TR: Graveyard Lakes-Fish Creek-Big Margaret Lake 8/31-9/8/2018
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:14 am
Me and two buddies planned this trip with much assistance from HST (thank you everyone).
Our original plan was:
Graveyard Lakes
Peter Pande Lake
Lost Keys Lake
Sharktooth Lake
Big Margaret Lake
Devil’s Bathtub
On the trail, we cut Sharktooth from our plans. There were no trip reports on HST, the Prather Ranger said she hadn’t been in there in a couple of years, and the only weather on our trip was expected to hit when we were at Sharktooth Lake. So...we decided to go the long way through Fish Creek. Here are the details and some pics.
Day 1: We started from Lake Thomas Edison on the Goodale Pass trail at about 2pm after driving up from the Bay Area. We hiked to the end of Graveyard Meadows, just before it starts to ascend. Camp was ok, but the meadows were beautiful, especially at sunset. Lots of birds in the area, but we didn’t see any people. Day 2: We hiked to the top/big Graveyard Lake. There were lots of people and dogs at the first Graveyard Lake, but we had the upper lake to ourselves, which was good because there aren’t many places to camp. Took a hike around to see the rest of the Graveyard Lakes. Day 3: Went over Silver Fox Pass (?) to Peter Pande Lake. I found the entry to the higher “trail” that heads over to a grassy knoll, which seemed to be a better descent, but my partners were guys and didn’t mind a little talus. I have deep malice for talus, and I was an unfriendly trip partner after an hour of descending down it with 8 days of food on my back. But all that was quickly forgotten when we reached Peter Pande Lake. It was beautiful, and there was a ton of camping. I was a little peeved to see two tents set right on the trail around the lake, but what can you do? They were the only others at the lake and appeared to be off on a day hike/climb. We didn’t see them until dusk. In the meantime, we did a day trek to Anne Lake based on the recommendations here, and it was a very nice lake. Day 4: I didn’t want to miss Olive Lake, so we cross-countried over to it via a couple of easy chutes. Then we headed for the Minnow Creek Trail. The trail out of Olive is noted as “unmaintained” on the Harrison map, but recent work had been done here and the trail was cleared of deadfall. We had met a volunteer trail crew at the Graveyard Lakes junction that had been working in the area for a week. Maybe they made it this far.
The Minnow Creek Trail was also noted as unmaintained...it seems most of the trails on our trip were in this state. Minnow Creek was in good shape, though. Lost Keys Lakes were our destination, and the sign at the trail junction had a set of keys resting on it (cute). I wondered if people were adding a key when they visited, but there were only four keys on the ring, so probably not. We knew there was a group ahead of us planning to camp at the lakes, and we saw them at the first (middle) lake, so we headed to the upper lake. I liked the granite wall behind the lake. Day 5: We headed back down to the Minnow Creek Trail from Lost Keys, with Fox Meadow/Fish Creek as our destination. We tried to see the Sharktooth trail junction as we passed, but couldn’t find it. So be it. Once we were on Fish Creek, there was a ton of deadfall. Not much of it was on the trail, but there were years of debris. We camped near the bridge at Island Crossing. The campsite was underwhelming, but Fish Creek reminded me of a mini version of the lower Kings River where I have fished a lot - it was a “freestone creek”. I should mention here that every piece of water we saw held fish - mainly 4-6” brookies. I’ve never seen so many fish on my trips before, and was sorry I didn’t get my act together and purchase a Tenkara before the trip as I had planned.
While we were in low elevation and camped in an established packer camp, we had an extraordinary evening. We expected weather on this day, and as we sat in camp making dinner, a breeze kicked up - the kind that usually brings a squall. We looked up Fish Creek and could see dark clouds headed our way, and we heard some thunder. It was kind of fun to watch the weather arrive, and even more enjoyable when it stopped short of our camp. We could smell and see the rain in the distance, but it never came to us!
To be continued...
Our original plan was:
Graveyard Lakes
Peter Pande Lake
Lost Keys Lake
Sharktooth Lake
Big Margaret Lake
Devil’s Bathtub
On the trail, we cut Sharktooth from our plans. There were no trip reports on HST, the Prather Ranger said she hadn’t been in there in a couple of years, and the only weather on our trip was expected to hit when we were at Sharktooth Lake. So...we decided to go the long way through Fish Creek. Here are the details and some pics.
Day 1: We started from Lake Thomas Edison on the Goodale Pass trail at about 2pm after driving up from the Bay Area. We hiked to the end of Graveyard Meadows, just before it starts to ascend. Camp was ok, but the meadows were beautiful, especially at sunset. Lots of birds in the area, but we didn’t see any people. Day 2: We hiked to the top/big Graveyard Lake. There were lots of people and dogs at the first Graveyard Lake, but we had the upper lake to ourselves, which was good because there aren’t many places to camp. Took a hike around to see the rest of the Graveyard Lakes. Day 3: Went over Silver Fox Pass (?) to Peter Pande Lake. I found the entry to the higher “trail” that heads over to a grassy knoll, which seemed to be a better descent, but my partners were guys and didn’t mind a little talus. I have deep malice for talus, and I was an unfriendly trip partner after an hour of descending down it with 8 days of food on my back. But all that was quickly forgotten when we reached Peter Pande Lake. It was beautiful, and there was a ton of camping. I was a little peeved to see two tents set right on the trail around the lake, but what can you do? They were the only others at the lake and appeared to be off on a day hike/climb. We didn’t see them until dusk. In the meantime, we did a day trek to Anne Lake based on the recommendations here, and it was a very nice lake. Day 4: I didn’t want to miss Olive Lake, so we cross-countried over to it via a couple of easy chutes. Then we headed for the Minnow Creek Trail. The trail out of Olive is noted as “unmaintained” on the Harrison map, but recent work had been done here and the trail was cleared of deadfall. We had met a volunteer trail crew at the Graveyard Lakes junction that had been working in the area for a week. Maybe they made it this far.
The Minnow Creek Trail was also noted as unmaintained...it seems most of the trails on our trip were in this state. Minnow Creek was in good shape, though. Lost Keys Lakes were our destination, and the sign at the trail junction had a set of keys resting on it (cute). I wondered if people were adding a key when they visited, but there were only four keys on the ring, so probably not. We knew there was a group ahead of us planning to camp at the lakes, and we saw them at the first (middle) lake, so we headed to the upper lake. I liked the granite wall behind the lake. Day 5: We headed back down to the Minnow Creek Trail from Lost Keys, with Fox Meadow/Fish Creek as our destination. We tried to see the Sharktooth trail junction as we passed, but couldn’t find it. So be it. Once we were on Fish Creek, there was a ton of deadfall. Not much of it was on the trail, but there were years of debris. We camped near the bridge at Island Crossing. The campsite was underwhelming, but Fish Creek reminded me of a mini version of the lower Kings River where I have fished a lot - it was a “freestone creek”. I should mention here that every piece of water we saw held fish - mainly 4-6” brookies. I’ve never seen so many fish on my trips before, and was sorry I didn’t get my act together and purchase a Tenkara before the trip as I had planned.
While we were in low elevation and camped in an established packer camp, we had an extraordinary evening. We expected weather on this day, and as we sat in camp making dinner, a breeze kicked up - the kind that usually brings a squall. We looked up Fish Creek and could see dark clouds headed our way, and we heard some thunder. It was kind of fun to watch the weather arrive, and even more enjoyable when it stopped short of our camp. We could smell and see the rain in the distance, but it never came to us!
To be continued...