TR: Buckeye Creek over the 4th

[balzaccom]

Each year we try to get in a backpacking trip over this four-day weekend, knowing that the conditions are never going to be great. It's always too early, the high country has too much snow, and the creeks are roaring. And this year that was putting it mildly.

Still, we had a plan. By driving over recently opened Sonora Pass, and then hiking up the relatively low elevation valley of Buckeye Creek, we hoped to explore a bit of the Hoover Wilderness that we hadn't seen before. And we had hopes of making up over the pass into Yosemite.

That didn't happen.



The trail crosses Buckeye Creek a couple of times going up the valley, and the first time the water was over our waist, and moving pretty fast. We chickened out. Instead, we decided to see how far we could get by hiking up the south side without a trail. We even hoped that we might make it to where the trail crossed back.



That didn't happen either. After a couple of miles, we were bushwhacking through a dense thicket of aspen trees that was no fun at all, and we couldn't see the end of it. So we called a halt, took stock of where we were, and decided to head back down to the last nice campsite we'd seen. Which is what we did.



And the next day, with our progress still blocked by high water, we headed back to the trailhead and drove back to our cabin above Sonora...where we spend a couple of luxurious days relaxing, barbecuing, and living a life of leisure.



But we really did enjoy Buckeye Creek. We saw more swallowtail butterflies than we've ever seen in our lives, as well as a lot of other butterflies. The flowers were blooming everywhere. Once you get a few miles up the trail, the view up to Yosemite is spectacular. And we still got to log a few miles, sleep out in the peace, quiet, and isolation of the Sierra, and get some quality time together.



We also had a few missteps. Hacking through those aspens, we managed to pick up quite a few ticks, which we carefully removed that night before they did any real damage. But they did make for some interesting nerves that evening. And waltzing through those glorious meadows meant some soggy, muddy feet for P, whose boots are not waterproof. Big deal.

The local wildlife enjoyed the meadows:



Still, a small price to pay for a nice couple of days away from the rest of the world....



Here's a link to the rest of the photos: https://goo.gl/photos/T3NrrqFdTXexodLn8

[Wandering Daisy]

I have been up Buckeye Creek several times. The crossing at 5 miles in, is always deep, even later in the year. There is a faint trail (cow tracks) on the north side, but not sure if it is public. How were the mosquitoes? The drainage from the southeast side of Hanna Mountain regularly washes out the trail below. It probably did so this year too. The cows are a bit bothersome- quite unwilling to let one past them. I went up there once when the cows were not there and it was much more pleasant. The Roughs is a very scenic place. Great rock climbing too. I did a first ascent technical route on the north face of Pt. 10518, but we ran out of time to continue to Hunewill Peak,so that summit is on my "to do" list!

Another trail from Buckeye TH is Eagle Creek. This is a very nice trail that ends in a meadow east of Victoria Peak and south of Eagle Peak, both peaks offering nice views of the Sawtooths. You can then return off-trail down the ridge above Twin Lakes. This route does not have any difficult creek crossings. When I did it years ago in the Fall, I met two old guys (in their 70's or older) at the meadow- this was thier "private" hunting camp. They had horses and a huge luxurious camp set up. I may go back up there this year to climb Hunewill Peak from that side.

Thanks for the trip report and photos. I am seriously considering going there soon so was curious about conditions.

[balzaccom]

Thanks for the context, Daisy. I would rate the mosquitoes about a 2 or 3 out of ten. Not bad at all. Blacks flies were worse...and the ticks in the aspens were a complete pain. We found six ticks once we stripped off our clothes.

[Jimr]

What you referred to as chickening out, I would refer to as making a wise decision. :-)

[wildhiker]

I've been up Buckeye Creek twice - 1992 and 2009, both in August. I don't recall the creek crossing at Big Meadows to have been a problem either time. What I did notice is that on the first trip, we had no problem following the trail all the way up the canyon, but by the second trip, the cows that graze up there had made a complete mess of the trail from the Buckeye Creek crossing in Big Meadow up nearly to The Roughs. There were so many intersecting muddy cow paths that we couldn't tell which was the "real trail" and ended up on some pretty sketchy ones for a while in dense aspen groves.

Meanwhile, looking at the Google satellite view, there appears to be a high quality jeep trail on the north side all the way from a crossing of Buckeye Creek at the campground up to Big Meadow. There is a large private inholding at Big Meadow (thus all the cows) and this may be an access jeep trail for the ranchers.

-Phil

[balzaccom]

That is correct. And that jeep trail is marked "no trespassing" where is starts up the canyon. I doubt anyone would have prosecuted us, but at the same time, the normal trail looked fine at that point. Next time I may consult with the rangers in Bridgeport before making the same decision....

[Wandering Daisy]

I called the FS regarding the north side road/trail. It is private, owned by the Hunewill Cattle Co, but they would not give me any definite answer. Evidently parts of the regular trail are also on their private holdings, but just not " posted". Given that they have allowed "trespass" on the main trail, if caught on their north side trails, you would likely get prosecuted. Most of the reason ranchers close access is that problems arise mixing cows and people. They have provided access to the public lands via the main trail. There is no requirement that access has to be 100% accessible to everyone every time of the year. The best thing to do would be to get specific permission from the Hunewill Cattle Company for a one-time access. But I doubt they would give permission as it would set an unwanted precedent. This company has huge holdings in the valley and personally, I would not want to rock the boat on what access they currently do grant.

The East Walker River is still several feet above flood stage, indicating that drainages off the east side are peaking. This is a short term problem and the creek will likely be crossable soon. I have never been there in late season, only in June and mid-July and in both cases the crossing was deep, but not too swift. Each time it was thigh to crotch deep on me. One time, my climbing partner, who was much taller than me carried my pack across, for which I was thankful as it took all my effort to keep from falling in. There are no waterfalls or hazards downstream, so if you did fall in, you likely would be able to get out only with a soaking. Still not something I would do, but I would not call that "uncrossable".