternoons, fair weather cumulus clouds in the afternoon, clear skies at night with a new moon and incredible stars.
I camped four nights beside Five Lakes Creek, in a gentle area below the gorge but above where the Hell Hole Trail crosses. There is no trail to this place, but I found it in my explorations and it has become a favorite.
I went back to Powderhorn Trail to do maintenance. The horrible condition of this trail gnaws at me. Very few people used this trail this year, and I am afraid that people will just stop using the trail completely. The bears, of course, still use it, but even they seem to be using it less.
I worked the bottom part of the trail for three days. The first 1.5 miles from Diamond Crossing are now in good condition, other than the down trees. I spend a lot of time cutting back and thinning the fir trees which encroach on the trail. Most young trees die, the larger trees you see a the result of a long process of natural thinning. But in the meanwhile, the live trees crowd the trail, and both live trees and dead trees lean over into the trail. Along this section of the trail, traditional brushing is not the main work.
The upper 1.4 miles of trail is in acceptable condition. It needs some brushing and winter debris removal, but is quite usable. That leaves the middle section of the trail, about one mile, which, still, sucks (see my earlier post Powderhorn Trail maintenance 2023-07). In this section there is heavy winter debris on about half the trail, firs are crowding the trail, a lot of live and dead firs are leaning into the trail, and there is some brush. This section includes the postpile meadow, where the alders are beginning to crowd in but are not too bad yet.
One down tree on the trail presents a barrier to equestrian use. This is an off-the-ground tree that hikers and backpackers can slide under, but there is no safe bypass for equestrians. One could be created, with a lot of work, but for now, it is not safe.
It is unlikely that I’ll get back to Powderhorn this year. In fact, this may be the last of my mountain backpacks for this year, as my next window is not until the second half of October. If fall is late, perhaps again. Otherwise, foothill and coast range backpack trips.
I did my usual Amtrak bus to Truckee, TART bus to Barker Pass Rd, hitched a ride to Barker Pass and walked to the Powderhorn trailhead. Coming out, I walked back to Barker Pass, then attempted to hitch down, but during the week and after Labor Day, there isn’t much traffic, so I walked more than half the way. Bus back to Tahoe City, and the next morning, bus to Truckee and the Amtrak California Zephyr home. The train was almost on time!. Several times this season and others, I’ve had to take the Amtrak bus instead because the train was many hours late.
- Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72177720311247604
- Granite Chief collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275
- Powderhorn Trail route on GaiaGPS: https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/695f46e8-59e2-40f5-8e02-cb84cdbb02bd/
- Granite Chief map on GaiaGPS: https://tinyurl.com/GaiaGPS-GraniteChief
Granite Chief Wilderness 