TR: Emigrant Wilderness 8/3 - 8/7
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 12:56 pm
Hey HST,
We recently returned from a great trip to the Emigrant Wilderness, and it's going to be a few weeks until I post a full trip report on our website, so I figured I'd give you all a sneak peak while the conditions are still relevant. You were extremely helpful in my planning for this trip, so thank you for that and all of other help I've received over the years.
Route:
Quick Notes: Mosquitoes were not a problem, although they weren't completely vacant. Most streams are dry already.
Day One: Crabtree Trailhead to Cherry Creek
We didn't hit the trail until about 3:30 for the first day. We had to drive all the way up from LA that day, and when we arrived at the ranger station we noticed a screw sticking out of our car tire, which set us back another couple of hours. With that late start, it was going to be a push to make it to our campsite before dark. We didn't linger much on this day.
We barely accomplished our goal, with the last light of the day hitting the top of nearby peaks as we reached camp at Cherry Creek in Louse Canyon.
Day 2: Cherry Creek to Hyatt Lake
I had actually been worried about finding good water in Cherry Creek. While it wasn't running much, there was still plenty of good water to be found near camp.
The next couple of days were more or less all off-trail, and our approach to Rosasco Lake was our first real taste of what we should expect in the area.
All in all, pretty easy going.
Rosasco Lake:
Pingree Lake:
After visiting Pingree Lake, we began to heard towards Hyatt Lake and accessed the large bowl of granite between Hyatt and Big Lakes for our traverse. This was the highlight of the trip. I've never seen anything like this anywhere else in the world.
We had originally wanted to stay at "the Regency", but were unable to find an easy way to get over to the other side of the lake. We didn't care to spend much time route finding just to find a campsite, so we settled on camping on the east side of the lake. Callie enjoyed the beach the most of anyone I think.
Sunset was nice that night, although an appetizer for what we'd be getting the next two nights.
Day 3: Hyatt Lake to Yellow Hammer Lake
We started the day in good spirits since we had the great granite bowl to look forward to. I dubbed it the Devil's slip and slide since everything is named after the devil up here.
Big Lake lived up to its name. IT'S HUGE! I'd say 50 different groups could be at this lake and all enjoy some privacy.
Getting to the other side of Big Lake with Callie proved to be difficult. We ended up having to wade through a pond at a certain point as we tried to bushwack around the lake shore. The one thing we didn't anticipate about the area was how difficult bushwacking could be in the wetter areas with lots of growth.
We decided to stay at Yellowhammer for the night. The lake was gorgeous, and we had it all to ourselves. This was our ninth wedding anniversary, and there was nowhere else we'd rather spend it. Fourteen years ago we did our first Sierra backpacking trip together. This was our best one yet.
Sunset was sublime that night.
Day 4: Yellowhammer Lake to Deer Lake
We began our day heading up to 5 acre lake. Again routefinding/off trail travel was easy until we neared the lake and began to have to find a path through the brush.
The same applied to our route between 5 acre and red can.
The traverse from Red Can to Leighton and Karl Lakes is very easy, and we arrived only after about 10 minutes after leaving. We had planned on possibly staying the night here, but the gray skies, cold temperatures, and dead trees that greeted us didn't inspire us to linger. We decided to move ahead to Deer Lake with a detour to Buck Lakes.
One the way we passed Wood Lake which surprised us with its lush beauty right alongside the trail.
The view from between lower and upper Buck Lakes was one of the best that we saw on our trip, but it was unfortunately muted by the boring overcast light that had plagued us all day. I guess it gives us a reason to return.
I should note that we began seeing flowers along the trail pretty regularly, which I was not expecting for August in this record breaking drought year.
Deer Lake was a pretty incredible sight. There was no wind, so the lake reflected a sky which had now broken up to feature some fantastic looking clouds. Things were looking up for sunset.
and as it turns out, it was magnificent.
Day 5: Deer Lake to Crabtree Trailhead
It rained on us off and on throughout the night, and our tent would occasionally flash bright from distant lightning. In the morning, we awoke to blue skies with a beautiful but threatening bank of puffy white clouds.
It was a beautiful day for photography. We walked back to our car the long way to make the trip into more of a loop and see some different areas.
Callie had to adjust to being back on trail after a few days of off trail freedom.
The meadows in the middle of Emigrant are pretty spectacular and quite different from the terrain we had experienced on the rest of the hike. We really enjoyed the variety of ecosystems around here.
Our last stop was at Chewing Gum lake, which despite it's proximity to two nearby trailheads, was empty and still remarkably beautiful.
We arrived back at our car a little after 5 and began the LONG trek back to Los Angeles. Despite the fact that this area is quite far away from us, we can't wait to get back. It scratched an itch that the High Sierra doesn't quite hit, and it brought back a lot of nostalgia for two people who grew up in northern California and were introduced to the Sierra via its west side.
A full trip report will be on Calitrails in a few weeks if you are interested in more information.
Cheers,
Brian
We recently returned from a great trip to the Emigrant Wilderness, and it's going to be a few weeks until I post a full trip report on our website, so I figured I'd give you all a sneak peak while the conditions are still relevant. You were extremely helpful in my planning for this trip, so thank you for that and all of other help I've received over the years.
Route:
Quick Notes: Mosquitoes were not a problem, although they weren't completely vacant. Most streams are dry already.
Day One: Crabtree Trailhead to Cherry Creek
We didn't hit the trail until about 3:30 for the first day. We had to drive all the way up from LA that day, and when we arrived at the ranger station we noticed a screw sticking out of our car tire, which set us back another couple of hours. With that late start, it was going to be a push to make it to our campsite before dark. We didn't linger much on this day.
We barely accomplished our goal, with the last light of the day hitting the top of nearby peaks as we reached camp at Cherry Creek in Louse Canyon.
Day 2: Cherry Creek to Hyatt Lake
I had actually been worried about finding good water in Cherry Creek. While it wasn't running much, there was still plenty of good water to be found near camp.
The next couple of days were more or less all off-trail, and our approach to Rosasco Lake was our first real taste of what we should expect in the area.
All in all, pretty easy going.
Rosasco Lake:
Pingree Lake:
After visiting Pingree Lake, we began to heard towards Hyatt Lake and accessed the large bowl of granite between Hyatt and Big Lakes for our traverse. This was the highlight of the trip. I've never seen anything like this anywhere else in the world.
We had originally wanted to stay at "the Regency", but were unable to find an easy way to get over to the other side of the lake. We didn't care to spend much time route finding just to find a campsite, so we settled on camping on the east side of the lake. Callie enjoyed the beach the most of anyone I think.
Sunset was nice that night, although an appetizer for what we'd be getting the next two nights.
Day 3: Hyatt Lake to Yellow Hammer Lake
We started the day in good spirits since we had the great granite bowl to look forward to. I dubbed it the Devil's slip and slide since everything is named after the devil up here.
Big Lake lived up to its name. IT'S HUGE! I'd say 50 different groups could be at this lake and all enjoy some privacy.
Getting to the other side of Big Lake with Callie proved to be difficult. We ended up having to wade through a pond at a certain point as we tried to bushwack around the lake shore. The one thing we didn't anticipate about the area was how difficult bushwacking could be in the wetter areas with lots of growth.
We decided to stay at Yellowhammer for the night. The lake was gorgeous, and we had it all to ourselves. This was our ninth wedding anniversary, and there was nowhere else we'd rather spend it. Fourteen years ago we did our first Sierra backpacking trip together. This was our best one yet.
Sunset was sublime that night.
Day 4: Yellowhammer Lake to Deer Lake
We began our day heading up to 5 acre lake. Again routefinding/off trail travel was easy until we neared the lake and began to have to find a path through the brush.
The same applied to our route between 5 acre and red can.
The traverse from Red Can to Leighton and Karl Lakes is very easy, and we arrived only after about 10 minutes after leaving. We had planned on possibly staying the night here, but the gray skies, cold temperatures, and dead trees that greeted us didn't inspire us to linger. We decided to move ahead to Deer Lake with a detour to Buck Lakes.
One the way we passed Wood Lake which surprised us with its lush beauty right alongside the trail.
The view from between lower and upper Buck Lakes was one of the best that we saw on our trip, but it was unfortunately muted by the boring overcast light that had plagued us all day. I guess it gives us a reason to return.
I should note that we began seeing flowers along the trail pretty regularly, which I was not expecting for August in this record breaking drought year.
Deer Lake was a pretty incredible sight. There was no wind, so the lake reflected a sky which had now broken up to feature some fantastic looking clouds. Things were looking up for sunset.
and as it turns out, it was magnificent.
Day 5: Deer Lake to Crabtree Trailhead
It rained on us off and on throughout the night, and our tent would occasionally flash bright from distant lightning. In the morning, we awoke to blue skies with a beautiful but threatening bank of puffy white clouds.
It was a beautiful day for photography. We walked back to our car the long way to make the trip into more of a loop and see some different areas.
Callie had to adjust to being back on trail after a few days of off trail freedom.
The meadows in the middle of Emigrant are pretty spectacular and quite different from the terrain we had experienced on the rest of the hike. We really enjoyed the variety of ecosystems around here.
Our last stop was at Chewing Gum lake, which despite it's proximity to two nearby trailheads, was empty and still remarkably beautiful.
We arrived back at our car a little after 5 and began the LONG trek back to Los Angeles. Despite the fact that this area is quite far away from us, we can't wait to get back. It scratched an itch that the High Sierra doesn't quite hit, and it brought back a lot of nostalgia for two people who grew up in northern California and were introduced to the Sierra via its west side.
A full trip report will be on Calitrails in a few weeks if you are interested in more information.
Cheers,
Brian