Long Creek/N Fork San Joaquin

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oldranger
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Long Creek/N Fork San Joaquin

Post by oldranger »

Anyone ever followed Long Creek down to the N. Fork San Joaquin or up from the N. Fork San Joaquin?
Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
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ndpanda
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Re: Long Creek/N Fork San Joaquin

Post by ndpanda »

I’ve followed it both directions. I woke up in Bench Canyon once in late September to a couple inches of snow with plenty more coming down and decided to head over the ridge and descend Long Creek to the North Fork—this was in the mid 1970s, before the days of readily accessible point weather forecasts, and I didn’t want to chance getting tentbound for days up there, off-trail and by my lonesome. By the time I got to Hemlock Crossing I was hiking in rain and I ended up marching all the way down to Granite Creek campground. Three or four years later a buddy and I hiked up Long Creek and took our time enjoying ourselves, camping first on a low rise above the valley floor with a stunning view of the Ritter Range and then at Rockbound Lake. The afternoon we got there we cowered in our tent through one of the scariest thunderstorms I ever experienced, with multiple lightning strikes within a few hundred yards. That lake and vicinity seem to me like one of the better kept Sierra secrets so I’m reluctant to say more. Roper’s High Route guide combined with internet “beta” have resulted in a huge increase in visitation to Bench Canyon, which used to feel absolutely untrammeled. It would be nice if this area stayed a little more off the radar.
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jmherrell
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Re: Long Creek/N Fork San Joaquin

Post by jmherrell »

I too have thought about that route. It seems such a remote and unused canyon. Strange that Long Creek Canyon was once used for cattle grazing.

Five years ago I entered Lost Creek canyon from Blue Lake to Rockbound Lake and camped in the lower canyon. While eating dinner in the sunset I watched an unforgettable spectacular and violent thunderstorm complete with rainbow across the North Fork canyon over the Minarets. The next day I exited via Lost Lake and the Hemlock Crossing Trail.
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cgundersen
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Re: Long Creek/N Fork San Joaquin

Post by cgundersen »

Hi Mike,
I usually manage to redact my memories of experiences in the Sierra that did not quite live up to expectation, so I apologize for the following core dump: my one experience in that canyon was on a very warm September day after a couple of spectacular days at Blue Lake. We were nearing the end of a 10 day trip, and I thought it would be possible to hop all the way from Blue over to Iron Lake. Instead, we found the going down Long Creek to be much slower than expected. Coupled with the heat (and dry wind) it was much more arduous than, say, the descent from Lake Catherine (at least, it was for us). By the time we finally bottomed out and started heading up, we'd re-named the route Long Suck canyon. So, it may be that we just chose wrong (in terms of which side of the creek to descend), or generally screwed up, but it's worth noting that it may not be all that rosy. I've not thought about doing it again, though, obviously, other folk have had more success.
Cameron
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