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I've been planning a 6 day 5 night backpacking trip into Cherry Creek for some months that will likely occur mid June now given current conditions. Am providing this description as an example of how detailed my photography backpacking trips tend to be that allows most efficient use of best light for various subjects with considerable day hiking about after my backpack is dropped or camp made. Will be interesting to see how it plays out after I return with resulting images. And yeah if any others on the board want to tag along independently, that could be fun.
The area I will visit is in the Styx Pass zone within both Emigrant Wilderness and Yosemite National Park Wilderness. This is a trip I've planned on doing for a few years but needed to wait until after a big winter when snows have melted back enough to hike across the Kibbie Ridge Trail that reaches 7.9k elevation while Cherry Creek stream flows are still high. I backpacked into this zone decades ago when there were still rainbow trout in the Yosemite lakes exploring all the Barlette waters and climbing Nance Peak but that is now a dim memory. It could be argued that this stream between 6k and 7.5k in Cherry Creek Canyon down to Cherry Valley Reservoir passes through at stream level the most impressive glacially carved granite land forms in the range. Kayak enthusiasts would certainly agree with that. View on Google Earth GE.
The section of the canyon I am interested in working for photography is however not the section of the creek below 6.7k it is renowned for by kayakers but rather the 4 mile long section near Styx Pass between 6.8k and 7.4k including Lord Meadow. The canyon in this section below the meadow is a west to east oriented, wide, unblocked, bright white granite amphitheater with smooth glacially carved sides. Because of its orientation and bright geology, it will tend to pick up excellent dusk Earth shadow atmosphere color and by small chance if there are high clouds at dawn/dusk, warm sky color.
Also a prime target is the noname lake just west of Mercur Peak on an unblocked plateau that I named Lake 7777 due to its elevation. That has nearly unblocked views for both dawn and dusk skies. Because it is at the top of a ridge line, would be out of the path of night time cold sumping air flows and thus more likely be calm at dawn for reflection subjects.
Additionally are Boundary, Little Bear, and Spotted Fawn Lakes that are especially scenic within a zone of granite bluffs and domes and that also are situated such that they are out of usual night time sumping flows thus calm early morning for reflection subjects. Finally is a particularly aesthetic dome east of Lord Meadow where the EF of Cherry Creek curves around the feature.
The above is a downsized version of a section of the topo map I worked in Photoshop showing these areas. The highlighted yellow lines show where I will be carrying my backpack. The magenta dots, the 3 spots I will camp at, and barely visible red tick marks in this much downsized version some of the spots I will set up my tripod at. The distance from the Shingle Springs trailhead at 5.8k to these areas is about 10 miles and 2200 feet of uphill vertical that is at the limit of my ability to carry a heavy pack thus have figured out a more leisurely itinerary. Another HST thread on this area:
It is certain kayakers will be vying for available permits thus obtaining walk up permits is questionable enough that I will instead do so a day or two before over the phone since Stanislaus NF nicely allows that as well as night box pick ups. Will pull the trigger at short notice on exact dates when I see a period of warm weather with lighter breezes forecast that will increase stream flows. Most of Kibbie Ridge that was tall forest for decades, has burned over at least 3 fires including the Rim Fire, leaving an ugly landscape of blackened snags with considerable isolated trees that did not burn. The 8.5 trail miles through that is unpleasant.
Another very serious issue will be mosquitoes and it is unpredicatable how bad they may become by the trip date. I have a lot of expertise coping with mosquitoes, rarely getting bitten even when thick. However when they become so thick flying about that they interfere with my camera work, flying inside my camera body when exchanging lenses or getting in lens view when my shutter opens, I am at my limit. In any case one might assume Lord Meadow will be painful. Kibbie Ridge will not be too bad as in the past because its forest is gone. The Yosemite lakes area might be bad, however shallow Little Bear Lake with much water grass has the greatest population of damsel flies of any place I've visited in the Sierra so one could lie about that lake shore nekid at peak mosquito season and have no worries. The granite amphitheater section below Lord Meadow is likely to be reasonable during the day though all these areas might be bad by late afternoon. Thus a trip with full body and head armor plus ample 100% DEET.
What I will do is on my departure day, drive out to the Sierra on a mid morning, pick up my permit at the Groveland RS mid day, then continue driving to the trailhead for a 3pm to 4pm trip start. That will give me enough time to leisurely hike 5.4 miles up 1300 feet to a bare zone at 7150 about 6/10 mile beyond Lookout Point, tenting well away from the trail at the canyon rim. Note a north facing seep spring in that area might provide water given it will be mid June. Will be bringing some fishing gear that will stash there along the trail and pick up on the day 5 return.
The next morning day 2 at dawn will pack up and quickly be on the trail for the remaining 4 miles up 900 feet to reach by mid morning my second night destination at the west end of Lake 7777. That will be early enough to work some possible mid morning off axis subjects across the lake to the north from the minor ridge due south. Will have several hours late morning through early afternoon to make camp, lunch, take a dip in the shallow waters, and relax. About 3:30pm will hike out about 7/10 mile along the rib north to an upstream overlook of the amphitheater Cherry Creek section. Because of increasing afternoon shadows eastward from that rib, that subject requires doing so before late afternoon.
Then will hike back to Lake 7777 and work a couple subjects across the lake from the hill west towards Mercur Peak. Then will hike the mile to the east end of Mercur Peak to shoot up canyon at maybe 6pm. Finally will hike back to camp a mile then ramble back north the 7/10 mile to the same spot I had been to earlier. There will wait till the Earth night wedge rises after 8:15pm after which hike back with headlamp if necessary to camp. Total pm day hiking about 3.5 miles.
Day 3 will also rise at dawn and set up a dawn reflection across Lake 7777. Will then pack up gear and continue over Styx Pass and at 7600 feet vector off trail to join the spur nearby to Boundary Lake, dropping my backpacking gear somewhere along the northwest shore. A distance of 2 miles so ought be there before 8am. Will grab photo gear and climb up around the north and east side bluffs of Boundary for some shots then up on dome 7897 for more shots of the other two lakes before climbing back down circling back to my gear. Will then spend a few relaxing hours there mid day including lunch, and dip in lake shallows, before at 3pm grabbing photo gear again and hiking out to the overlook northwest of Spotted Fawn. Then will work areas above the west shores eastward to these lakes. By 5:30pm ought be back at my gear and will quickly get on the short cut off trail ramp route north of Boundary down to Lord Meadow at 7100 feet. Will continue east, drop backpack at 7180 that looks like a good spot on GE and continue east to the dome with water slides I ought be able to work by 6:30pm. Too late and the area would go into shadows. This is the period of the trip I expect mosquitoes could be worst. After shadows envelop the area will return downstream, make camp, quickly retiring to the safety inside the tent. Total day hiking during the day about 5 miles without my backpack.
Day 4 will rise about sunrise, pack up, and quickly move down stream. The sun will take some time to rise high enough to reach the canyon bottom. By that time ought have reached below the west end of Lord Meadow where the granite wonderland begins including some tea cup pools. Will continue downstream working areas eventually reaching about 6900 where I will drop my backpack then continue down canyon some for final subjects before returning back and making camp. Will also take some 1080p videos of whitewater areas. After another long mid day of lunch, taking a dip, and relaxing, will grab gear and go downstream a short ways to start afternoon shots eastward. After shadows envelop the canyon will return to camp and wait for the Earth night wedge again to rise for some shots looking up the cascades and canyon.
Day 5 will rise pre-dawn, pack up, and climb the 750 feet 1.5 miles out of the canyon, up to Styx Pass where will climb the slight dome due south for telephotos down toward Many Island Lake. May then return to Lake 7777 to work that early or continue up to Kibbie Ridge and down the trail. At the same zone I camped at over night 1 will pick up my fishing gear then head southeast down the easy burn slopes to Kibbie Lake and by mid day at 7 miles total make camp at a familiar spot in the west shore granite flats mid lake. Then will have a relaxing afternoon during which I expect to catch a few rainbow trout for dinner.
Day 6 will be up and out by mid morning the easy 4.5 trail miles back to the Forester by noon and home by late afternoon.
We did some of this about eight years ago. We really liked the area, and we only saw about five people over the course of four or five days. Most of those lakes are shallow, and most have been netted to remove fish. But they are still lovely. And the area down in Cherry Creek Canyon below Styzx Pass is wonderful--big pools, loads of bare granite.
Of course, we went later in the season, when the creek wasn't explosively high...
Sachse Spring had a perfect flow of water when we were there--but was also in clouds of mosquitoes. We had considered camping then, and the bugs convinced us to head elsewhere. We did really enjoy climbing Mercur Peak...
Here's a link to our photos from the trip...not worth comparing to the shots you take!
Thanks B, your real images are more useful than GE.
Your images DSCF3440>4.JPG down near Lord Meadow with sunset cloud sky color shows how well the white granite canyon walls pick up that sky color.
For DSCF3459.JPG you annotate "This is our last view of Cherry Canyon before we go over the ridge into Boundary Lake. You can barely see some of the pools among the trees."
That is actually at the west end beyond Lord Meadow before Cherry Creek drops.
Your next image DSCF3460.JPG shows the drop that is useful because it shows I can probably follow closer to the creek than up 100 feet where the slope gradient lowers. That tea cup section ought be very impressive with the high water.
Tree on the left in DSCF3463.JPG is a midget Sierra juniper. One of tasks on the trip will be hunting down aesthetic junipers as they do well on such rocky granite landscapes.
By mid morning of my day 3 ought to have day hiked to atop the dome across Boundary in image DSCF3464.JPG. Of course the east side of the lake is the side to be on during morning for best front lighting of subjects westward.
You annotated DSCF3470.JPG, "This water was astonishingly clear...and blue". That is in part because it has little inflow except off surrounding rock, thus little organic debris over centuries has found its way into the waters. Like nearby Kibbie, one of my favorites, it has some of the most impressive dead vertical cliffs right into the lake waters thus is a target for daredevil cliff jumping. 15 to 20 feet is about this person's limit before I begin clucking.
DSCF3472.JPG shows a very nice juniper on a cliff into the lake. Late afternoon a very nice telephoto subject including some of the lake and cliff.
Know the zone you camped at right at the narrows. This next image DSCF3478.JPG is up on the ridge at bit with the kind of view I prefer and likely no signs of anyone camping about.
Beautiful rock on this classic granite dome DSCF3496.JPG.
One of the photo location marks on my map above is atop the dome at center in DSCF3500.JPG that will reach after traveling along the eastern bluffs of Boundary. After coming down will round the west side of Boundary and back to my gear by late morning to veg a few hours.
In DSCF3549.JPG you say "Another shot of the lake west of Mercur Peak". That is my Lake 7777 where I will camp on the far side on day 2. Very few people ever see it since it is behind a small ridge.
You two ought to join me to see the high water cascades however you would need to wear more serious mosquito armor. (:
Cool. Happy you found the images helpful. Good luck with the mosquitoes. This past weekend we were at 7000 feet in the Stanislaus National Forest and saw a total of ONE mosquito in two days. YMMV!
Since then, of course, there has been fire all through Shingle Springs and Kibbie Ridge. I'm curious to know what kind of shape the trail is in. There were more than 100 deadfall over the trail my year--that was after the trail had reportedly been cleared the year before--the first clearing of the trail in some years since an earlier fire left it almost unrecognizable as trail. But you must have been over it before, so you know all this.
I found Many Islands Lake and Boundary Lake to be absolutely charming. Cherry Creek was pretty low by the time I got there. It should be roaring this year, drawing hoards of kayakers. Kibbie Ridge was blah. I did not make the little detour to go see the unnamed lake near the pass, sadly.
Thanks kpeter, enjoyed the read. Would expect after 4 years since you were on the trail, especially after the Rim Fire, that the Kibbie Ridge trail has been considerably cleaned up. Note SNF would certainly have pressure from all the kayakers going up that trail if not.
I would expect very few that reach Styx Pass outside of a few peakbaggers climbing Mercur Peak, ever venture over the easy view blocking rib and down to Lake 7777. The reason is it has no name and no fish so in many minds must just be another boring shallow frog pond else would at least have a name. The latter fish less reason is also why far fewer backpackers venture over to the Bartlett Creek lakes any more. To this photographer that has long analyzed topos for uncommon lakes that are at ridge tops with unblocked views, Lake 7777 is a prize.
Lakes with unblocked views to horizons, especially in summertime directions towards rising or setting sun, dawn and dusk, allow visibility of colorful sky during those periods. Otherwise the vast majority of lakes tend to be down in canyons or in basins with surrounding ridges and peaks. For instance both Many Island Lake and Boundary Lake are down in holes. Many Island is marginally open to the south, however that direction won't tend to have sky color at dawn. On the other hand Little Bear has a summer morning dawn Earth shadow view west southwestward from its southeast corner. Due to the glaciated bedrock, Emigrant Wilderness, has a few such waters including Leopold Lake, Toejam Lake, Letora Lake, plus numbers of small nameless ponds.
Now June 2, NWS forecasts for Northern California continue to show the near week plus with the troughy often windy weather that has plagued us for awhile now. However it is in June that the jetstream usually finally gets a push north so I am expecting to see a nice window of fair weather mid June to fit this 6-day backpack in. This last week have picked up my fitness preparations and yesterday bought a bunch of trail food at a supermarket plus $72 worth of Mountain House meals off Amazon. Today will complete repairing pin holes in my old NeoAir, my rain pants, and UL1 tent floor.
We really enjoyed poking around those lakes in Bartlett Creek, Dave.
Those lakes are nice B.
Some of my favorite lakes in that area are the lakes on the western side of Kendrick Creek on the way up to Edith from Eleanor.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer
I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.
Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member:http://reconn.org
I've had an elaborate 10-day trip into Emigrant for about a decade now with Letora Lake the primary base camping destination. A truly gorgeous body of water and deep too with some cliff diving. Although the topo shows numbers of no name ponds about the lake, there are more than twice that number actually on the bench since many usually dry up by mid summer. When I visited the basin in 1974, there were so many rainbow trout in the inlet from the North Fork of Cherry Creek, at just up the trail Cow Meadow Lake that I probably could have walked across their backs. (:
However that didn't make much a difference because for every trout there must have been several million mosquitoes. The worst I encountered in the whole basin which is saying a lot. The whining clouds were so dense that it blotted out the noon day sun. (:
In those days I was not a wise lad. After hiking in 11 miles to Wood Lake in cheap tennies, the bottom of my feet were painfully miserably sore. Remember way back when everyone carried those little bottles of Cutters Mosquito Repellent? The stuff inside was a sticky white viscous fluid with a characteristic odor. Well I had brought two bottles with the second in my fishing gear bag less than half full. The other bottle had been in the pocket of the nylon jacket I wore and had been using it a lot on the hike in. The thing about those bottles in that day was the bottle cap had a tendency to pop off if squeezed strongly. The pocket of my jacket found its way underneath my hip belt and when I got to Wood Lake my pocket was a wide gooey mess. What I had left did not last many days as I was bit more times on that one trip than probably the whole rest of my backpacking life.
Oh yeah one more nugget of stupidity. I slept in one of those heavy Sears Coleman rectangular flannel sleeping bags I'd bought for maybe $15 or so. But like many newbies enduring a trip to Hell even to this day chime, "I had a good time" and caught some sizeable rainbow trout.
Check with the Groveland ranger station - the road across Cherry dam is still closed due to washouts. Depending on which trailhead you will be using, you may be adding road miles the first day as well. Have a great trip; sound like fun!
