Early Summer destinations
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 10:24 am
Hello all,
My name is Josh. I have been backpacking the sierra wilderness since I was in Boy Scouts.
I fell in love with WaterHouse Lake many years ago, and have made it a yearly destination for the past 7 years. I usually go on Memorial day weekend, but this year the snow pack has forced us to put the trip off. I am hoping to be able to get up there next weekend, but the Ranger station says they have no projected date when the gate to Herring Creek Resevoir will be open. The folks at the gift shop at Pinecrest were surprised to hear the gate was still closed and no one has been into Herring Creek Res. this year. My fingers are crossed in hopes that this next week will be a hot one and the snow will melt off enough to allow us to get to the trail head.
If we are unable to make it to the trail head, I would like to drive into Dodge Ridge camp ground back in as far as we can get and hike up the river from there. I know its extremely unlikely that we could get to the lake from there, but I'm just fine with camping near the raging Stanislaus River. My main question is has anyone done this before? is there an established trail? With all the snow melt going on up there I bet the Stanislaus River an amazing site that few people have been so lucky to witness!
Any fellow WaterHouse Lake lovers out there???
My name is Josh. I have been backpacking the sierra wilderness since I was in Boy Scouts.
I fell in love with WaterHouse Lake many years ago, and have made it a yearly destination for the past 7 years. I usually go on Memorial day weekend, but this year the snow pack has forced us to put the trip off. I am hoping to be able to get up there next weekend, but the Ranger station says they have no projected date when the gate to Herring Creek Resevoir will be open. The folks at the gift shop at Pinecrest were surprised to hear the gate was still closed and no one has been into Herring Creek Res. this year. My fingers are crossed in hopes that this next week will be a hot one and the snow will melt off enough to allow us to get to the trail head.
If we are unable to make it to the trail head, I would like to drive into Dodge Ridge camp ground back in as far as we can get and hike up the river from there. I know its extremely unlikely that we could get to the lake from there, but I'm just fine with camping near the raging Stanislaus River. My main question is has anyone done this before? is there an established trail? With all the snow melt going on up there I bet the Stanislaus River an amazing site that few people have been so lucky to witness!
Any fellow WaterHouse Lake lovers out there???